Clinician comforts patient
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.
Clinician comforts patient
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].
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Enhancing the MRI experience for patients and staff
Explore the benefits of Philips Ambient Experience in MRI – an evidence-based, people-centric design, transforming the care environment.