Whitney Palmer

Engage Employees, Improve Radiology Patient Experience

Published on the July 19, 2017, DiagnosticImaging.com website

By Whitney J. Palmer

In today’s health care environment, improved patient experience is a buzz phrase. It can determine your patient flow and your reimbursement levels. And, it depends on much more than simply providing appropriate care.

According to Michael Janis, MBA, RT, director of outpatient and ancillary services at HSHS St. Anthony Memorial Hospital in Effingham, IL, how engaged your colleagues are in their jobs and in your organization’s mission directly impacts the experience individual patients have. In fact, it can be crucial to your facility’s performance.

Maximizing colleague engagement depends on how well you explain your organization’s mission and values and how well employees understand your expectations for their performance. The clearer you are, the easier it is for them to fulfill your goals and augment the experiences your patients have, he said.
“Often, we get in the weeds with budgets and productivity, and we miss the need for engagement,” Janis said. “Remember that your colleagues want to feel connected to the hospital and its mission.”
But, with national data showing that only 30% of U.S. employees are actively engaged with their jobs, you will likely have to teach your employees how to be more invested in what they do. There are things you can do, though, that will ultimately lead to greater patient experiences.
Employee Engagement: Teach your employees that job satisfaction and happiness aren’t the same thing, he said. Their daily mood is irrelevant to whether they are satisfied in the workplace.

“Someone’s everyday day feeling isn’t an indicator. Colleagues must feel connected with the mission and values of the organization,” Janis said. “If they can’t connect with the organization’s values, then there are opportunities elsewhere.”
If they feel they’re operating within the mission and values, bad days are less likely to spill over into their performance with patients.
Patient Satisfaction: Overall, patients want to be satisfied with their experience and feel better. But, the language of health care can make it difficult for them to understand how to make changes and why they’re important. In radiology, having technologists who take the time to explain studies, tell the patient they’re washing their hands for safety, and discuss what will happen can greatly enhance how a patient walks away feeling about the encounter.

“It’s really not negotiable,” Janis said. “This is what we must do, and it must be done with a smile.”
To read the remainder of the article, click here.

October 23, 2017 - Posted by wjpalmer | Uncategorized | improving patient experience with radiology, radiology and patient experience, steps to improve patient experience in radiology