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Systematic Layout Planning of a Radiology Reporting Area to Optimize Radiologists’ Performance

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Abstract

Optimizing radiologists’ performance is a major priority for managers of health services/systems, since the radiologists’ reporting activity imposes a severe constraint on radiology productivity. Despite that, methods to optimize radiologists’ reporting workplace layout are scarce in the literature. This study was performed in the Radiology Division (RD) of an 850-bed University-based general hospital. The analysis of the reporting workplace layout was carried out using the systematic layout planning (SLP) method, in association with cluster analysis as a complementary tool in early stages of SLP. Radiologists, architects, and hospital managers were the stakeholders consulted for the completion of different stages of the layout planning process. A step-by-step description of the proposed methodology to plan an RD reporting layout is presented. Clusters of radiologists were defined using types of exams reported and their frequency of occurrence as clustering variables. Sectors with high degree of interaction were placed in proximity in the new RD layout, with separation of noisy and quiet areas. Four reporting cells were positioned in the quiet area, grouping radiologists by subspecialty, as follows: cluster 1-abdomen; cluster 2-musculoskeletal; cluster 3-neurological, vascular and head & neck; cluster 4-thoracic and cardiac. The creation of reporting cells has the potential to limit unplanned interruptions and enhance the exchange of knowledge and information within cells, joining radiologists with the same expertise. That should lead to improvements in productivity, allowing managers to more easily monitor radiologists’ performance.

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Acknowledgments

This work was made possible by the sponsorship of CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico), CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior), FIPE (Fundação Instituto de Pesquisas Econômicas), and Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Industrial Engineering Department, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Avenida Osvaldo Aranha, 99, Porto Alegre, RS, 90035-190, Brazil

    Guilherme Brittes Benitez, Flavio Sanson Fogliatto & Ricardo Bertoglio Cardoso

  2. Radiology Division, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Felipe Soares Torres & Carlo Sasso Faccin

  3. Health Operations Unit, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    José Miguel Dora

Authors
  1. Guilherme Brittes Benitez
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  2. Flavio Sanson Fogliatto
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  3. Ricardo Bertoglio Cardoso
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  4. Felipe Soares Torres
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  5. Carlo Sasso Faccin
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  6. José Miguel Dora
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Correspondence to Guilherme Brittes Benitez.

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The HCPA’s Ethical Committee has approved this study, and authors have complied with the recommendations of the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Benitez, G.B., Fogliatto, F.S., Cardoso, R.B. et al. Systematic Layout Planning of a Radiology Reporting Area to Optimize Radiologists’ Performance. J Digit Imaging 31, 193–200 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10278-017-0036-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10278-017-0036-9

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