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of the company. He developed Aris' unique Quality Assurance program based upon years of reviewing QA cases, meeting with hospital quality leaders and referring physicians, and obtaining feedback from radiologists. The primary mission of the program is to hire the best radiologists available and provide them with continuous educational feedback on individual quality assurance cases, as well as their overall quality performance data. To join Aris' team of radiologists, selected applicants are required to pass a clinical test which assures they possess the diagnostic interpretive skills necessary to render high-quality reads in a variety of imaging modalities. The test, which Dr. Mody created, is comprised of 25 cases with varying degrees of difficulty. Applicants are required to review the images for each case and create a report. Passing scores are based upon the performance of Aris' current radiologists and all test takers to date. According to Dr. Mody, only two of every three applicants score high enough to join Aris' elite team. Physician performance evaluations, along with continuing education, are 18 | Cleveland/Akron/Canton MD News ongoing. Each radiologist's performance data, as it relates to missed findings, is collected and reviewed monthly. "Even the best radiologists in the country will miss a few significant findings every year," says Dr. Mody, pointing out that the actual percentage of missed findings is very small, only 0.05 percent or less. "At Aris, cases with interpretive errors are immediately brought to light in order to provide educational feedback to the radiologist and to track the quality of work being done. This makes the good radiologists better and the excellent radiologists superb." Each month, Aris conducts a Quality Assurance Committee meeting, during which rolling 12-month and threemonth charts of variance case totals for each radiologist are reviewed. Over the last six years, Dr. Mody has established an internal threshold for radiologist performance with regard to interpretation quality. If a radiologist's performance appears to be falling below this threshold, corrective actions are taken. Sometimes the ability of an Aris radiologist to render an accurate interpretation is limited by the technical ■ mdNEWS.Com ■ NovEmBEr /dECEmBEr photoS © Smithberger photography, North CaNtoN malay mody, mD, is aris' Chief medical officer. he developed aris' unique quality assurance program, which includes a diagnostic clinical test for radiology applicants. only two of every three applicants score high enough to join aris' team of radiologists. quality of the images. Aris has developed a "Technical Variance Protocol" that allows prompt communication to the referring hospital when image quality is compromised. By taking the time to communicate, Aris radiologists and staff are helping to improve the quality of the images obtained at client hospitals. "Aris has always maintained policies which encourage a high level of communication," says Dr. Mody. "When there is a critical test result in an interpretation, the Aris radiologist will personally call the physician taking care of the patient at the client hospital to discuss the exam findings. When a client hospital physician wants to initiate a consultation with one of our radiologists, the connection is made through Aris' call center, which is staffed 24/7/365." Highly detailed QA reports are provided to clients on a monthly and quarterly basis. These reports include actual quality metrics, such as turnaround times, quantity of internal peer review, results of any variances, and variance case totals by radiologist. "Quality in radiology has an enormous impact on the overall quality of patient care provided by a healthcare organization," says Dr. Mody. "Our QA program provides a comprehensive set of policies and procedures for the establishment and maintenance of the highest level of quality in radiology for our clients." For more information about Aris Teleradiology, visit www.aristeleradiology.com or call 1-888-521-ARIS (2747). ■