Applying LEAN Methodology to Optimize CT Turnaround Time

Obtaining radiologic studies for emergency department (ED) patients is both a time and labor-intensive task. This process has been identified in ED literature as a major bottleneck in ED throughput and subsequent ED crowding (Rach et. al, 2021; Rogg et. all, 2017). So, with nation-wide staffing shortages and increasing ED patient acuity since the COVID19 pandemic, decreasing radiology turnaround time (TAT) is imperative to improving ED throughput. In this quality improvement project, we used LEAN methodology to decrease ED CT TAT from April 2021 to August 2021.
Primary author: Nicole Lucas, MD
Co-authors: Kraftin Schreyer, MD