Variations in Magnetic Resonance Imaging Provision and Processes among Canadian Academic Centres

Abstract

Our analysis showed great variation among facility-level factors such as hours of operation, request forms, and prioritization scales among institutions and facilities. Opportunities exist to create standardized processes and improve request forms to focus more on specific information required for appropriateness, increase consistency in patient care, and promote demand balancing, minimizing unnecessary exams and therefore reducing wait times.

A Day in the Life of MRI: The Variety and Appropriateness of Exams Being Performed in Canada

“…Utilisation management systems enable them to focus their time and energy in their field while also managing medical imaging demand in such a way that those truly needing imaging can receive it in a timely manner. While the exam appropriateness evaluation tools included in this study would have the greatest effect when used by the physician requesting the exam, it is likely unwieldy for MRI facilities to require their use given the current paper-based requisition system still in place in most Canadian institutions [18]. In addition to enabling focused interventions targeting requisitions and exams in areas known to have high volumes of inappropriate exams as noted previously, screening forms are easier to enforce by simply requiring that they accompany the requisition form.…”

“…Sites were also asked to submit a blank exam referral form. MR facility operational results were collected and analysed by our research team and were previously published [18].…”

“…For institution-level results, the identities of participating institutions were anonymized based on a randomly assigned number consistent with our previously published work [18]. Regional categories were created as follows: West represents British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba; Ontario and Quebec were self-representative, as they each encompass multiple institutions; and Maritimes represents Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.…”

“…For institution-level results, the identities of participating institutions were anonymized based on a randomly assigned number consistent with our previously published work [18].…”

Clinical Implementation of Deep Learning MR reconstruction for TSE Sequences: Reduction of Acquisition Time and Maintenance

“…Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has become a modality of choice for the diagnosis of several diseases and is currently indispensable in healthcare. One big disadvantage of MRI is the long examination duration, which are not tolerated by a substantial proportion of patients and, on the other hand, come along with other downsides such as decreased image quality due to motion artifacts, increased costs and reduced patient throughput (1).…”