“I’m sorry, Mr. Smith, we can’t do your procedure today. It says here you had toast and orange juice this morning. Let’s get you rescheduled”.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Jones, your appointment time was 7:30 am to drink contrast for your CT, and it’s nearly 9am. Our schedule is full for the rest of today, we will have to reschedule your exam for another day”.
“I’m sorry for the confusion, Miss Johnson, but this NM exam takes several hours to complete. I’m happy to reschedule you.”
How many times a week does this happen in your department? And why, with seemingly endless number of communication channels for patients, does it keep happening? As Imaging leaders, you are in a unique position to lead lasting improvement projects to solve to these problems by tapping into the skills rooted in the Science of Communication. Communication entails much more than speaking clearly, writing an easy-to-understand memo, and designing an impactful presentation. Communication also includes using persuasion and influence, managing a message through “noise” and “context”, and mitigating perception risks - critically important to all successful change management and process improvement efforts, and none more crucial to patient care and operational metrics than patient facing information. Today we will explore the depth and breadth of Communication Science, and why it’s critical to develop and deploy these skills as a key part of your leadership tool kit. We will focus on imaging-specific patient communication challenges, how and why they occur, and discuss strategies rooted in communication science you can use to improve patient satisfaction and operational metrics in your imaging department.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the three distinct parts of any communication / information exchange and how each impacts your imaging patients and your department operations.
Leverage the Science of Communication to elevate your change management and process improvement toolkit.
Use tools and strategies drawn from the science of health communication to drive improvements that positively impact your patients, operational metrics, and fiscal bottom line.