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How to Help Patients De-Stress at Your Diagnostic Imaging Center

Customer service is key to helping patients stay calm and have a positive experience at your facility.

For the past several years, I’ve gone for routine mammograms at a diagnostic imaging center near my house. The service has always been friendly, efficient and professional. However, I recently got called back for an ultrasound after a doctor saw my mammogram images.

When I went in for the test, the tech greeted me, walked me into a small room and told me to change into a gown for the exam. As I changed and tried not to worry, I noticed a radio was playing country music. I quickly recognized the Tim McGraw song “Live Like You Were Dying,” a song about a man who spends time “looking at the x-rays and talkin’ bout the options and talkin’ bout sweet time”—presumably because he has cancer.

My jaw dropped, and I felt kind of sick to my stomach as I sat in my flimsy gown. And while I waited for the tech to come back to do my exam, I also started thinking about the importance of patient experience at diagnostic imaging centers.

Here are five tips, gleaned from my experience, on how to create a better and less stressful patient experience at your diagnostic imaging center:

Look from the patient’s point of view

It’s important to remember that what for you may just be another day at work is an experience for the patient, and it may be a big moment in their life. It’s wise to start by walking through a hypothetical appointment from the patient’s eye view. What do they see, feel and experience when they walk in your door and throughout the appointment? You can use this shift in viewpoint to make tweaks to provide better service and improve the patient experience.

Deal with the payment first

After I signed in for my appointment, I was quickly called into the billing office to pay my copay and get a receipt. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but I later appreciated the handling of payment details upfront. As a patient having a nerve-wracking test, I wouldn’t want to have to stop and pay afterward. I received good news and was eager to leave the center and go about my day. And patients receiving bad news may be emotional or even in tears and would definitely not be in the best mental space to have to pull out a credit card.

Let patients know what to expect

When I got the call I needed to go back for an ultrasound, I was too surprised to ask many questions. In the past, I’d always received a card in the mail to let me know my results were normal. I later wished I’d been told if I’d get the results the day of my ultrasound or if I’d have to wait days. I also wondered, what if I needed a biopsy? Would they do it that day? Not knowing added a lot of unnecessary stress, and left me more nervous on the day of the test than I would have been if I had a clear picture of exactly what was going to happen. On the day of my appointment, I did ask, and the tech gave me helpful details: she would do the exam, take the images to the doctor, and then either he or she would deliver my results right away.

Consider the senses

The biggest faux pas the diagnostic center made on the day I went in: inadvertently playing a song about a man dying of cancer while I waited for a test for cancer. That could have been avoided by considering all five senses from the patient experience point of view. For example, I would have found it soothing to listen to calming music—with no lyrics. And I would have appreciated it if the temperature in the room had been a tad warmer, as I was shivering in a thin gown. But I did find that the string of white lights and minimalist holiday decor made the room feel a little cozier and less clinical than a standard exam room.

Deliver results quickly and compassionately

One of the best parts of my experience at the diagnostic center: the delivery of results. After the tech left to show the images to the radiologist, both returned fairly quickly. The doctor kindly and clearly explained why he had ordered the ultrasound, why the area of concern seemed not to be an issue, and when I will need to follow up. I truly appreciated the short wait and the doctor showing both respect and compassion when giving me the results.

Considering the patient’s point of view, and creating a less stressful experience through compassionate service, can go a long way toward helping patients have the best possible experience at what may be a very stressful time.