Enhancing Patients' Experiences in Radiology

In this survey-based study, we attempted to gain deeper insights into the perspectives of patients in a contemporary radiology department. How well do they understand the role of radiologists in their care? What role(s) would they like radiologists to play? Specifically, do they value the opportunity to interact directly with radiologists? And what effect do such encounters have on their assessments of the quality of their care experiences in the radiology department?

How do patients see radiologists? Do they see us as playing an integral role in their care? Do they value the opportunity to interact with radiologists, to pose questions, and to gain answers about their imaging studies? Do they believe that direct contact with radiologists enhances their care? Or more to the point, do they even see radiologists at all? Do they have any idea about who radiologists are and the role we play in the care they receive?

Some radiologists, such as breast imagers and interventionalists, necessarily interact with patients on a frequent basis. Yet many others may interact with patients only rarely if at all . In fact, thanks to electronic image transmission, many radiologists work miles, hundreds of miles, or even thousands of miles away from the patients whose images they interpret. Patterns of radiologic workflow are designed in such a way that direct interaction is more or less impossible .

The subject of patient perception of radiologists has received relatively scant attention in the literature. In 1956, a survey by Eastman Kodak and Co disclosed that less than a quarter of patients knew the role radiologists played in their care . In 2008, a survey by the American College of Radiology showed that only one in two patients know that radiologists are physicians . Another recent survey suggested that 40% of patients think radiologists are either technologists or nurses .

The reasons for this lack of understanding are not difficult to fathom. Aside from the fact that many radiologists are not located in the same facility as their patients, another key factor is the predominantly consultative role of radiologists . The referring physician, not the patient, generally requests an imaging study. With notable exceptions, such as mammography, radiologists generally report the result not to the patient but to the referring physician .

Demands on radiologist productivity are greater than ever before, and interactive modalities such as fluoroscopy have been increasingly supplanted by computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging. It is ironic that, over the past few decades, as the ability of radiology to reveal the hidden interior of the human body has advanced, making visible facets of human anatomy, physiology, and pathology that once came to light only by use of a scalpel, radiologists themselves have become less and less visible to patients .

Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<

Materials and methods

Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<

My name is Dr._______. I am a radiology resident. A radiologist is a physician specialized at reading and interpreting your x-rays, CT scans, MRIs, ultrasounds, etc. Similar to other physicians, we complete college and medical school. After medical school we spend an additional 5 to 7 years learning how to interpret images and how to perform minimally invasive nonsurgical procedures that aid in diagnosis and treatment of diseases. After our meeting a technologist will take images of you. I will then look at the images with a board-certified staff radiologist and make a diagnosis. My findings will be reported to your physician within 24 hours. Your physician, guided by my report, will formulate a plan for your continued care.

Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<

Results

Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<

Table 1

Preimaging Survey Results

Is a Radiologist a Physician? Understanding of What a Radiologist Does Yes 53.5 Don’t know anything 8.8 No 27.7 Little understanding 55.4 Do not know 18.8 Much understanding 35.8

Numbers are percentages of respondents.

Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<

Table 2

Overall Experience

Experience Group 1 (Met a Radiologist) Group 2 (Did Not Meet a Radiologist) Very positive 70 53.1 Positive 28.7 42.1 Neutral 1 4.8

Numbers are percentages of respondents.

Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<

Discussion

Get Radiology Tree app to read full this article<

References

1. Fritzsche P.J.: Communication: the key to improved patient care. Radiology 2005; 234: pp. 13-14.
2. Gunderman R.B.: Commodity or profession?. J Am Coll Radiol 2008; 5: pp. 540-543.
3. Linton O.W.: Who are you? And who cares?. Acad Radiol 2008; 15: pp. 1212.
4. The Face of Radiology Campaign Presentation. American College Radiology (ACR) website. http://www.mypatientconnection.com/Resources.aspx . Accessed October 1, 2012.
5. Kuhlman M., Meyer M., Krupinski E.A.: Direct reporting of results to patients: the future of radiology?. Acad Radiol 2012; 19: pp. 646-650.
6. Smith J.N., Gunderman R.B.: Should we inform patients of radiology results?. Radiology 2010; 255: pp. 317-321.
7. Margulis A.R., Sostman H.D.: Radiologist-patient contact during the performance of cross-sectional examinations. J Am Coll Radiol 2004; 1: pp. 162-163.
8. Gunderman R.B., Davilla J., Shetty S., et. al.: Visibility matters. J Am Coll Radiol 2005; 2: pp. 971-974.
9. Schreiber M.H., Leonard M., Rieniets C.Y.: Disclosure of imaging findings to patients directly by radiologists: survey of patient’s preferences. AJR Am J Roentgenol 1995; 165: pp. 467-469.
10. Johnson A.J., Easterling D., Nelson R., et. al.: Access to radiologic reports via a patient portal: clinical simulations to investigate patient preferences. J Am Coll Radiol 2012; 9: pp. 256-263.
11. Glazer G.M., Ruiz-Wibbelsmann J.A.: The invisible radiologist. Radiol 2011; 258: pp. 18-22.
12. Patti J.A., Berlin J.W., Blumberg A.L., et. al.: ACR white paper: The value added that radiologists provide to the health care enterprise. J Am Coll Radiol 2008; 5: pp. 1041-1053.
13. Boland G.W.: Patient-focused radiology: the value of customer service?. J Am Coll Radiol 2007; 4: pp. 88-89.
14. Brandt-Zawadski M., Kerlan R.K.: Patient centered radiology: use it or lose it!. Acad Radiol 2009; 16: pp. 521-523.
15. Johnson A.J., Easterling D., Williams L.S., et. al.: Insight from patients for radiologists: improving our reporting systems. J Am Coll Radiol 2009; 6: pp. 786-794.
16. Kussin S.Z.: Doctor, your patient will see you now; gaining the upper hand in your medical care.2011.Rowman and LittlefieldNew York

Enhancing Patients' Experiences in Radiology

Materials and methods

Results

Discussion

References

Further Reading

Assessing Splenomegaly

Combined Diffusion-Weighted, Blood Oxygen Level–Dependent, and Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI for Characterization and Differentiation of Renal Cell Carcinoma

Comparison of 3D Phase-Sensitive Inversion-Recovery and 2D Inversion-Recovery MRI at 3.0 T for the Assessment of Late Gadolinium Enhancement in Patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy