Method and apparatus for generating a radiologist quality assurance scorecard

• US 20070232868A1
• Filed: 01/30/2007
• Published: 10/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bruce Reiner
• Original Assignee: Bruce Reiner
• Inventors: Reiner, Bruce
• Granted Patent: US 8,301,461 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/300
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06395 Quality analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06398 Performance of employee with respect to a job function
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 80/00 ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring

Abstract

The present invention provides a quality assurance system and method that generates a quality assurance (QA) scorecard for radiologists that use digital devices in a radiological-based medical imaging study. According to one embodiment, client computers, servers, imaging devices, databases, and/or other components may be coupled to provided a unified data collection system. According to one embodiment, systems and methods are provided that analyze various parameters that are derived from the unified data collection system to calculate a QA score for the radiologist. The QA score provides a combined subjective and objective feedback system that includes performance evaluations from other users, including clinicians and patients. According to one embodiment, the feedback may be provided in real-time.

Claims

1. A quality assurance system for radiology, comprising:

at least one imaging device, comprising;

an agent that captures user action data based on actions that are performed on the imaging device and image data;

a server comprising;

a communications module that communicates with the agent to receive the user action data and the image data; and

a metrics module that evaluates a quality of the image data;

at least one client computer, comprising;

a client communication module that communicates with the server; and

a user interface that provides a rating based on the quality of the image data.