Things That May Be Hindering Your Radiologists' Productivity
Advanced technology does not have to be complex. If your PACS system is causing more problems than benefits for your radiologists, it may be time to evaluate its usability: in other words, how user-friendly it is in day-to-day operations.
Approximately 48% of radiologists are dissatisfied with their RIS/PACS due to its lack of usability. Many systems tend to be slow, prone to technical failures or difficult to navigate, thereby reducing productivity rather than boosting it. To avoid these obstacles, it is necessary to evaluate a PACS's practical usability in the radiologist's daily work.
In terms of a PACS system's diagnostic features, there are several usability indicators that can be useful:
Interpretation time per radiologist
Interpretation time per radiologist, a metric visible in Eden Intelligence, is the leading indicator of agility for determining whether there are areas of opportunity in your institution's operations. Using this measure, it is possible to compare the productivity of different radiologists across study modalities to determine whether longer interpretation times are due to the complexity of a study or to a platform's usability.
Image loading speed and tool usage time
These measures make it possible to know whether the radiologist takes longer than necessary waiting for an image to fully load or searching for the right tool. This indicates a system that is not intuitive, forcing the user to fight against it to do their job and losing precious seconds that could save lives. At the institutional level, these seconds also add up to hours of slow work that not only reduce productivity, but also raise the risk of burnout, eye strain and medical error.
Eden PACS is a platform designed around the user, which is why it includes elements such as a right-click submenu, fast image scrolling and a high-speed DICOM viewer. These tools make interacting with the platform easier, thereby increasing usability and enhancing the radiologist's work.
User satisfaction level
A PACS exists to serve the radiologist: for this reason, their experience is the best indicator of how effective a system truly is. Conducting satisfaction surveys is an important part of implementing medical technology, even when there is no visible reduction in productivity. It is through the radiologist's feedback that we can identify not only how "usable" the platform is on a technical level, but also how it is received among users, referring physicians and patients, what role it plays in daily operations, and how it can help an institution become exceptional.
To successfully implement advanced digital radiology technologies, it is essential to prioritize the human experience at their center. In this way, institutions can boost their productivity and offer humanized, personalized and precise healthcare. Eden PACS's usability goes beyond the number of clicks it takes to complete an interpretation: it is a sign of technology that exists to make the extraordinary accessible, for physicians and patients alike.