International Day of Radiology

By Jason Scott, MBA, CRA, FAHRA, CPXP, RT(R)(MR)

I was honored to present at Bayer Healthcare’s International Day of Radiology on Thursday, November 7, 2019 about recent trends in patient-focused imaging. The event highlighted two topics: (1) The role that imaging plays in a patient’s diagnosis and treatment journey and (2) the role that scanxiety plays in this journey.

Patient satisfaction is playing a more prominent role in today’s imaging world. There are many factors contributing to this. With the advent of the Value Based Purchasing, more attention is being paid to imaging’s role because of the reimbursement factor. In many markets, patients have a choice in their imaging needs. Many patients select imaging facilities based on how they were treated as a person. It is interesting to note that research indicates that facilities with high patient satisfaction are more profitable.

Scanxiety is a relatively new term in medical imaging, but one that plays a huge role in a patient’s experience. Scanxiety is anxiety and worry that accompanies a period of time before undergoing or receiving the results of a radiology examination. The period between when the referring provider orders an imaging test to the time the results are given, can be very worrisome for the patient as the patient experiences a high level of uneasiness of what the results might indicate. It is up to us, as imaging professionals, to decrease the scanxiety level for our patients. Some ways of decreasing scanxiety are shorter durations from referral to time of the actual procedure, educating patients on what to expect during their imaging test, and quick report turnaround times, among others.

I want to thank Bayer Healthcare and the AHRA Education Foundation for giving me this wonderful opportunity to bring awareness to the importance of imaging’s role in the patient experience.

By Jason Scott, MBA, CRA, FAHRA, CPXP, RT(R)(MR) is the Chief Patient Experience Officer, Director, Imaging/Respiratory/Neurodiagnostics/Wound Care/Hematology/Oncology at Witham Health Services in Lebanon, IN. He can be reached at jscott@witham.org