Radiologists Make More Mistakes When Working Longer Hours

Overtime and long hours can result in poor job performance in practically any career. However, a newstudy has found that this is especially true for radiologists. Researchers Tarek Hanna, MD, assistant professor of radiology at Emory University, and Christine Lamoureux, MD, a radiologist at vRad, analyzed the repercussions that long shifts can have on radiologists and their image assessment capabilities, and found that burning the midnight oil can cause radiologists to make more errors. The researchers evaluated 2,922,377 imaging exams from a teleradiology practice ’s 2015 database. Radiologists at teleradiology practices read more late night exams than physicians at traditional healthcare facilities. However, teleradiology environments are usually quieter than a typical reading room. The researchers counted a total of 4,294 “major discrepancies,” totali ng a 1.5 percent discrepancy rate. The errors were originally identified by a second reading or the practice’s quality control staff. All of the initial assessments were made by board-certified radiologists. Most errors were made at the end of the radiologists ’ shifts. These discrepancies were usually made by radiologists who were, on average, working roughly between 6.69 and 11.15 hours. The researchers found that errors increased around the radiologist’s ninth hour on the job, and the rate of discrepancies peaked at 10 hours and onward. They also d etermined that “shifts with major discrepancies had significa...
Source: radRounds - Category: Radiology Authors: Source Type: blogs