We're back with our 3rd season of Qualitycast North, with a great episode on improvement in the Ultrasound department. Ultrasound departments everywhere have never been busier and patients with complaints involving all parts of the body visit the department every day. Ultrasound is the first line choice for visualization of the appendix when diagnosing possible appendicitis in children, young adults and pregnant women. When the appendix is not visualized on ultrasound, the patient may be scheduled for a CT which introduces additional radiation and may delay diagnosis and therefore delay treatment. At the University Hospital of Northern BC (UHNBC), finding the appendix was proving to be challenging and the department was visualizing the appendix at rates much lower than expected based on the literature. Karina Hansen, the former ultrasound supervisor of the UHNBC ultrasound department and Carly Phinney, a Northern Health Quality Improvement Facilitator, teamed up with a local radiologist to tackle the problem. They were able to support the department to improve their appendix visualization and brought the rate up to 76.9%, representing a total increase in visualization of 42.4% from baseline. The change ideas they trialed were so successful, they have been adopted as routine practice by the sonographers, and are being spread to other facilities throughout Northern BC.
