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Improving the Stewardship of Diagnostic Imaging Resources in Alberta Emergency Departments

NCT02410941 · Status: UNKNOWN · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 52058

Last updated 2016-08-30

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Utilization of diagnostic imaging in the Emergency Department has increased dramatically over the past two decades, driven by an increased availability of advanced imaging, legal pressures to exclude serious diagnoses in low-risk patients, patient expectations, and the tendency to associate more testing with a higher quality of care. However, this rise in the use of diagnostic imaging, particularly in low-risk patients, may not be taking into account the risk of radiation exposure to patients, or the impact on finite health system resources. The objective of this project is to improve the appropriateness of CT imaging in Alberta Emergency Departments by advancing awareness of, and adherence to, evidence-based guidelines for CT imaging of patients with mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) and suspected pulmonary embolism (PE). These two clinical scenarios have been selected because of evidence of significant variation in imaging practices across Alberta, and the robust evidence base that exists to guide CT imaging decisions such as the Canadian CT Head Rule and the Pulmonary Embolism Rule Out Criteria.

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Clinical decision support

Establish evidence-based standardized clinical pathways implemented by local communities of practice focused on imaging utilization in ED settings as models of participatory research and integrated knowledge translation.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Alberta Innovates Health Solutions

    collaborator OTHER

  • University of Calgary

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Eddy S. Lang, MD · University of Calgary

  • Andrew McRae, MD · University of Calgary

  • James Andruchow, MD · University of Calgary

  • Grant Innes, MD · University of Calgary

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
16 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2016-01-31
Primary Completion
2017-09-30
Completion
2017-09-30

Countries

  • Canada

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT02410941 on ClinicalTrials.gov