Lack Of Communication In Radiology

Communication. There is a lack of communication between the doctor, patient, nurses, and scheduler. This is an area the staff really struggles with in the Radiology department. The doctor’s nurse will call over to schedule a CT or MRI, the preauthorization that is required will not be done yet and the examination gets scheduled. The nurse states that the preauthorization is getting worked on it and then it will be faxed over. When the patient gets to the department there isn't a preauthorization for the study that is scheduled. So the next step is having the patient wait until Radiology can get a hold of the nurse to get the preauthorization number. The Radiology technologists are unable to perform the study until the preauthorization is completed, …show more content…
Another issue that goes along with that is when the patient has to drink for a CT scan. The technologists says to come get the drink the day before and drink at home then when the patient arrives the next day the patient can be scanned right away. The nurses forget to tell the patients to come get the drink so when the patient gets here in the morning and have to drink, once the patient is finished the technologists will scan them an hour after that, this makes the patient frustrated. It’s also frustrating to the Radiology staff because the staff expects to scan the patient as soon as the check in is complete. If the patient hasn't drank yet, the Radiology department has to push the patient back on the schedule which in turn, put the department behind and gets the schedule further behind.
Lack of communication is definitely playing a big role when it comes to patient waiting time. This is a group effort from all of the departments involved. It’s not just the doctor’s office’s fault or Radiology staff, it’s everyone. Whoever schedules the appointment needs to state to the nurse the patient needs to pick up the prep the day before so the patient can get in and out as fast as possible. Research suggests that shortening wait times will improve patient satisfaction score and would be beneficial (Anderson, Camacho, & Balkrishnan, …show more content…
There is nothing the Radiology department can do in this case. The only thing to do is to communicate with the outpatients, that there is an emergency and apologize for the wait. This will help inform the patient that this is why the technologists aren’t able to perform the exam on time. Patients appreciate communication with staff if the exams are pushed back. “It has been made evident that most patients waiting prefer to be provided with updated information regarding the progress during a visit” (Alijani, Kwun, Omar, & Williams,