Patient Throughput Times for Supplemental Breast Cancer Screening Exams

Background: To optimize screening abbreviated breast MRI (ABMR)operations, patient throughput times of ABMR were compared to breast ultrasound(US) and full protocol breast MRI (FPMR).Methods: Patient throughput times (mean ± standard error) and itssubcomponents were analyzed for 95 ABMRs, 90 breast US exams, and 50FPMRs. Total patient throughput was measured from registration time to the timeof the last acquired image. Actual exam time was time difference between the firstand last acquired images and pre-examination time was the calculated differencebetween throughput and actual exam times.Results: ABMR total patient throughput time was shorter than FPMR (55.7 ±1.7 vs. 63.1 ± 2.0 min; difference, 7.4 min, 13%; p<0.001), but longer than breastUS (39.1 ± 1.3 min; difference, 16.6 min, 30%; p<0.001). ABMR had shorteractual scan times than FPMR (13.4 ± 0.14 vs. 18.6 ± 0.25 min; p<0.001), but longerthan US (9.6 ± 0.46 minutes; p<0.001). There was no difference in the preexaminationtimes between ABMR and FPMR (42.3 ± 1.7 vs. 44.6 ± 1.9 min; p =0.357); pre-examination times were longer for both MR exam types compared toUS (29.5 ± 1.3 minutes; p<0.001).Conclusion: ABMR patient throughput times are faster than FPMR, but thesegains are limited as they have no impact on pre-examination activities whichcomprise the lengthiest components of the patient flow process. US patient flowcurrently remains faster than ABMR; however, comparable ABMR times could beachieved by further omitting certain sequences and optimizing pre-examinationprocesses.

Patient Throughput Times for Supplemental Breast Cancer Screening Exams Keywords:

Breast MRI , patient flow , patient throughput , breast cancer screening , breast ultrasound