Access by Design: Practical Ways to Improve the Imaging Patient Journey

Patient access is often discussed in terms of scheduling delays and throughput, but a session led by Jennifer Hart, senior manager at ECG Management Consultants, offered a broader perspective: access performance depends on the entire journey, from order entry to patient arrival.

While the presentation focused on Epic's Radiant platform, many lessons apply regardless of the technology platform an organization uses. The overarching message was simple: the easier it is for patients and staff to navigate the process, the better the outcomes for everyone involved.

Look Beyond Throughput

When evaluating access performance, it can be tempting to focus exclusively on volume and speed. Jennifer encouraged leaders to view access through three dimensions:

• Accuracy: Are patients being scheduled correctly?
• Throughput: How efficiently are patients moving through the process?
• Experience: How easy is the process for patients and staff?

Many organizations emphasize throughput metrics, but gains in efficiency can be undermined when orders require correction, patients arrive unprepared, or schedulers spend too much time resolving preventable issues. The strongest access programs balance all three dimensions.

Reduce Complexity Wherever Possible

One theme throughout the session was the importance of reducing the number of decisions individuals must make.

Decision trees, guided workflows, and standardized order-entry tools can help minimize incorrect inputs and improve consistency. Order-entry accuracy can begin to decline when providers are asked to answer too many questions, highlighting the importance of collecting only the information necessary to move the order forward appropriately.

The goal is not necessarily to add more rules; it's to create workflows that leave less room for interpretation.

Questions leaders should consider include:

• Are ordering providers supplying the information schedulers actually need?
• How often do orders require correction?
• How many duplicate or incomplete orders are being submitted?

If staff members are repeatedly clarifying the same information, there may be an opportunity to improve the process upstream.

Don't Let Patient Prep Become an Afterthought

One of the most practical discussions centered on patient preparation and arrival.

Jennifer challenged attendees to reconsider how organizations communicate preparation instructions. Many patients receive lengthy verbal instructions over the phone and then a standard letter, despite the fact that people absorb information in different ways.

Common failure points include:

• Prep instructions that are misunderstood.
• No-shows.
• Transportation barriers.
• Registration errors.
• Arrival confusion.

The consequences can include scanner downtime, lost revenue, increased wait times, and a poorer patient experience.

It’s important for teams to ensure instructions are clear, consistent, and tailored whenever possible. Digital preparation materials, automated outreach, text reminders, and self-service check-in tools can all help reduce confusion before the patient arrives.

Use Metrics as Early Warning Signs

The session outlined several health checks that organizations can use to evaluate access performance.

For order processing, leaders may want to monitor:

• Rework rates.
• Authorization denial rates.
• Average time to protocol.
• Average time to ready-to-schedule.
• Number of patient callbacks required.

Similarly, scheduling performance can be evaluated through metrics such as:

• Days to schedule.
• Schedule utilization.
• Call abandonment rates.
• Reschedule rates.
• Wrong-exam scheduling rates.

Metrics should be used not only to measure performance but also to identify problems before they become significant bottlenecks. Potential warning signs include:

• Growing work queues.
• Orders aging beyond 72 hours.
• Large protocol backlogs.
• High call-transfer volumes.
• Patients calling multiple times to complete a task.
• Long hold times despite available appointment capacity.

Quick Tips for Imaging Leaders

• Measure access through accuracy and experience — not just throughput.
• Review where orders require repeated corrections or clarification.
• Use standardized workflows to reduce interpretation and variation.
• Ensure patient instructions are easy to understand and delivered through multiple channels.
• Assign ownership for tasks such as prior authorization and order follow-up.
• Regularly monitor work-queue growth, order aging, and callback volume for early signs of process breakdown.

The Bottom Line

For imaging leaders, improving access doesn't always require a major technology investment. Sometimes the biggest gains come from taking a closer look at work queues, communication processes, and the everyday obstacles that make it harder for patients to move through the system.

Special Thanks to Our Speaker

Jennifer A. Hart, MBA (she/her/hers)
Senior Manager
ECG Management Consultants