Percentage-within-target-DI - Health Quality Ontario (HQO)

INDICATOR NAME

Name

Percentage of patients whose diagnostic imaging scan was completed within the provincial target wait time

Alternate Name

Percentage of patients who had their MRI or CT scan completed within the target wait time

INDICATOR DESCRIPTION

Description

This indicator measures the percentage of patients whose diagnostic imaging scan was completed within the access target. In this case, the higher the percentage completed the better.

Patients are assigned a priority level for their diagnostic imaging scan by the physician based on clinical evidence. The indicator is reported based on the institution where the scan took place.

HQO Reporting tool/product

Public reporting

Dimension

Timely

Type

Process

DEFINITION AND SOURCE INFORMATION

Unit of Measurement

Percentage

Calculation Methods

Numerator divided by the denominator times 100

Numerator (short description i.e. not inclusions/exclusions)

Number of patients in the denominator whose imaging scan was completed within the provincial target wait time.

Denominator (short description i.e. not inclusions/exclusions)

All patients whose imaging scan was completed within the period and met the criteria to be included.

Adjustment (risk, age/sex standardization)- generalized

None

Data Source

Wait Time Information System (WTIS)

Data provided to HQO by

Cancer Care Ontario (CCO)

Reported Levels of comparability /stratifications (defined)

Corporation, Priority level, Province, Time

OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION

Caveats and Limitations

1. This indicator is collected for patients who have received their diagnostic imaging scan. That is, patients who are still waiting are not included in the calculation. 2. This indicator is reported at the level of the facility where the scan took place. 3. Hospitals with small volumes will be more severely impacted by extreme waits. For example, an unusually long or short wait time for a single patient in a reporting period for hospitals that do not scan a lot of patients will have a greater impact on the percentage of patients who received a scan within the target time. 4. Since Wait Time data is reported at the hospital corporation or facility level, facilities with multiple sites will be reported together even though data is collected at each site. 5. There are other factors that affect wait times for a diagnostic exam that do not relate to a hospital’s efficiency or the availability of resources, e.g. patient choice.