A Survey of Interventional Radiologists Regarding the Use of Morbidity and Mortality Conferencing in Departmental Quality Improvement Programs

Purpose: To investigate the degree to which morbidity and mortality (M&M) conferencing is utilized in interventional radiology (IR), identify impediments to its adoption, and assess the experience of those using this tool.

Materials and methods: Members of the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) were offered a 9-question survey of practices and experiences regarding M&M conferencing within their quality assessment (QA) programs.

Results: Among 604 respondents, 37.8% were university-based practitioners and 60% were from outside of university practices. Of all respondents, 43% reported practicing 100% IR, with 28.5% practicing IR 75%-99% and 11% practicing IR <50% of the time. The use of M&M conferencing was significantly greater in university practices (90.7%) than in nonuniversity practices (37.1%) and among practitioners performing at least 75% IR (71.2%) than among those practicing <75% (28.8%). The conferences were held monthly (66.6%) or more often, and the majority (56%) of the events identified were scored using the SIR severity score. Approximately 20% of M&M conferences were multidisciplinary, shared most commonly with vascular surgery. The reasons cited for not using M&M included the lack of time and the logistical challenges of the process. However, among those who participate in M&M conferences, the QA goals of the conference were met at very high rates.

Conclusions: M&M conferencing is well established in university IR programs and among full-time practitioners but much less so elsewhere. For those sites that do not utilize M&M conferencing, there may be a considerable benefit to addressing the obstacles that are limiting their implementation of this tool.