RANZCR’s Education Modules for Appropriate Imaging Referrals have been developed to improve the appropriateness of referrals for medical imaging. The modules aim to influence how health professionals think about the place of imaging in patient assessment and care. This intervention has been designed to be delivered early in the health professional’s career, increasing the likelihood of long-term changes in imaging referral practices.
The modules provide detailed explanations of the evidence base, providing the background to, and demonstrating the appropriate use of high-quality, evidence-based clinical decision rules (CDRs). Easy-to-follow flow diagrams integrating the CDRs have also been produced to support their continued use in medical practice, as seen in the RANZCR recommended CDRs booklet.
This suite of stand-alone web-based educational modules (available as PDFs) include a set of cases for a number of clinical scenarios, and incorporate the use of evidence-based decision support tools for appropriate referral for imaging, including the following topics:
| Topic | Printable version | Supporting materials |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction to clinical decision rules (CDRs) | All CDR summaries | |
| Adult head trauma | Canadian CT Head Rule CDR | |
| Paediatric head trauma | PECARN CDR | |
| Adult cervical spine trauma | ||
| Paediatric cervical spine trauma | ||
| Acute low back pain (ALBP) | ||
| Suspected pulmonary embolism | ||
| Suspected lower limb deep vein thrombosis (DVT) | Wells Score (DVT) CDR | |
| Adult acute ankle trauma | Ottawa Ankle Rule CDR | |
| Paediatric ankle trauma | Ottawa Ankle Rule Paediatric CDR |
RANZCR members can login to the RANZCR Learning Management System (LMS) via the Learning Portal to view the online, interactive modules. Tip: Use the keyword “referrals” in the Search Resources and Search Courses pages on the LMS.
The modules can be made freely available to institutions and organisations that provide education to health professionals. A number of specialist medical colleges/societies and Australian universities already have this resource. For more information on accessing the modules for use on your LMS please email our Quality and Standards team
To support the use of the CDRs covered in the Education Modules, a smartphone app has been developed to provide easy access to the decision pathways for clinicians and health care professionals. The ‘Imaging CDRs’ app is available for free from the iTunes Store and the Google Play store
To find out more about how the modules were developed, download Module Development as a pdf or as a zipped file for iBook.