ESR News April 2015 – ESR iGuide
ESR iGuide, the ESR’s clinical decision support system for European imaging referral guidelines developed in cooperation with National Decision Support Company (NDSC), was launched at ECR 2015.
This CDS system is designed to make imaging referral guidelines available in a user-friendly way at the point of care, supporting referring physicians in choosing the most appropriate exam for each of their patients. The basis for the development of ESR iGuide is the ESR’s partnership with the American College of Radiology (ACR). Since November 2014, a team of ESR-appointed experts have been conducting a scientific review of the ACR’s Appropriateness Criteria to develop a set of imaging referral guidelines suitable for European standards of practice. ESR experts are working with ACR Select experts to finalise this review and to provide updates to the content in the future.
ECR 2015 also provided the opportunity to start preparations for pilot testing ESR iGuide. The ESR and NDSC have already identified more than 20 potential pilot sites across Europe. Currently, these institutions are evaluated for their suitability based on their existing IT infrastructure and workflows. Each pilot site will start by defining the scope of the implementation in cooperation with ESR and NDSC, followed by translation, technical integration and system building. Most importantly, each hospital must ensure that referrers and other users are part of the process from an early stage to ensure the system can be utilised effectively once it goes live.
As part of the pilot site agreement, institutions are expected to collect data and feedback on the use of the system which will be evaluated by the ESR and NDSC to fine-tune ESR iGuide before it is marketed.
The ESR’s declared aim is to increase the use of imaging referral guidelines in Europe to improve the quality and safety of radiological services for patients, while at the same time enabling radiology departments to improve their performance and to enhance cooperation and communication with referring physicians.
More information on ESR iGuide is available here.