Radiation Benefits for Breast Cancer Patients

Just because October is over and Breast Cancer Awareness Month has ended, does not mean that the quest for breast cancer survival techniques and treatments ends.  ASTRO, The American Society for Therapeutic Radiation Oncology, recently released an announcement confirming the advancements and radiation benefits for early-stage breast cancer patients. 

The release states, “Spreading the word that this life-saving treatment will help women keep their breasts and avoid a potentially disfiguring mastectomy while allowing them to live long, cancer-free lives is an important mission of ASTRO.”

In conjunction with surgery, radiation has been proven to reduce the risk of cancer spreading or reoccurring within the next 10 to 15 years.  The studies also “showed that radiation after surgery reduced the recurrence risk by half and the death rate by approximately one-sixth compared to women who had surgery alone.”


Many radiation oncology practices and outpatient radiology treatment centers agree with the findings in the article. Both Thomas Buchholz, MD, of the world famous MD Anderson Cancer Center and Bruce Haffty, MD, FASTRO, Chairman of Radiation Oncology at Robert Wood Johnson University Medical School, comment on the studies and the proven survival rates.

“It is important that patients are well-informed when it comes to their treatment options, which is why this announcement is so important.  The will to live and the drive to fight in cancer patients is unparalleled. This is a game-changer,” says Mike Ellis of University of Colorado Hospital’s TomoTherapy® Treatment Facility.

For more news on radiation oncology and radiation treatment advancements, visit any of the aforementioned links.  Also, feel free to read the entire press release by ASTRO for more information.

5 Steps to Improving Your Practice's Patient Experience

     In our opinion, the patient experience has always been at the highest level of importance when it comes to our company’s mission.  We are involved in the health care field because we are dedicated to providing quality care.  With an improved focus on the interactions between providers and patients due to the reform of our nations health care and the changes in terms of how medical services are paid for, many facilities and hospitals have been searching for a way to improve the patient experience.  Hospitals are automatically placed at a disadvantage when it comes to the patients’ experiences in comparison to independent facilities due in large part to their more expansive, often times impersonal, staff, stiff culture and focus on HCAHPS scores.  There are many ways for hospitals to combat these disadvantages but it takes a lot of work to implement change in large institutions.  However, for independent physicians and their centers, the steps to improving the patient experience are simple and easily attainable.

    There are 5 basic steps that can be taken to ensure the highest quality of care and service possible at your facility.  Patients and their families want to feel special and truly taken care of so the attention and integration of these steps by the full staff is imperative.

1. Adopting a Provider-Patient Communication Framework
2. Create a Culture of Care Reflective of Your Center’s Mission
3. Lead Quality Meetings to Improve Inter-Office Communication
4. Include Leaders in Communication Plan
5. Utilize Transparency to Learn From Patients

How to Increase Volume and Referral Rates Through Networking

We asked some of our independent diagnostic imaging centers what troubles they and their referring physicians seem to be experiencing in today’s market, here is one of the most popular results:

Issue:

It feels like all of our independent physicians volume has dropped and so has their radiology referrals…how can we help them?

Solution:

When it comes to the ways in which Physician Networking can benefit those involved, it is important to focus on the intangibles in order to stay within the realm of morality.  This concept of social networking is something that our online community has perfected. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and other social media whiz-kids, the intrinsic concept that was created by cave men to ensure that fire, food and water were accessible to all, has been adopted by our generation as a means to further success in business practices.  The same idea applies within the medical community, especially when it comes to radiologists and referring physicians and those physician opportunities.

                   
By performing physician integration, we help by introducing our radiologists to other types practices within the community that may have the ability to send them patients.  While it is easy to network specialists with primary care physicians, the latter often feels as if they are not benefiting in the same way, however that could not be farther from the truth.  Urgent care clinics are excellent resources for primary care physicians and specialists alike, as many patients go to urgent care because they have no primary care physician.
 
Beyond the basics of networking and practice-to-practice sales, we also perform market assessments then share worthwhile information about marketing and advertising with these potential referring physicians.  We provide advice on advertising campaigns and offer unique ways to reach the general patient population.  Distributing the offices’ business cards, flyers, brochures, etc throughout our own offices and in high traffic areas in the community, helps to improve market visibility in an easy and effective way.  Offering information about contracting with additional insurances is another way to provide access to a larger patient population.

Do You Know Your Competition?

One of the struggles that our clients are constantly facing as independent diagnostic imaging facilities is getting the upper-hand on the competition in their area.  It is often challenging to combat against a giant hospital system or facility that has been in place for years, it is even harder when you are newer to the area.  The important thing to keep in mind is that while they have certain strengths, they also have their weaknesses, which are undoubtedly areas that we can capitalize on.  The intrinsic differences can be anything from the varied feelings patients get when they walk into your center versus the competition to pricing to the friendliness and accessibility of your staff, techs and radiologists.

        

There are many ways to interpret these differences.  However when implementing a competition analysis it is best to perform a SWOT analysis and PEST analysis.  A SWOT Analysis examines the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of your facility in comparison to your competition.  On the other hand, a PEST Analysis examines the characteristics of a specific market by looking at the Political, Economical, Social and Technological aspects of the area.

By sitting down and really getting to know your competition, you will find the best way to beat them.  When it comes to diagnostic imaging, think about the magnet that your competition uses; it’s strength and manufacturer, additional modalities they might have, their hours of operation, their staff; including sales people, radiologists and technologists, cash pay options and pricing, their limitations and the advantages you have over those limitations.  By following these analysis templates and getting to know your competition, you will have the tools necessary to succeed in your market and shut out the competition.

Attention: Medical Techies of the Future

There is no doubt that in our technology driven society, our access to things like social media and advanced tech-toys, have drastically changed the ways in which we operate on a daily basis.  Things like video chatting, GPS and 3-D televisions have proven that George Lucas wasn’t far off base when he created Star Wars.  It’s only a matter of time until we all have robots as pets and holograph communication devices, and as mildly disturbing as it is that we are inching closer and closer to living out scenes from iRobot, the technology advancements in the medical world seem to be the saving grace, in some ways. 

     

   With more focus on the patient’s involvement in their own care process, many online sources have popped up, resulting in medical innovations that place more responsibility on the patients’ shoulders.  This freedom and opportunity has opened patients’ eyes to the price-sensitive market, and allowed them to learn more about the health care they are receiving.  This has increased price shopping in health care and also knowledge of the market.  However, the involvement of social media and technologies that allow physicians to collaborate directly with patients remotely has also increased the responsibility of the physicians to provide more quality and accessible attention to their patients.  With means of providing attention and information quickly and easily through these technologies, physicians are now able to tend to patients near and far, especially in rural or remote communities.

Now, since individuals are searching for ways to acquire affordable health care services, the concept of utilizing avatars, or 3-D characters online or in video games, on websites like Second Life has become increasingly popular.  These sites are not meant to replace health services, but rather to serve as a chat room type of setting it seems, however it also seems that the price of such attention is directly reflective of the level of quality and service. In a sense, you pay for what you get.  While websites like Twitter, Facebook and blogs have enabled patients to open their eyes to medical knowledge, it seems that the concept of having avatars or patients and physicians interacting like a video game may be taking it a step too far. 

       

On the other hand, we have websites like the recently created, Save On Medical, which allows patients to search by the service they require then learn about their options, and make decisions based on quality, convenience and price.  By providing patients with options, they are able to learn more about the procedures they are receiving, thus enhancing their experience and fostering a knowledge-driven health care society.

     

These technologies are going to be a great source for health care changes, now and in our near future, however it will be necessary on the physicians’’ part to ensure that we are not missing out on the most important part of health care, that whole portion about “care.” That idea of personalized service cannot go away, and the key to optimizing this opportunity will be for independent facilities to work both angles of care and technology.