Objective: It has been accepted that the implementation of the a preprocedural surgical checklist can reduce perioperative morbidity and mortality in the operating suite. From this success, there has been focus on applying this intervention to other clinical areas. The objective of this study was to evaluate the acceptance and culture change after the implementation of a preprocedural checklist in the interventional radiology suite.
Methods: A preimplementation audit was performed to identify the need for a checklist in the department. A checklist was then developed, based on the surgical model. At 1 and 12 months after implementation, a survey was distributed to the staff at 3 separate teaching centers.
Results: Results showed that opinion of the checklist was generally positive, with staff agreement that it served as an important communication tool was in the patient's best interest, and presented a good opportunity for the team to identify important issues.
Conclusions: The checklist was regarded as having little effect on delay between cases. In our setting, the checklist has become a useful and consistent safety measure to ensure that relevant patient data are brought to the forefront before intervention. As a secondary benefit, it also serves as an important communication tool and improves collaboration among team members.