Improvements in the Use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging - Assignment Example

? Improvements in the Use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging ID Number & Total Number of Words: 1,000 1. Describe the change you hope to implement. Aside from problems related to setting appointments for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) procedures, communication problems can also occur between the MRI department and other radiology departments and pharmacy. Furthermore, the available MRI machines used in our hospital are quite old. Considering these problems, several changes I wish to implement includes the process of designing and implementing the use of a more efficient appointment procedure, establishing an organizational culture that gives importance to two-way communication line, and the need to persuade the top management to consider investing on new MRI machines. 2. Outline the rationale for selecting the change. In response to the continuously increasing demand for MRI services, patients who need to undergo MRI procedure should set an early appointment with the person in-charge of scheduling. Therefore, by implementing a new and more efficient appointment procedure plan, the patients can easily coordinate with the person in-charge and avoid delays in the schedule for MRI procedures. In fact, implementing such change will also prevent unnecessary overlapping of appointment schedules. Miscommunication is one of the common factors that can lead to medical errors (Norenberg, 2011). The Pennsylvania Patient Safety Advisory (2009) reported that miscommunication between the MRI department and pharmacy can lead to serious health consequences on the part of the patients. Another common error which may occur due to lack of two-way communication is the use of wrong patient information. Eventually, this can lead to serious medication errors while the patients are receiving MRI and other radiologic services from the hospital (Santell, Hicks, & Cousins, 2006; Barrs, 2002). Therefore, to improve the medical service given to our patients, the MRI department should be in constant communication with other radiology departments in our hospital. By establishing an organizational culture that gives importance to two-way communication line, our MRI department can avoid unnecessary medical errors. The use of old MRI machines can affect the quality service given to our patients in the sense that the use of new MRI machines can offer better and higher imaging resolution as compared to the old machines. Therefore, the hospital should consider acquiring a new, faster, better quality, and more efficient MRI machines. By doing so, the MRI department in our hospital can provide the patients with clear images needed for their medical diagnosis. 3. Discuss the organizational impact you hope the change will have and the expected outcome(s). In terms of improving the quality services offered by the MRI department, these three (3) proposed changes would definitely lead to positive outcomes. First of all, the MRI department in our hospital can easily solve problems related to overlapping appointment schedules by implementing a new and more efficient appointment procedure plan. Through proper training and guidance, the MRI department staff will be more organized in terms of assigning a couple of staff who will be permanently placed in the position to schedule patients to receive MRI. These couple of MRI personnel can coordinate with one another each time they have completed their shift. As a result, the MRI department can prevent delays in the patients’ MRI scheduling. Within the MRI and other radiology department, a lot of misdiagnosis and medical errors can arise out of poor communication (Santell, Hicks, & Cousins, 2006; Barrs, 2002). Therefore, the process of implementing a two-way communication line between two or more departments can indirectly help minimize the risks wherein the patients could suffer the health and socio-economic consequences of misdiagnosis and medical errors. Aside from preventing misdiagnosis and medical errors, establishing an open communication line in each MRI and radiology department is necessary in terms of making the work flow between these departments more efficient. With regards to the need to invest on new MRI machines, the process of convincing the board of directors to invest on new MRI machines can empower our MRI department in terms of being able to deliver high quality and more reliable MRI imaging to our patients. By doing so, our department can play a significant role in terms of helping each of our patients receive a more accurate medical diagnosis from their physicians. 4. Discuss the potential threats to implementing the change. Potential threats associated with implementing change include the hospital staff’s resistance-to-change. The presence of resistance-to-change can make the implementation of change less successful. Therefore, it is the duty of our head department to make use of effective leadership and communication skills in order to win the support and trust of the rest of the medical staff. It is easier to implement the change related to the use of a more efficient appointment procedure plan and make it a habit for each staff to practice open communication as compared to convincing the board of directors to support the idea on new MRI machineries. In general, acquiring new MRI machinery would cost the ministry millions of Dollars. Other added cost of acquiring new machineries includes the need to train our staff to learn how to work on these machines. Since purchasing new MRI machinery is very expensive, the inability of our head department to convince the board of directors to invest on new MRI machineries can make such change unsuccessful. 5. Outline your proposed method(s) of evaluating this change. Gathering a direct feedback from the hospital staff and the patients are among the best ways to evaluate the success of implementing these changes. For example, to evaluate the success of implementing the use of a more efficient appointment procedure plan, it is best to gather direct feedback from the patients and their family members who had to make an appointment for MRI. By doing so, our team can avoid bias feedback from our department staff. To determine whether or not setting an organizational culture that is open to two-way communication, it is necessary to combine the use of survey questionnaires and observational method. The survey questionnaire can be used to gather a more subjective response from each staff with regards to any signs of improvements they have observed in the flow of communication. Lastly, the best and most effective way to determine whether or not our head department has been successful in convincing the board of directors to invest on new MRI machine is to see their full support and action with regards to making this project more feasible. Appendix I – Expected Work and Timelines Project Steps / Phases Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March April May Make a draft on the research plan (i.e. identify problems encountered by the MRI department staff, etc.) Finalize the research plan Design a more efficient appointment procedure plan Develop a new organizational mission and vision which aims to promote the importance of two-way communication line between two or more departments Make use of the new vision and mission statement in establishing a two-way communication culture in each department Identify reasons behind the need to purchase a new MRI machine. Set an appointment with the ministry (board of directors) Communicate with the ministry (board of directors) why the hospital need to invest on new MRI machine Finalize the formal research study Thesis Submission 24th May References Barrs, T. (2002). Establishing safeguards for the use of imaging-related drugs. American Journal of Health-System Pharmarmacy , 59(15):1449-1453. Norenberg, J. (2011). Managing Radiopharmaceuticals. Pharmacy Purchasing & Products , 8(4): 2. Pennsylvania Patient Safety Advisory. (2009). Retrieved October 7, 2012, from Medication Errors Occurring in the Radiologic Services Department. 6(2):46-50. : http://patientsafetyauthority.org/ADVISORIES/AdvisoryLibrary/2009/Jun6%282%29/Pages/46.aspx Santell, J., Hicks, R., & Cousins, D. (2006). MEDMARX® data report: a chartbook of 2000-2004 findings from intensive care units and radiologic services. Rockville (MD): USP Center for the Advancement of Patient Safety. Read More