Business intelligence for the radiologist: Making your data work for you

Although it remains absent from most programs today, business intelligence (BI) has become an integral part of modern radiology practice management. BI facilitates the transition away from lack of understanding about a system and the data it produces toward incrementally more sophisticated comprehension of what has happened, could happen, and should happen. The individual components that make up BI are common across industries and include data extraction and transformation, process analysis and improvement, outcomes measures, performance assessment, graphical dashboarding, alerting, workflow analysis, and scenario modeling. As in other fields, these components can be directly applied in radiology to improve workflow, throughput, safety, efficacy, outcomes, and patient satisfaction. When approaching the subject of BI in radiology, it is important to know what data are available in your various electronic medical records, as well as where and how they are stored. In addition, it is critical to verify that the data actually represent what you think they do. Finally, it is critical for success to identify the features and limitations of the BI tools you choose to use and to plan your practice modifications on the basis of collected data. It is equally important to remember that BI plays a critical role in continuous process improvement; whichever BI tools you choose should be flexible to grow and evolve with your practice.