Practice quality improvement projects

The American Board of Radiology's (ABR) practice quality improvement (PQI) program is a way to meet Part IV requirements of maintenance of certification (MOC).

For diagnostic radiology, including vascular and interventional radiology, the ABR has defined five categories of PQI projects:

  • Patient safety
  • Accuracy of interpretation
  • Report timeliness
  • Practice guidelines and technical standards
  • Referring physician surveys

After choosing a project in one of these categories, a radiologist decides whether to work on a project as an individual, within a department or a group, or associated with a national society.

Visit the ABR website for full descriptions of each category and comprehensive guidelines, as well as reporting templates for each project.

The following PQI projects have been created by the RSNA Quality Improvement Committee and qualified by the ABR. Completion of one of these projects and templates will help you to meet the MOC Part IV requirement.

If you have questions or need more information, please contact us at quality@rsna.org.

 

Abdominal templates

CT Dose Reduction in Abdominal CT Scanning
Suitable for group PQI
Primary authors: G. Scott Gazelle, MD, MPH, PhD; C. Daniel Johnson, MD; Jonathan B. Kruskal, MD, PhD

Reader Performance in Evaluating Acute Appendicitis on Abdominal CT
Suitable for group PQI
Primary authors: G. Scott Gazelle, MD, MPH, PhD; C. Daniel Johnson,MD; Jonathan B. Kruskal, MD, PhD

Reader Performance in Predicting Resectability for Abdominal Malignancy
Suitable for group PQI
Primary authors: G. Scott Gazelle, MD, MPH, PhD; C. Daniel Johnson, MD; Jonathan B. Kruskal, MD, PhD

Reducing Unnecessary Scan Acquisitions at Abdominal MRI
Suitable for group PQI
Primary authors: G. Scott Gazelle, MD, MPH, PhD; C. Daniel Johnson, MD; Jonathan B. Kruskal, MD, PhD

 

Interventional templates

Capturing Dose Indicators From Fluoroscopically-Guided Interventions
Suitable for individual or group PQI
Primary authors: James R. Duncan, MD, PhD; Joseph R. Steele Jr., MD; David Hovsepian, MD

 

Neuroradiology templates

Improving Outcomes for Patients with Acute Stroke Symptoms Through Structured Reporting of Brain CT and MRI
Suitable for individual or group PQI
Primary authors: Lucy W. Glenn, MD; Karl N. Krecke, MD; Donald F. Schomer, MD

Standardized Reporting of Neck Adenopathy with the Accepted Nodal Classification Criteria
Suitable for individual or group PQI
Primary authors: Lucy W. Glenn, MD; Karl N. Krecke, MD; Donald F. Schomer, MD

 

Pediatric templates

Reducing the Number of Inappropriate Babygrams Performed in the NICU
Suitable for individual PQI
Primary authors: Ellen M. Chung, MD; Rajesh Krishnamurthy, MD

 

Thoracic templates

Appropriate Utilization of a Low Dose Chest CT Nodule Protocol
Suitable for group PQI
Primary authors: Matthew D. Gilman, MD; Ella A. Kazerooni, MD, MS

Standardized Reporting of CT Pulmonary Angiography for Acute Pulmonary Embolism
Suitable for individual or group PQI
Primary authors: Matthew D. Gilman, MD; Ella A. Kazerooni, MD, MS

Utilization of Comparison to Prior Relevant Imaging Studies
Suitable for individual or group PQI
Primary authors: Matthew D. Gilman, MD; Ella A. Kazerooni, MD, MS

 

Additional templates

Appropriate Use of Iodinated Contrast Material in Thoracic CT
Primary authors: Jeffrey P. Kanne, MD, Ella A. Kazerooni, MD, MS

Documenting the Presence of Coronary Artery Calcification in Routine Thoracic CT
Primary authors: Jeffrey P. Kanne, MD, Ella A. Kazerooni, MD, MS

Efficacy of CT Enterography in the Detection of Active Inflammatory Crohn's Disease of the Terminal Ileum
Primary authors: Mark E. Baker, MD, C. Daniel Johnson, MD, James H. Ellis, MD

Standardized Reporting of Lumbar Spine MRI Findings
Primary authors: Lucy Glenn, MD, Craige Blackmore, MD

Patient Fall Reduction
Primary authors: David M. Hovsepian, MD, Joseph R. Steele, MD

Utilization of Low-Dose CT for Urinary Tract Stone CT
Primary authors: Mark E. Baker, MD, James H. Ellis, MD, C. Daniel Johnson, MD

Appropriate Management of Indeterminate Pulmonary Nodules Found on CT
Primary authors: Jeffrey P. Kanne, MD, Ella A. Kazerooni, MD, MS

Appropriateness of Ordering Head CT for Trauma Patients
Primary authors: Lucy Glenn, MD, Craige Blackmore, MD

Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infection Reduction Program
Primary authors: David M. Hovsepian, MD, Joseph R. Steele, Jr., MD

Communication of Significant Changes in Interpretation
Primary authors: Janet Strife, MD, Marilyn Goske, MD, Ramin Khorasani, MD

Practice Quality Improvement Project for Lung CT: A Patient and Staff Training Program to Reduce Motion Artifacts

Reducing Breath-hold Artifacts on Abdominal MR
Primary authors: C. Daniel Johnson, MD, James Ellis, MD, Mark Baker, MD, Joe Veniero, MD, PhD

 

American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) template

Radiation Oncology Incident Learning System PQI Template
The RO-ILS PQI template is a free companion offering to the radiation oncology incident learning system and guides participants through the steps to complete an ABR-qualified PQI project.