Radiation Safety Clinical Trial
Official title:
Radiation Safety Alert- A Randomized Controlled Trial
In recent years, multiple articles have highlighted the increased risk of developing cancer
from ionizing radiation. The risk increases with higher radiation doses, and accumulates with
repeated scans.
Hospitals with computerized physician order entry systems (CPOE) have the unique opportunity
to use decision support on radiation safety to influence a physician's ordering practice in
real-time. An ideal decision support tool for radiation safety will educate the physician
about the dangers of cumulative ionizing radiation, present the patient's image history, and
guide the provider to the best modality that meets the patient's diagnostic needs with as
little radiation exposure as possible. The design challenge is to create a decision support
tool that appropriately protects the investigators patients from overutilization of CAT
scans, without inadvertently leading to underutilization of CAT scans or inappropriate
utilization of alternative tests.
This research protocol proposes to study one such design at a large, academic medical center.
Ever since the 1979 Nobel Prize was awarded to Cormack and Hounsfield for the development of
computer assisted tomography (CAT scans, this technology has revolutionized the practice of
medicine. CAT scans combine special x-ray equipment with sophisticated computers to produce
images of the inside of the body. They are widely used, noninvasive medical tests that help
physicians diagnose and treat numerous medical conditions. In 2000, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) and the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD)
estimated that approximately 40 million CAT scans are performed annually.
In recent years, multiple articles have highlighted the increased risk of developing cancer
from ionizing radiation. The risk increases with higher radiation doses, and accumulates with
repeated scans. The 2007 American College of Radiology's white paper on radiation dose in
medicine by Amis, et al., emphasizes the importance of addressing this issue, and proposes a
plan to educate all stakeholders in the principles of radiation safety and appropriate
utilization of imaging. In addition, in 2007 the Society for Pediatric Radiology joined
forces with the American College of Radiology and several other medical societies to form the
Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging (the Image Gently Alliance). The charge of
the Alliance is summarized in its mission statement: "…to raise awareness in the imaging
community of the need to adjust radiation dose when imaging children."
Hospitals with computerized physician order entry systems (CPOE) have the unique opportunity
to use decision support on radiation safety to influence a physician's ordering practice in
real-time. CPOE and decision support technology have been successfully used to positively
effect physician ordering behavior and improve patient safety in many aspects of patient
care, including the ordering of radiology tests. An ideal decision support tool for radiation
safety will educate the physician about the dangers of cumulative ionizing radiation, present
the patient's image history, and guide the provider to the best modality that meets the
patient's diagnostic needs with as little radiation exposure as possible. The design
challenge is to create a decision support tool that appropriately protects our patients from
overutilization of CAT scans, without inadvertently leading to underutilization of CAT scans
or inappropriate utilization of alternative tests. This research protocol proposes to study
one such design at a large, academic medical center.
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| Status | Clinical Trial | Phase | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Completed |
NCT02972242 -
Focused Field of View Calcium Scoring Prior to Coronary CT Angiography
|
N/A |