A Comparison of the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Radiology Departments in Hospitals before and after Digital System Implementation

Background and Objectives: Considering the importance of the radiology department, which devours most of the financial resources, efficiency and effectiveness in this department is one of the main concern of policymakers in most health care systems. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficiency and effectiveness of a radiology department before and after the implementation of the digital system. Methods: This was a descriptive analytical study. The research population included the staff and radiology departments of the eight hospitals affiliated with Social Security Organization in Tehran, Iran. In this study 80 staffs were surveyed and the census sampling was used. Data, from six months ago (July-December) and the same six months after the implementation of the digital radiology system in 2014-2015, were collected using two tools including a data collection form to evaluate the efficiency and a researcher-made questionnaire to investigate effectiveness. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Wilcoxon nonparametric test, and single sample t-test, using SPSS software version 20. Results: There was no significant difference between the ratio of patients to personnel, the ratio of patients to radiology apparatus, the ratio of images to personnel, and the ratio of images to radiology apparatus before and after the digital system implementation (P>0.05). The analysis of the data collected through the questionnaire showed an increase in the effectiveness of radiology department after the implementation of the digital system  in this hospitals (P<0.05). Conclusion: The implementation of the digital system can help relevant authorities to make the right decisions and optimal allocation of resources in order to increase the satisfaction of the staff and patients, save costs and time, strengthen knowledge sharing and provide remote services in radiology departments