Patient Experience in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy

Assignment 1
Project Title: (7) Patient Experience in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy
Introduction:
The term patient experience is an ever-evolving notion of patient satisfaction. In the past,
patients’ satisfaction was centralized on the level of service that patients received while being
treated. In economics, the movie theatre and the hospital have a great deal in common; each
industry extracts commodities to make goods that deliver a service. A service is generally
something that a person can do themselves, but pay someone else to do for them. However, it can
also pertain to an action that cannot be performed by the individual themselves. For example,
when one pays for the service of an oil change for their car or a meal at a restaurant. The only
difference between these two industries is that the entertainment industry recognizes that while
receiving a service, the patron also gains an experience. Nobody leaves a movie theatre
discussing the level of service they received, but rather the experience they had.
More recently within the health care field, the term patient experience has emerged and is
defined by the Beryl Institute as “the sum of all interactions, shaped by the organization’s culture
that influences patient perceptions across the continuum of care”. [4] This means that every
interaction with health care professionals (HCPs), help to shape patients perceptions of their
health care experience. Although there is literature reviews based on the general level of patient
care, perception, and experience, there is little focus in the medical radiation sciences: medical
imaging and radiation therapy [1].
When patients routines change, it often has profound effects on their thinking and their
behaviour which changes the patients perceptions, which alters patient experience. If each
interaction with a HCP has an effect, then how can one measure going from good to great in
patients perception? The objective of this study is to survey patients of medical radiation
sciences (medical imaging, and radiation therapy) to determine a new approach to improving
patient experience.
Studying patient experience provides valuable information that can be used to enhance
the performance and relationships of HCPs with patients. Contemporary categories of patient
experience, developed and studied upon today, mostly encompass patient-centered care and
patient engagement. Although studies focusing on the broader entailment of patient experience
have been considerable in number, studies focusing specifically on the experience of medical
imaging and radiation therapy have been few. [1] Thus, a concern has risen in aspects of patients
experiencing diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy such as patient satisfaction, compliance,
and even mental health - explicitly, how these aspects relate to HCP interactions with patients.
By studying the effects and emotions provoked by HCP interactions with patients, practices can
be developed to have an overall improved patient experience. Specifically in the field of
diagnostics and radiation therapy, medical practice has become only more time-limited and
technologically focused promoting a reduction in the quantity and quality of HCP to patient
relations. Hence, the importance and necessity to better patient experience, particularly in the
understudied field of diagnostics and radiation therapy patient experience, has only increased.
The answer this study pursues is if patients are satisfied with how they are treated by
HCPs when undergoing medical imaging or radiation therapy. Furthermore, this study will
investigate ways to better patient to HCP relationships and interactions. With this information, an
overall better patient experience can be developed, allowing patients to obtain an improved
emotional outcome and contentment with HCP performance from undergoing medical imaging
or radiation therapy.
Lay Abstract:
Health is considered as one of the most important wealths that a person could ever have.
Ill health is dreaded by most and, to avoid such, people tend to do all that they can to avoid
getting ill. Understanding the need for medical solutions that are innovative and directly
addresses the problem of patients, doctors now use medical imaging and radiation therapy to
hasten healing process, avoid diseases, or to prolong life. Patients, however, need to understand
the benefits of such medical technologies and their impact on health.
Over the past 30 years, medical practitioners have been using the technology called
medical imaging. According to the Medical Imaging and Technology Association (MITA),
medical imaging “allows doctors to find disease earlier and improve patient outcomes”. [5] It has
been found to be effective in the early detection of diseases, which allows curative actions to
take place before an ailment becomes more serious or incurable. It is even considered one of the
top medical innovations in the past 1,000 years. Additionally, it encompasses the different
modalities of imaging and processes to image the body of the patients for purposes of diagnosis
and treatment. The use of effective, safe, and good quality imaging aids in decision-making and
may reduce procedures that are unnecessary, such as lessening the need for surgical
interventions.
Additionally, another medical breakthrough, radiation therapy, makes use of high energy
radiation that kills cancer cells or shrinks tumors. Examples of radiation that are used for the
treatment of cancer include gamma rays, X-rays and charged particles. The radiation may be
delivered through a radioactive material that is placed near the cancer cells in the body or
through a machine outside the body. An example of a radioactive material that would be placed
inside the body would be radioactive iodine. It is used for systematic radiation therapy, meaning
the substance travels in the blood to destroy cancer cells. [5]