Effect of clinical information provision in HMIS for MRI referrals on Turn Around Time (TAT)

Abstract

Purpose: The absence of clinical information presented in MRI referrals hinders diagnostics completion and reporting accuracy, decreases radiologists confidence in accurate reporting, increases turnaround times, and eventually delays treatment, which could correlate to gaps in HMIS workflows, broken clinical workflows, or errors in reporting workflows.

Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study having a sample size of n=112 including MRI referrals from April to May 2025 was conducted at Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar. Referrals for which complete clinical information such as history or the differential diagnosis were not given properly set as incomplete, while all others were set as complete. The analysis includes TAT (turn around time) and RR-TIME (referral-to-report time). All analysis were done using SPSS v27. The non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test measured differences in TAT among different groups, and effect sizes were calculated with Cohen’s r.

Results: Of 112 referrals, 76 (67.9%) cases were having complete clinical information and 36 (32.1%) incompletes. The mean TAT time for complete clinical information is 22 hours 31 minutes and for incomplete clinical information is 43 hours 55 minutes. Complete referrals had significantly shorter TAT (Mean Rank = 49.17 vs 71.97; p = 0.001, r = 0.33) and referral-to-report times (Mean Rank = 50.30 vs 69.58; p = 0.003, r = 0.28). Referrals having differentials and full clinical history also decreases turnaround time (p < 0.001, r = 0.25–0.68).

Conclusion: The clinical information added to HMIS for MRI referrals optimizes operational workflow in the radiology department, reduces the turnaround time for the report, and enhances the reliability and confidence of the radiologists on the diagnosis. Therefore, standardized referral forms, structured HMIS clinical documentation prompts, and specific teaching are necessary to optimize documentation quality, resource utilization, and optimum patient care outcomes.

Keywords: HMIS, MRI, Clinical Information, Turnaround Time, Radiology Efficiency, Referral Quality