Emergency Medicine-Led Initiative Avoids 3,500 Low-Value Head and Cervical Spine CTs, Saves $6.2M

An emergency department quality initiative using clinical decision support and education avoided over 3,500 unnecessary head/cervical spine CT scans, saving $6.2 million and 6,000 millisieverts of radiation across two EDs, with no missed injuries.

• The initiative embedded clinical decision-support software (AgileMD) into the EHR to guide appropriate ordering without hard-stop advisories.
• Clinician education sessions and patient communication strategies contributed to reducing low-value CT use for head and cervical spine trauma.
• The effort also saved an estimated 14,200 hours of ED wait time and avoided over 6,000 millisieverts of cumulative radiation exposure.

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