NEW CATEGORY: Value of Radiology Project
New this year at the CAR 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting, we invite abstracts related to projects that demonstrate the value of radiology. Through this new category, the Canadian Association of Radiologists and Canadian Radiological Foundation are pleased to recognize research that explores the manner in which radiology adds value to the health care system, improve patient care, and drive cost savings.
On January 26, 2017, the Conference Board of Canada’s Canadian Alliance for Sustainable Health Care released its Value of Radiology in Canada report. The report was the culmination of several months of collaboration with the CAR and our members, who lent their expertise, insight, and evidence to the Conference Board team.
Category Description
In this first year of the Value of Radiology submissions, both qualitative and quantitative projects will be accepted. Overall the focus should be on activities that radiologists undertake in order to add value outside of the traditional radiology report. The projects should be suitable to publicize or publish to a wider audience to demonstrate the value of radiology.
Submissions in this category are informative exhibits designed to review known or emerging facts related specifically to the value of radiology. One of the main goals of this new category is to encourage the radiology community to think more deeply about the services they provide and the level of active positive engagement they have within the healthcare system.
The presentation is to provide a synthesis of information on various topics, relate them in new ways, or extract common threads from diverse data. For example, projects may consider the economic impact of radiology and diagnostic imaging, how radiology adds value by enhancing diagnostic capacity and appropriateness of care and treatments, or how radiology drives health system improvements and delivers optimal patient outcomes.
The projects should advance and enhance the value of radiology in Canada, but may also consider international data and comparisons. Awards for the top three presentations sponsored by CAR/CRF.
Note: this competition is separate and distinct from the Department Clinical Audit Project (DCAP) (please review the CAR Abstract Submission Website for DCAP submission to review the differences between these two competitions.) The DCAP tends to focus on quality improvement within the workplace environment at mostly a departmental level.
Presentation Format
Oral presentations of 10 minutes – 8 minute presentations + 2 minute Q&A sessions
Who Can Present?
Attending radiologists, radiologists-in-training (residents, fellows and medical students). Separate awards will be presented to the attending radiologists and for the radiologists-in-training.
Sample Topics
a) Leadership, for example radiologists’ involvement in multidisciplinary consensus or guidelines creation: how are we providing value to the system. These can be a hospital, local, provincial and national levels)
b) Management, for example the role of radiologists in streamlining workflows for technologists and interactions with administrators. Various collaborations with hospital management or health authorities that result in improvements in quality of care would be eligible for this category.
c) Cost-effectiveness of radiology as a specialty in healthcare; for example: cost savings related to use of CT for assessing trauma versus exploratory laparotomy. New interventional radiology procedures that result in better outcomes and cost savings. Please see additional expanded example provided below.
d) Radiology-specific and Multi-disciplinary collaborations, for example the role of radiologists in multidisciplinary patient rounds and measurable effect on final patient management/disposition. Any initiative, which protects patients’ interests in terms of excess imaging/radiation and cost could be presented. This includes educational endeavors directed towards patients.
Note: Multi-disciplinary authorship is strongly encouraged for this Value-added category of submissions.
Abstract Format
Please click here for examples of published abstracts that align with this category.
All abstracts must have a maximum of 250 words. One table, chart or graph in JPEG or PDF format is encouraged.
- Title
- Authors (Note: Multi-disciplinary authorship is strongly encouraged for this Value-added category of submissions.)
- Presenting Author’s level of training (Attending, fellow, resident, medical student)
- Introduction/Purpose
- Methods
- Results
- Conclusions/Outcomes
Further Reading
Conference Board of Canada – The Value of Radiology in Canada
Gunderman RB, Boland GW. Value in radiology. Radiology. 2009 Dec;253(3):597-9