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AW VolumeShare7 Learning curve

Get productive in less than a month1! Marketing White Paper*

Abstract

Objective: A prior study showed that radiologists using AW VolumeShare7 (VS7) reduced their

reading time by 20% during their daily practice compared to prior release. This study is aimed

to analyse the learning curve for a user group after VS7 installation to evaluate the number of

reading sessions necessary to achieve this level of efficiency improvement.

Methodology: A retrospective study was initiated to define the learning curve of a user group

from healthcare institutions using VS7 on standalone workstations. Application usage

analytics were collected and used to graph the learning curve (average reading time vs

accumulated number of sessions) and quantify the number of accumulative reading sessions

necessary for the user group to reach its routine efficiency.

Results: Based on collected data for this user group, VS7 learning curve tends to follow an

exponential rise to limit model and shows quick learning of the new user interface.

From the tested user group, we observed that the VS7 learning curve begins with an

exploration phase showing a rapid learning of VS7, followed by an expertise phase requiring

additional learning efforts and finally reaches an adoption phase where the user group

reaches its routine efficiency.

Conclusion: In addition to previous study highlighting that VS7 users had enhanced their

productivity by 20% compared to prior release, this study shows that VS7 learning curve tends

to follow an “exponential rise to limit” model associated to a fast learning. These users can

indeed reach their efficiency plateau and thus, fully adopt VS7, in less than a month, with an

average review of 40 exams per day, 5 days a week.

Contents

01 Introduction

02 Methodology

03 Results

04 Discussion

05 Conclusion

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Introduction

AW VolumeShare7 is a multi-modality advanced visualization workflow solution for image

review, comparison and processing to enhance diagnostic precision and productivity. It is

available on the standalone AW Workstation and on the AW Server for multiple users. VS7

combines an enhanced user experience and is a highly customizable and streamlined review

workflow through the 3D applications.

The applications provide an efficient image review workflow for novice users with the added

benefit of being customizable for the unique needs of advanced users. The new user interface

has been designed to improve customization of individual user's environment for ease-of-

access and recognition of 3D tools, and to reduce mouse travel time, distance and effort.

A prior study comparing the reading time between VolumeShare7 (VS7) and the prior

software release VolumeShare5 Enhanced (VS5) showed that the group of VS7 users reduced

their mean reading time by 20% compared to the group of VS5 users [2].

Providing better usability allows a very significant average reading time reduction for

radiologists, meanwhile adoption of a new product with advanced features always comes

with a period of time that is usually known as the “learning curve” during which the user is

not fully efficient using the solution. This is one major pain point in adopting innovation. In

the case of software major upgrades, past experience with previous versions helps the user

to adapt faster and minimize the learning phase time but it still requires some work before

reaching optimal usage of the solution. This paper aims to illustrate the learning curve

required with VS7 to reach efficient reading time.

Methodology

Three healthcare institutions participated in the study. The systems utilized in the study

included VS7 systems on the AW Workstation platform.

Customer usage analytics were tracked and collected for 55 weeks period from the start of

VS7 implementation in each institution. Collected data included date and time of starting and

closing user’s individual exam review sessions – allowing access to reading time per session.

Extracted data structure for each session consisted of:

• System ID

• Date Time

• Reading Time

All sessions with reading time less than 30 seconds and more than 3600 seconds were

excluded to reduce outliers and more accurately reflect a typical clinical practice. A total of

1,346 reading sessions were analyzed and the reading times were recorded to study the VS7

learning curve.

Mean reading time was analyzed based on number of accumulated sessions to check its

evolution along routine usage.

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Results

Learning curve with VS7 was built by plotting mean reading time vs the accumulated number

of review sessions (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Mean reading time vs the accumulated number of review sessions

When observing the learning curve, 3 phases can be described:

1. From the first session to 300-400 sessions, learning curve shows an overall increase

with successive variations.

2. From 300-400 to 700-800 sessions, learning curve shows a fast-linear increase up to a

peak, before starting a slow decrease.

3. After about 700-800 sessions, learning curve reaches a plateau.

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Discussion

The theoretical form of standard learning curve is often represented as an “S-curve” or a

sigmoid curve (see figure 2a) in which first efforts lead to slow improvement of proficiency,

then efforts translates more rapidly before reaching the plateau of the learning activity [3], [4].

Meanwhile, other forms of learning curves can be observed like the “exponential rise to limit”

(see figure 2b), in which the skill or capacity to learn a task increases rapidly at the beginning,

without the first initial slow improvement step, and then increases at a slower pace until it

reaches an optimal performance limit.

Figure 2a. Standard learning curve model [5] Figure 2b. Exponential rise to limit model [5]

When observing the overall shape of VS7 learning curve, we can state that it is following an

exponential rise to limit shape, and thus, we can interpolate the overall learning curve of VS7

by a theoretical mathematical model (see figure 3), using least square method:

𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 (seconds) = 𝑇𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑢 × (1 − 𝑒−𝑛𝑁𝑐

−𝑘)

With Tplateau = 443 sec, Nc = 154 sessions, k = 1, n= cumulated number of reading sessions

The number of sessions needed to reach respectively 90% and 99% of the plateau is calculated

from above formula, which defines the learning phases as:

- Phase 1 (time to reach 90% of the plateau): from first session to session 355.

- Phase 2 (from 90% to 99% of the plateau): from session 356 to session 710.

- Phase 3 (more than 99% of the plateau reached): session 711 and over.

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Figure 3: VS7 learning curve and theoretical “exponential rise to a limit” fit

As the observed VS7 learning curve tends to follow an “exponential rise to limit” distribution,

we can estimate that most of the learning efforts happen during the first reading sessions. It

looks like users are discovering and practicing the new interface of VS7 in phase 1, starting

with quick and basic reviews and then discovering and learning more and more tools, which

can explain the successive learning curve variations. Then, cumulative mean reading time

increases linearly up to a peak in phase 2, probably because users become familiar with most

of the VS7 features used in routine review, but still discover advanced tools while using them

for complex reviews. Finally, the mean reading time stabilizes in phase 3, which means that

users have reached their efficiency plateau.

In that regards, the 3 different phases observed can be defined as (see figure 3):

• Exploration, where learning efforts translates into rapid improvement in VS7 use.

• Expertise, where additional efforts are still needed to learn advanced features.

• Adoption, where the user group reaches its efficiency plateau.

With such “exponential rise to limit” learning curve shape, the time needed to reach the

efficiency plateau depends on the average number of review sessions performed per day and

the number of working days per week. For example, an average review of 40 exams per day,

5 days a week, should require less than a month (3.6 weeks) to reach the efficiency plateau

(see Figure 4).

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Figure 4 - Estimated Time to efficiency plateau vs daily reading activity (based on a 5 working days week)

Conclusion

In addition to previous study highlighting that VS7 users had enhanced their productivity by 20% compared to prior release, this study shows that VS7 learning curve tends to follow an

“exponential rise to limit” model associated to a fast learning. These users can indeed reach

their efficiency plateau and thus, fully adopt VS7, in less than a month, with an average review of 40 exams per day, 5 days a week.

25 reviews a day

30 reviews a day

40 reviews a day

Estimated Time to reach 90% of the efficiency plateau (weeks)

2.8 2.4 1.8

Estimated Time to reach 99% of the efficiency plateau (weeks)

5.7 4.7 3.6

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regions. Full product technical specification is

available upon request. Contact a GE Healthcare

Representative for more information. Please visit:

www.gehealthcare.com/promotional-locations.

Data subject to change.

© 2018 General Electric Company. [JB62625FR]

Reproduction in any form is forbidden without prior

written permission from GE. Nothing in this material

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condition. Readers must consult a healthcare

professional.

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* Internal economic value study led by Chérif Chalah (Marketing Product Manager AW EMEA) and Cédric Hermel (Product Manager AW Global) with contributions of James Morgan (Marketing Director AW Global), Reynald Dupuis (VP&I Business Partner), Nicolas Hermieu (Product Leader AW) and Sumana Chatterjee (Data Analyst – Market Analysis).

References

1 Based on an average review of 40 exams per

day, 5 days a week, leading to 3.6 weeks to reach

the efficiency plateau (< 1 month) 2 Enhanced Productivity with VolumeShare7,

Chérif Chalah and Cédric Hermel, 2017 / GE

Healthcare internal reference “JB52637XEa” 3 Mechanisms of skill acquisition and the law of

practice, Allen Newell and Paul S. Rosenbloom in

Cognitive Skills and their Acquisition, 1980,

Anderson, J. R. (Ed.) 4 The learning curve, Ritter, F. E., & Schooler, L.

J. in International encyclopedia of the social and

behavioral sciences, 2001, 8602-8605. 5 Alan Fletcher 2013, Drawn with ‘R’ using R-

studio.