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World J Radiol. Jun 28, 2015; 7(6): 134-138
Published online Jun 28, 2015. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v7.i6.134
Risk management in radiology departments
Horea Craciun, Kshitij Mankad, Jeremy Lynch
Horea Craciun, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, LA1 4RP Lancaster, United Kingdom
Kshitij Mankad, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust, WC1N 3JH London, United Kingdom
Jeremy Lynch, Chelsea Westminster Hospital NHS Trust, SW10 9NH London, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Craciun H generated the paper concepts and design, completed the literature review and wrote the manuscript; Mankad K and Lynch J contributed to the writing of the manuscript and to its preparation and editing.
Conflict-of-interest: I wish to confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication and there has been no significant financial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Horea Craciun, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, 414 Mill View House, Aalborg Place, LA1 4RP Lancaster, United Kingdom. horea_craciun@yahoo.com
Telephone: +44-7463-460219
Received: January 6, 2015
Peer-review started: January 7, 2015
First decision: March 6, 2015
Revised: April 20, 2015
Accepted: May 5, 2015
Article in press: May 6, 2015
Published online: June 28, 2015
Processing time: 161 Days and 20.7 Hours
Abstract

Medical imaging and interventional radiology sustained prompt changes in the last few years, mainly as a result of technology breakthroughs, rise in workload, deficit in workforce and globalization. Risk is considered to be the chance or possibility of incurring loss or of a negative event happening that may cause injury to patients or medical practitioners. There are various causes of risks leading to harm and injury in radiology departments, and it is one of the objectives of this paper to scrutinize some of the causes. This will drive to consideration of some of the approaches that are used in managing risks in radiology. This paper aims at investigating risk management in radiology, and this will be achieved through a thorough assessment of the risk control measures that are used in the radiology department. It has been observed that the major focus of risk management in such medical setting is to reduce and eliminate harm and injury to patients through integration of various medical precautions. The field of Radiology is rapidly evolving due to technology advances and the globalization of healthcare. This ongoing development will have a great impact on the level of quality of care and service delivery. Thus, risk management in radiology is essential in protecting the patients, radiologists, and the medical organization in terms of capital and widening of the reputation of the medical organization with the patients.

Keywords: Risk management; Radiology; Patient safety

Core tip: This paper serves as a review of risk management in radiology. It investigates the potential sources of risk within radiology departments and proposes measures that may potentially mitigate these risks. A major focus of risk management is to reduce harm and injury to patients and personnel and it aims to improve the outcomes from radiology departments. Risk management in radiology is essential in protecting the patients, radiologists, and the medical organization.