Report Purpose

 

The Dose Index Registry (DIR) Digital Radiography (DR) pilot group is working to develop and refine a standardized dose index report that will enable users to analyze their digital radiography dose data. A variety of filters helps users obtain an overview of digital radiography equipment performance and delve into the details. While the DIR DR is in the pilot phase, sites currently sending DIR DR data can observe how they are displayed and are welcome to provide report feedback via the report Feedback link in the upper left corner of the report. The report will continue to be updated by the DIR DR pilot group. 

 

How to Access



From the DIR directory page in the NRDR portal, select DR Standardized Dose Index Reports. The About this Report tab provides insight into the reports’ measures and filter use. Upon selecting a tab, hover over the information icon (blue circle in the upper left corner) to obtain details about maximizing a report’s analysis capabilities.

 





Report Features


Exam Search 

Get started by selecting a Corporate Account, a corresponding Facility, or Facilities, and a timeframe of interest. You can display the report by exam, events or both.  You can also filter the report by study type or by specific digital radiography equipment/station. The sample screenshot below shows a listing of both the exams and events for X-ray elbow exams (three or more views) performed over two months across all digital radiography stations for adult (over 18 years) patients. The individual exam and event data appear on the left side of the table.






Using the scrollbar at the bottom of the page, scroll to the right to view the dose indices table for each exam event to include Deviation Index (DI) Exposure Index (EI) and Target Exposure Index (TEI).


 

 


Scatterplot Over Time

This feature helps you identify unusual patterns or outliers for DIR DR dose indices. Use the report filters and parameters, e.g., Measure, Study Type and Station, to refine the data in the scatterplot. You also can hone in on facility performance by the specific station. Hovering over a measure dot in the scatterplot provides exam details. The following screenshot illustrates several components of the scatterplot.


Boxplot by Station

The filters allow you to assess dose index data between stations in a box-and-whisker format. In the example below, hovering the cursor over the shaded box area displays the Exposure Index for elbow X-ray exams over a 30-day period for Station 4 with the black horizontal “whisker” lines denoting the cutoff for statistical outliers. Hovering over a single measure dot shows procedure details.


Boxplot by Procedure

The filters allow you to analyze dose indices by a procedure in a box-and-whisker format. In the example below, hovering the cursor over the shaded “box” area displays the Exposure Index quartile data for left ankle procedures over a 30-day period with the black horizontal “whisker” lines denoting the cutoff for statistical outliers. Hovering over a single measure dot shows procedure details.

 

Summary Statistics

This report displays select statistics for Exposure Index (EI), Target Exposure Index (Elt) and Deviation Index (DI) measures by procedures using event-level data.  When the mean DI is within the range of -1.0 to +1.0 then the Initial Control Limits column is displayed. When the mean DI is outside the range, the row is highlighted in gray.