por
John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | October 23, 2017
Gilk asserts that by obtaining certification, providers become overconfident that their facilities are safe without taking into consideration the changing and complex nature of the MR environment, such as training new hires and the need to update safety measures routinely.
This problem is what inspired him to help form the American Board of MR Safety, which provides accreditation for radiologists, technologists and medical directors, and has a 71 percent aggregate pass rate, much higher compared to the pass rates of other boards and organizations, according to Gilk.
Ad Statistics
Times Displayed: 67384
Times Visited: 5295 MIT labs, experts in Multi-Vendor component level repair of: MRI Coils, RF amplifiers, Gradient Amplifiers Contrast Media Injectors. System repairs, sub-assembly repairs, component level repairs, refurbish/calibrate. info@mitlabsusa.com/+1 (305) 470-8013
“Since we determined that nearly all MR accidents are decision-making-related, poor decisions at the point of care, it became clear to us that what was needed was an organization whose sole focus was on the piece of the puzzle that seemed to be missing from all other organizations,” he says.
According to ETS-Lindgren’s Geiger, the best possible way to counteract the gradual degradation of safety protocols is to have a standard plan in place for keeping track of equipment and patient safety and making necessary updates.
"Create a process and train your employees on that process. Every patient does the same thing. Every employee does the same thing," he says. "You follow your process to a tee and that eliminates any issues for incidents. I think facilities that really don't have a clear process for how patients and employees move in and out of that space [MR rooms] is probably the No. 1 issue."
There is debate about where ferromagnetic detectors should
be located to prevent MR adverse events, with some advocating
for them to be right at the door and others calling for
placement a few feet away from the door.
(Photo courtesy of Kopp Development)
The limits of FDA guidelines
Providers, though perhaps overconfident in the safety that certification ensures them, may also be overly-cautious in other aspects of MR safety.
Sometimes, providers will refuse to perform scans on people with implants due to a lack of labeled conditions that specify whether their implants are compatible with specific models of MR machines.
According to Gilk, while the intention is to prevent adverse events from taking place, a situation like this hinders the ability to treat patients and highlights the need for guidelines that empower and equip end users with knowledge to make better judgment calls on what is safe and what is not in their own MR rooms.
