3 Ways to Work on Patient Engagement in Medical Imaging

Written by Ronny Bachrach on April 7, 2014. Posted in Digital Radiography and PACS

The health care industry is due for a significant overhaul in the coming months, as the federal government recently voted to delay the transition to ICD-10 into 2015 and temporarily patch a 24 percent cut to Medicare payments for physicians. This recent amendment could wind up having drastic effects on providers and their practices, as they now have more time to evenly disperse resources across the facility for better training and instruction.

As part of the Meaningful Use program, one of the biggest challenges that physicians face is successfully following through with patient engagement. It is an issue that all clinicians encounter – not just those part of the government initiative from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

There are several key steps that providers can take to improve the patient experience at their practices.brafton 4.7.14

1. Consolidating services
According to Advance Healthcare Executive Insight, integrating a single-platform approach to communication can help practices stay competitive and open to patients. All forms of correspondence – calls, emails, SMS, social media and mobile interactions – would be managed and reported by this system. Adopting this suite of communications could allow for more consistent service, as patients would be immediately directed to the necessary nurse or physician for further consultation. For practices such as medical imaging, this can be beneficial when looking to review results from recent procedures and exams.

2. Improving literature
Health care is a detailed and complex world to understand, sometimes even for doctors and nurses. Because of this, providers should look into finding newer and more streamlined informational resources that are easier to understand than previous iterations. HealthAffairs explained that patient health literacy can be a significant issue when dealing with proper engagement strategies. By focusing on improving it, providers can begin to share patients in the decision-making process of care planning and other important aspects of health care.

3. Tapping Smartphones as resources
Social media and mobile applications have catapulted to popularity, especially among the younger generations. CIO suggested that when it comes to digital imaging, Smartphones can be used to improve the patient experience because of the immediacy of interaction between physicians and patients. During visits inside the facility and follow-up appointments afterward, doctors can help patients manage their health once they’ve been completely discharged. There are numerous applications on the mobile market that allow users to track food consumption and workout routines, recording the number of calories that were burned during a trip to the gym. If radiologists can successfully integrate results from Diagnostic Radiology exams, such as digital images and reports, they might get patients more interested in the overall scope of the care process.

While patient engagement is a formidable challenge, the opportunity to improve upon the process is available to physicians working in digital radiography. As more practices look to integrate imaging technology into the continuum of care, the chance to leverage new strategies will become readily accessible. In the end, it would benefit population health management as a whole and help practices maintain a better revenue cycle.

Contact Viztek for More Information 

Ronny Bachrach

Ronny Bachrach

Marketing Director at Viztek LLC
Responsible for all marketing activities including, press, advertising, trade show coordination, website management, dealer and customer communications.
Ronny Bachrach
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