"Better Late Than Never": The Utilization of Asynchronous Working Hours in Nuclear Medicine: Improving Quality in Practice

Introduction: -To discuss the utilization of asynchronous scheduling and work hours in the field of Nuclear Medicine and Radiology.

-To discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has lead to drastic changes in the way nuclear medicine physicians and staff work

Methods: The COVID-19 pandemic led to drastic changes in how, where, and when people work. Theimportance of social distancing has resulted in a paradigm shift towards working from home,which destabilized the traditional work day.

Asynchronous work refers to a work model where people on the same team are scheduled to work at different times of the day. Asynchronouswork is not new to the field of radiology, since acute reads must be done at all hours of the dayand night.

Results: Asynchronous trainee and practitioner scheduling in the radiology has the biggest impact onhow and when attending physicians provide feedback to the trainees on their reads. In thebeginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, some institutions were utilizing remote readouts. Benefitsof this model included increased trainee autonomy and improved efficiency as fewerinterruptions allowed for more reads.

One of the major causes of distraction for radiologists is interrupting phone calls, but with asynchronous work hours, there is an overall decrease indistractions - especially after hours, allowing for greater productivity and higher quality reportingwith each study. Asynchronous work hours also allow for an improved work-life balance, asindividuals are able to work in the hours that they find most suitable. The disadvantage to thiswork model includes a perceived decrease in educational discussions, as well as isolation andloss of collegial interactions.

Conclusions: Asynchronous scheduling and work hours are necessary to the field of radiology and offernumerous benefits including increased efficiency and improved work-life balance. Addressingthe few drawbacks are essential for optimizing this work model.