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Mission Statement for PQI Section of ARRS Web Site
The ARRS established this dedicated section of its Web site to provide Society members and other members of the extended radiology profession an inclusive repository for practical information and links to relevant information pertaining to the development of quality assurance programs and reporting mechanisms in radiology, as well as insightful opinions and commentary from leading ARRS members and industry experts.
What is PQI?
Practice quality improvement (PQI) is known by a host of terms currently used to describe a process by which radiologists, their practices, or their facilities, deliver and document the quality of care they provide to their patients. Other terms you may recognize include "continuous quality improvement," "total quality management," and "quality assurance," each referring to the same fundamental concept and process.
PQI, in effect, is the American Board of Radiology's program for Part IV of its Maintenance of Certification process. Although no formal definition of PQI has been offered, with each organization or government body seemingly offering their own interpretation, the certainty is that the definitive goal is to ensure that radiologists are providing quality patient care in an efficient, fiscally responsible manner. PQI, ultimately, can (and likely will) include a variety of quantifiable factors such as patient satisfaction, call-back and error rates, utilization, education continuance, and pay-for-performance - all of which likely will influence the day-to-day methods of you and your practice.
Why Should You Care About PQI?
In some form or another, PQI carries considerable weight in defining "quality patient care" and how you and your practice not only meet, but also document, how those benchmarks are achieved and their outcome. More importantly, PQI likely will play an increasingly significant role in determining the level of reimbursement for the care you provide.
In these areas, you have already seen significant changes in recent years in the manner by which health care delivery is evaluated, such as:
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