A recent article in Patient Safety Monitor Journal makes an important point about MRI safety: the events that almost cause an injury may be just as valuable—or even more valuable— to a facility’s ability to change than injury accidents, themselves.
That is particularly true in MRI.
An improperly screened object makes it into Zone IV. A patient arrives with an implant that wasn’t identified during scheduling. A communication breakdown results in an unsafe situation. A thermal injury is narrowly avoided. These may all be “good catches” because nobody was hurt. But the absence of an injury doesn’t mean the underlying safety system is working.
It may mean that someone got lucky.
The above-linked article interviewed GRC founder, Tobias Gilk, and it highlights the importance of bringing MRI near misses into the broader patient safety infrastructure of the organization rather than allowing them to remain isolated within the MRI department. That’s an important distinction. MRI safety isn’t simply a matter of whether the technologists are following the department’s policies. It is an organizational safety issue involving nursing, anesthesia, transport, cardiology, electrophysiology, contractors, and others who may periodically enter the MRI environment.
And there is another important lesson here: you don’t necessarily need to spend a fortune to improve MRI safety.
Start by looking at what is actually happening.
Are screening practices consistent? Are patient-clearance processes standardized? How often are appointments delayed because of unresolved safety questions? Are there recurring near misses that aren’t being formally captured? Do written policies reflect what staff actually do? Are there people with clearly defined responsibility for MRI safety?
Those questions can reveal a remarkable amount about the strength of an MRI safety program without requiring a major capital expenditure. Leadership, governance, workflow review, better screening, and greater organizational visibility can all make a meaningful difference.
The bigger challenge is knowing where to start.
There is a great deal that hospitals, radiology groups, and imaging centers can do to assess and strengthen their MRI safety practices. But if an organization isn’t sure what good MRI safety actually looks like—or can’t determine whether its existing policies and practices are adequate—bringing in people who specialize in MRI safety can be a very sensible first step.
Sometimes the most valuable thing an expert can provide isn’t a solution to a particular problem. It’s an objective assessment of the problems you didn’t know you had.
If you have questions about your site’s MRI safety… current status or future directions… contact Gilk Radiology Consultants for more information.