Whitney Palmer

How Radiologists Can Improve Communication with Referrers

Published on the Feb. 26, 2013 DiagnosticImaging.com website

By Whitney L.J. Howell

Communication. It’s been a big topic of conversation in the radiology industry, both at national meetings and inside individual practices. There’s a distinct need to improve the way radiologists and referring physicians talk to each other. The sticking point, however, has been how to do it.

There’s no question, though, the specialty needs to implement effective strategies to make communication faster, easier, and more effective. With more than 70 percent of referring physicians sending their patients to multiple facilities for imaging studies, according to one national study, it’s incumbent upon radiologists to make these working relationships as worry-free and attractive as possible, industry experts said.

“The overall effectiveness of an organization is highly dependent upon the radiology department’s ability to provide top-notch service to referring physicians, and streamlined communication is a very important piece of that puzzle,” said Mats Björnemo, director of radiology IT product marketing at Sectra, a Sweden-based radiology consulting firm. “Radiology lies at the very center of the healthcare chain. Most patients pass through an imaging department at one point or another in their treatment.”

Not only does this fluid information transfer allow for immediate input from radiologists, potentially staving off any inappropriate or repeat testing, but it also ensures patients experience fewer — if any — delays in care. In addition, these processes help radiologists quickly share any critical findings, as well as play an active role in multi-disciplinary discussions, Björnemo said.

Why Improve Communication?

While many industry leaders promote better communication as a way to raise your department’s profile within a health system or demonstrate the impact you make as radiologists, there are other reasons behind fine-tuning the way you connect with referring physicians.

According to an October 2012 Sectra report, doctors have a great interest in being able to access your schedule and book appointments for their patients online. But only 7 percent of surveyed physicians indicate the radiologists to whom they refer have web scheduling as an option. Many physicians included in the report consider offering this capability is vital to completing time-sensitive scans.

That doesn’t mean referring physicians want to eliminate all face-to-face or phone contact with you,  Björnemo said. This is where the pendulum that has lurched toward teleradiology in recent years is beginning to swing back toward having in-house radiology staff. When reviewing results, physicians want — and appreciate — being able to ask questions and talk with you directly.

Steps to Take

To effectively improve communication, however, you will need the right tools. In today’s mobile world, you will likely get the most use out of zero-footprint viewers that require no software installation or extra equipment, Björnemo said. It’s also important to consider communication products that are vendor-neutral.

For example, Carestream’s Vue Motion offers zero-footprint, vendor-neutral access to diagnostic images through any web browser or electronic health record. Without installing or downloading software, providers can use sticky-note communication, order information entry, side-by-side image display for comparisons, and synchronize images.

This type of universal product is particularly efficient in transferring critical findings in a timely manner, Björnemo said.

Clear communication can also be difficult because radiologists dictate reports in their own style and lexicon, and these differences can sometimes confuse referring physicians. And, communications products that standardize report narratives have eliminated this problem, said Aaron Brauser, Catalyst solutions manager at M*Modal. The M*Modal Catalyst for Radiology™ product uses the RadLex® Term Browser to create uniform reports.

“The biggest challenge to communication lies with the various inconsistencies of systems used in complex healthcare environments, and we’re starting to see people move toward uniformity,” Brauser said. “It’s important that no matter how the radiologists might dictate the report,  or who the report is from, that the referring physician be able to readily see what’s indicated.”

In addition to implementing a product that is compatible with almost any system and standardizing your reports, 60 percent of referring physician’s surveyed in Sectra’s report indicated 3D visualization would improve communication. Presenting findings this way would be one strategy for enhancing their ability to present and explain results to patients, they said.

To read the remainder of the story at its original location: http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/practice-management/how-radiologists-can-improve-communication-referrers

March 8, 2013 Posted by wjpalmer | Healthcare | Aaron Brauser, Carestream Vue Motion, Dominic Mezzanotte, improving communication between radiologists and referring physicians, InteleConnect Clinical Hub, M*Modal, M*Modal Catalyst for Radiology, Mats Bjornemo, Mobile MIM, PACS with instant messaging capability, Progressive Radiology, RadLex Term Browser, Sectra, simplify appointment scheduling for radiology through communication, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center ViSion, web scheduling radiology appointments, zero-foot communications software in radiology | Leave a comment