Partnering with Engineers to Identify and Empirically Evaluate Delays in Magnetic Resonance Imaging Laying the Foundations for Quality Improvement and System-based Practice in Radiology.

Rationale And Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of partnering with engineering students and critically examining the merit of the problem identification and analyses students generated in identifying sources impeding effective turnaround in a large university department of diagnostic radiology. Turnaround involves the time and activities beginning when a patient enters the magnetic resonance scanner room until the patient leaves, minus the time the scanner is conducting the protocol.

Materials And Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted, in which four senior undergraduate industrial and operations engineering students interviewed magnetic resonance staff members and observed all shifts.