None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Adequate communication and follow up of test results between radiologists and doctors is critical for patient care. However, in the emergency department (ED), up to 75% of test results are missed (Callen et al. 2015). The current trial examines the feasibility and effectiveness of an intervention aiming to improve the communication and actioning of radiology test results in an ED setting by using a secure electronic collaboration app, called myBeepr (www.mybeepr.com). References Callen, J., T. D. Giardina, H. Singh, L. Li, R. Paoloni, A. Georgiou, W. B. Runciman and J. I. Westbrook (2015). "Emergency physicians' views of direct notification of laboratory and radiology results to patients using the Internet: A multisite survey." Journal of Medical Internet Research 17(3): e60.
Interventions
The intervention involves implementing a secure electronic collaboration app, called myBeepr (www.mybeepr.com), at an intervention hospital in Victoria, Australia, the Monash Health Clayton Hospital. During the one-month intervention period, radiology technicians completing abdomen CT scans ordered by the hospital's Emergency Department (ED) will be required to send a short, time-stamped message via myBeepr to the ED relevant doctor. All CT scans will be included.
The message sent will indicat
The intervention involves implementing a secure electronic collaboration app, called myBeepr (www.mybeepr.com), at an intervention hospital in Victoria, Australia, the Monash Health Clayton Hospital. During the one-month intervention period, radiology technicians completing abdomen CT scans ordered by the hospital's Emergency Department (ED) will be required to send a short, time-stamped message via myBeepr to the ED relevant doctor. All CT scans will be included. The message sent will indicatively include the following information: (a) a note that the scan is complete (e.g. "CT scan complete"); (b) a patient identifier and name; and, (c) a 2-3 word summary of findings (e.g. 'normal finding', 'incidental finding', 'urgent finding'). Radiologists and doctors at the intervention hospital will be introduced and trained in how to use the app during two short launch events (run separately for radiologists and ED doctors) that will occur in the weeks prior to the intervention beginning. These sessions will be run primarily by the app developer, with the assistance of a representatives from the research team. Doctors' adherence to using the app will be monitored by comparing the number of test results communicated via myBeepr (as per app analytics) with the number of CT scans ordered by ED doctors (as per hospital records).
Sponsors
Monash University
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Participants will be included if they are the radiologist or ED clinician of a patient who has had a CT scan ordered from the Emergency Department at Monash Health Clayton hospital. All types of CTs will be included.
Exclusion criteria
There are no exclusion criteria for the radiologists or ED clinicians. For patient outcomes, all patients who receive a CT scan ordered by an ED doctor will be included. No exclusion criteria apply.
Outcome results
None listed