The Suzanne H. Arnold Center for Breast Health staff from left to right: Lisa Gingrich, Lynn Kaufman, Sharon Cless and Heidi Fischer.
Mammograms can be an intimidating experience for women. The team at the Suzanne H. Arnold Center for Breast Health is continually working to help patients have the best possible experience before, during and after an appointment.
During a regular huddle in fall 2017, the team began discussing ideas to enhance a customer’s overall experience from their first screening to any follow-up appointments, while also increasing access to care through ease of scheduling.
“We began by assessing our process of triaging cases and ensuring we have all of the information to provide the patient with the best possible care,” said Sharon Cless, manager of mammography and DXA. “Having a patient’s complete medical history and any previous imaging before conducting a screening mammogram gives the provider something to compare current results to, which helps them more accurately identify if there have been any changes in the patient’s health.”
“Having the knowledge of previous scan results helps our providers paint the most accurate picture for our patients, reducing the potential for unnecessary –and unnerving—follow-up appointments,” added Lynn Kaufman, director diagnostic development.
To capture this information in advance of a patient’s appointment, the Breast Center staff collaborated with LG Health’s Centralized Scheduling to ensure patients were asked questions that would help identify previous providers and imaging in an appropriate time frame.
The results are already starting to show. On average, the staff used to see as many as 30 patients a day who did not have previous scans included in their medical record. Now it averages around three.
“By reviewing critical information in advance, the team is more prepared and aware of the patient’s needs and previous care plan,” Cless said. “The amount of time our physicians need to read imaging has also decreased because they have a better idea of the case going into it – all of this helps us get results to our patients in a timely manner.”
In addition, the team wanted to ensure that more patients were staying on track with their annual mammogram, so they began looking at what other industries do.
“We got the idea from the dentist,” Cless said. “A team member suggested that the center provide patients the opportunity to either schedule next year’s appointment before they leave the office or fill out a reminder-to-schedule postcard, just like the dentist.” Lisa Gingrich, lead mammography technologist, said, “It was an idea thrown out at huddle, and during that time, a staff member volunteered to take on the task of scheduling appointments. We decided we would try it for a couple weeks to see how it goes.”
Within two weeks of implementation, the team evaluated the process and made small improvements, including additional signage and verbal reminders. Since October, more than 1,800 patients have scheduled their annual mammogram for the upcoming year.
If a patient chooses to schedule their appointment at a later date, they will receive that reminder-to-schedule postcard about two weeks before they are due for their one-year exam.
“We will see the benefits of this process change a year from now, but based on what we have observed thus far, I suspect it will help patients stay current with their exams,” Kaufman said.
Throughout the health system, the huddle process has given way to large and small improvements that all started as an idea. Ultimately, these improvements have allowed LG Health to continuously improve patient care and drive better results.