Patient Experience 101: Making It a Great One

Let’s face it--as a specialty, radiology is not known for its bedside manner or close contact with patients. Radiologists remain “invisible” to many patients, which can tempt providers to downplay their radiology experiences.

However, there are good reasons to make patient experience a priority in your radiology practice:

• Gaps in patient knowledge could negatively impact health outcomes.
• Patients may want to interact more closely with radiology providers to gain greater control over their own healthcare.
• Referring providers want to work with radiologists that offer positive patient experiences.
• Moving to a value-based model calls for a team-based approach among providers-- including radiologists.

There are plenty of ways to improve the patient experience, but their interactions with your radiology staff should be your top priority.

Most people want a positive experience with your people.

One radiology team at NYU Langone Medical Center assessed 3,675 patient comments from a three-year period. They found that nearly 75 percent of comments were about staff behavior.

Interactions with staff got more remarks than privacy, billing, and even wait times. Patients most often commented on whether staff members were professional, pleasant, helpful, and efficient. Their remarks focused most often on the technician and receptionist, with few patients commenting on interactions with the radiologist.

Your team members are critical in creating the patient experience. Consider offering additional service training for staff, soliciting patient comments, and streamlining your work processes to improve efficiency. Encourage radiologists to interact with patients face-to-face to reduce the “mystery” of radiology and further improve the patient experience.

Streamlining your workflow can save you time and make your staff more efficient. This creates an excellent patient experience that can make your radiology practice more profitable.

Nova RIS revolutionizes your radiology department or practice and allows you to track patient information, procedures, exam status, revenue, and insurance payouts. Get in touch with us if you're interested in evaluating your RIS's role in your workflow and how you can use it to help boost your patient experience.