The cost of fear and anxiety in radiology

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  • August 29 2024
  • 3 min read

White paper: The cost of fear and anxiety in radiology

Radiology departments are encountering more patients who are feeling fearful and anxious, which can disrupt the diagnostic imaging process. Medical staff may also experience increased anxiety and unknowingly transfer those feelings to patients. It’s therefore more important than ever to offer a better patient experience to improve first-time-right imaging and reduce operational costs. 

At-a-glance:

  • Research findings on fear and anxiety in radiology and their impact on radiology workflow and costs 
  • Performing scans without sedatives and anesthesia - studies have demonstrated that sedation can be avoided by changing stimuli in the environment 
  • Suggestions on how to reduce negative feelings, including environment enhancements, providing a degree of control for patients and clarity on what they can expect during the exam 
  • The impact improvements can have on clinical, operational and financial outcomes 
Clinician comforts patient

Clinician comforts patient

Opportunities to improve the patient experience

When interviewed about their recent [1]  diagnostic imaging experience, patients described experiencing both positive and negative feelings throughout the imaging process. While most expressed feelings of being well taken care of, respected and informed, many also cited feelings of nervousness, uncertainty and powerlessness.

Stress can have a physiological impact on some patient test results, which may lead to complications or discrepancies in diagnosis and, ultimately, in treatment.

When trying to reduce fear reactions, one important approach is to remove threatening stimuli from an environment. For anxiety, it is different. In an anxiety situation, it might be useful to introduce certain stimuli to guide the thinking or the cognitive process.

In a study evaluating 172 patients undergoing diagnostic exams, 69% experienced high levels of anxiety, which can lead to hyperactivity of the autonomic nervous system and produce symptoms that can directly influence exam results [2].

Fear and anxiety impact costs

Patient stress has a direct impact on the radiology workflow, cost and bottom-line. Patients who are feeling stressed may find it more difficult to understand or comply with commands given to them, so staff may have to take much longer to coach these patients through an exam. Finally, patients may become restless and make undesired movements or they may simply not show up at all, disrupting all scheduling efforts.

As healthcare professionals, we have an obligation to look at the whole patient, not just the images. We must consider the entire experience, and I believe every patient deserves a positive one.

peter-curatolo-md-350x350px.jpg
Peter W. Curatolo, MD
Radiologist
Beverly Hospital, a member of Lahey Health

Investing in the patient experience

Philips has combined a research-based approach and people-centric design thinking to develop positive distractions and a calming environment for the patient and an improved work environment for the staff.

By helping facilities uncover new opportunities to improve the patient, family and staff experience, care-related anxiety can be reduced at the source.

Tangible results

There’s growing evidence that suggests focusing on the experience of the patients, the work environment and needs of the staff can provide a positive impact across the board to improve clinical, operational and financial outcomes.

Featuring
Prof. Boris de Ruyter, Principal Scientist, Philips Research Europe
Prof. Boris de Ruyter
Principal Scientist
Philips Research Europe , Eindhoven, The Netherlands
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Boris de Ruyter joined Philips Research in 1995 working first as a Senior Scientist and since 2006 as Principal Scientist. His research focuses on the psychological impact of technological applications on people.

Iris Timmers, Sr. Product Manager, Experience Solutions, Philips Healthcare
Prof. Iris Timmers
Sr. Product Manager
Philips, Best, The Netherlands
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Iris Timmers has a Master’s of Science in industrial design engineering and 20 years of experience in the medical industry. In her work, she makes connections between patient experience and psychology, environment design and technology to invent and create multi-sensory environments.

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Footnotes
  1. Enhancing the patient experience of imaging: A survey of patient responses to recent imaging procedures; Philips Research; October 2017.
  2. Vogel WV, Valdés Olmos RA, Tijs TJ, Gillies MF, van Elswijk G, Vogt J. Intervention to lower anxiety of 18F-FDG PET/CT patients by use of audiovisual imagery during the uptake phase before imaging. J. Nucl. Med. Technol. 2012;40:92-98.
Disclaimer
Results are specific to the institution where they were obtained and may not reflect the results achievable at other institutions. Results in other cases may vary.