Patients undergoing radiology exams often prefer to find out what can be ascertained on the day of the exam. According to a study published in Clinical Imaging, 82% of patients say they want to hear from their radiologist that day, but that does not line up with what most referring physicians want to have happen.
In the survey of 368 patients and 168 referring doctors, 66.4%of patients said the reason they wanted the same-day results, an explanation from the radiologist of the findings in the images, is that there was too much anxiety involved in waiting any longer than that. Around 74% of patients said they would not want to wait any longer than 24 hours to hear the results.
Only 36% of referring physicians said they approved of same-day communication between the radiologist and the patient. In fact, nearly 88% of referring physicians said they don’t want the radiologist to send findings to the patients on the day of the exam, even if the doctor gets them first.
Preferred Communications
A more patient-centric care model within radiology and a focus on value, not volume, is clearly in line with the American College of Radiology’s Imaging 3.0 initiative. This is already happening with many patients who have undergone breast imaging, fluoroscopy and other types of imaging where the radiologist communicates their findings with the patient.
Radiologists are often noted for their ability to communicate, which is something that should be embraced by referring physicians who can benefit by being part of the conversation, ultimately leading to a more thorough approach to offering quality care.
Better PACS
If there is going to be a movement toward a group approach to communicating with patients, there are many healthcare providers who simply don’t have the right technology in place. For example, if you have always struggled to share images across departments because each one has a different PACS, you’re experiencing a proprietary problem that can be solved using a more inclusive PACS solution.
At OffSite Image Management, we’ve helped our clients eliminate the roadblocks that get in the way of free and easy communication, starting with a vendor neutral approach to PACS, which means when you want to share images with the patient, referring physician and any specialist working with the patient, you can do so quite easily when partnering with us.
Contact us and learn more about what OffSite can do to assist you in meeting the needs of the patients and referring physicians.
