P2.O300: Reducing the waiting time for booking magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans for pediatric patients in the day care unit: improving the patients' access

Purpose/Objectives: Long waits for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) bookings are a widespread issue in many countries, especially with an aging population driving increased demand. Timely access to diagnostic services is crucial to providing high-quality care and improving health outcomes. At the Hamad general hospital, Pediatric Day Care unit, the waiting time for booking routine MRI scans reached 11 months. This initiative aimed to reduce the average waiting time for MRI booking to 6 months within a 4-month period (from March 2023 to July 2023).

Design/Methods: The IHI Model for Improvement was used to embed improvements that started on March 2023 in pediatric day care unit (PDCU) in Hamad general hospital, Qatar. Five different small tests of change were carried out on the steps of the MRI booking process at the PDCU. The collaborative efforts from the pediatric, radiology, and anesthesia departments led to successful outcomes of the quality improvement initiatives in which multiple PDSA cycle implemented.

Results: The QI initiative included 110 patients. As multiple PDSA cycle implemented MRI waiting time dropped from 11 months to 6 months in 4 month (March 2023 to July 2023), eventually reaching 1.5 months (December 2023).

Conclusion/Discussion: The Collaboration between the multidisciplinary teams, pediatricians, radiologists, and anesthesiologists as well as the implementation of multiple QI tests, successfully and sustainably reduced the waiting for MRI scans over a four-month period. Continues monitoring of the process will lead to early identification of the challenges and timely effective intervention for better patients care and safety.