With the new calendar year comes the annual opportunity to make our New Year’s resolutions. While these generally tend to be personal pledges for self-improvement such as going to the health club more, getting more organized, or eating better, why not use the fresh year to make some organizational pledges? Here are a few we feel will be essential to success for radiology practices in the coming year:

Patient Safety. There has never been a more important time than now to resolve to improve patient safety. While this may seem daunting, there are many specific initiatives you can embrace that will lead toward this greater goal. Examples include standardizing protocols, educating staff on magnet safety, refining the critical results communication plan, or conducting Failure Mode Effectiveness Analysis (FMEA) at each modality. Whether you choose these or others, embracing patient safety initiatives should be a priority in 2007.

Operational Efficiency. When is the last time you reviewed your workflow? If you have deployed new equipment or undergone any upgrades and did not refine the workflow, chances are you are not leveraging your investment or the capabilities of the technology. The thought of reviewing workflow can be overwhelming. To make it more manageable, resolve to review one modality or process, such as scheduling, per quarter.

Training and Education. Nurture your staff and commit to support of professional development. Enable staff to attend local seminars, provide internal training opportunities, and/or work with your vendors to see what opportunities they can provide. A small investment can go a long way toward improving employee satisfaction, recruitment and retention, and organizational success.
As with the personal resolutions, to ensure compliance be sure to make them public and write them down for review at regular intervals.