Leading the Way in Quality, Safety & Accessibility
If you’re reading this, you’re a living, breathing human. All of the physicians and staff at Diversified Radiology are humans, too. The fact that we’re humans also means that we will all be healthcare patients many times in our lives. It is patients who drive our industry in the first place, so shouldn’t healthcare—including radiology—be centered around the patient?
That wasn’t always the case, unfortunately, but times are changing. Advancements in technology have not only brought sweeping innovations to the healthcare industry in recent years; they have also given rise to a surge of educated healthcare consumerism via the internet, social media, online patient portals, and other electronic, user-friendly resources. As the interconnectedness of our world strengthens, patients have taken their care paths into their own hands, willing and eager to research diagnosis and treatment options to determine and access the provider(s) who can offer the highest quality and best value for their healthcare dollar. This new knowledge has increased patient expectations, and many facets of healthcare, including radiology, have responded positively.
Our own Dr. Jennifer Kemp has focused her efforts on patient advocacy and improving the patient experience, serving on the American College of Radiology (ACR) Patient and Family Centered Commission (PFCC), and also heading a committee of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) that strives to make radiologists more accessible to patients, such as providing patients with their test results right away if asked, by meeting with them in person or over the phone. Dr. Kemp also provides all her patients and their doctors with her direct telephone number. Learn more about her patient advocacy efforts in this New York Times article.
Radiology groups like Diversified Radiology now focus heavily on many quality indicators based on doing what is best for the patient, including shorter exam times, better diagnostic quality, and reduced radiation exposure. We convivially welcome the savvy healthcare consumer. The group’s physicians and staff continually make themselves available to patients and their families to address any questions or concerns both in person and through Diversified Radiology’s social media channels, patient friendly websites, and patient portal. Despite the common history of radiologists serving as the unseen faces behind diagnoses and treatments, Diversified Radiology physicians balk this convention in order to give patients not simply a face to put with a name, but also to alleviate some of the stress patients experience when facing a health scare. Similarly, the continuous communication between Diversified Radiology physicians and other players on the healthcare continuum, including referring physicians, surgeons, oncologists, cardiologists, etc, builds a bridge to the seamless patient experience, avoiding added stress to patients and their families by alleviating them of the responsibility of tag-teaming with doctors, while still maintaining a voice in their own care path.
We have taken a proactive approach through numerous forms of electronic communication in order to keep patients informed and aware of various medical imaging procedures, including participation in My-Radiologist.com, a website created to effectively educate healthcare consumers and providers about the scope of services radiologists provide through real life, high impact success stories. Diversified Radiology also maintains a very active social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to not only maintain a dialogue open with patients, but to educate them on the subjects of various conditions, health trends, healthy lifestyle habits, and procedure explanations, particularly through the group’s “What to Expect” online video series, detailing the patient experience during x-rays, mammograms, DEXA scans, and other imaging procedures.
Our patients are more educated than ever in regard to the condition of their health. We recognize and respect that you have a voice in your own healthcare treatment and we urge you to use it. We advise patients to make their own decisions on who can best care for their specific healthcare needs. Talk to your primary care physician, radiologist, surgeon, cardiologist, etc. about your concerns, background, requirements, and exam results. You do have a choice in where and by whom you are treated. A true, successful care path cannot be determined without interactive patient collaboration.
Read more about how we view quality and safety here.