Daily Diagnostic QA

[Chris Alston <alstonc@odrge.odr.georgetown.edu>]

>From: Steve Cartwright <Steve.Cartwright@KMCNETWORK.ORG>
>
>I am trying to revise and revitalize daily QA procedures for our
diagnostic radiology departments.  On the one hand I have standards and
suggestions from regulatory bodies that are very detailed and
time-consuming to perform.  On the other hand I have departments that are
short-staffed with techs who don't want to perform QA tests and don't get
any meaning from the results anyway.  To be fair, most equipment,
especially digital, is so stable that there is little day-to-day variation
to track.  It works till it fails.  In MRI, the techs track the SNR and
central frequency as a good way to get a snapshot of the system's
performance.   I'm looking for suggestions on similar things to look for in
other modalities, as well as dire warnings on what not to overlook.  By the
way, we are officially filmless, so processors aren't an issue. 
>
>In a similar vein, I'm curious about what people think about annual
physics checks.  We have a pretty well-established list of things to check,
but what do people think are the most relevant things?  And what things
never seem to make a difference anyway?  Just curious in these dog days of
summer.
>
>Steve Cartwright, PhD, DABR, DABMP
>Radiation Safety Officer
>Kettering Medical Center
>
>Next on Springer:  Diagnostic Physicists Tell All.  And Throw Chairs.
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