MONDAY, Oct. 30, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Many radiologists would like to communicate more directly with patients but are constrained by workload or time, according to a study published in the November issue of Radiology.
Jennifer L. Kemp, M.D., from Diversified Radiology of Colorado in Lakewood, and colleagues surveyed radiologists regarding attitudes and experiences concerning patient-centered radiology. They examined survey respondents' barriers to communicating more directly with patients and explored their perceptions of how to overcome those barriers. A total of 5,999 radiologists were invited by email to complete the survey anonymously.
The researchers found that 89 percent of the 694 respondents (12 percent response rate) agreed that promoting awareness of the role of radiology in patients' overall health care is important to how they practice. However, 73 percent reported that time or workload frequently prevented them from communicating directly with patients. Also, 74 percent reported that a personal sense of satisfaction was likely to motivate them to communicate more directly with patients. Many reported that changes to reimbursement and compensation would enable them to communicate with patients more directly.
"Many radiologists support the concept of communicating more directly with patients but report they are constrained by time or workload. Changes to reimbursement schemes may help mitigate these barriers to one crucial aspect of patient-centered care," conclude the authors.
Two authors disclosed ties to General Electric and one to Echopixel.
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