Current Imaging Process - Article Example

At the beginning of the process, the ordering physician's office calls the respective imaging areas such as CT, MRI, or other radiology exam areas to schedule a patient exam. At this time the radiology outpatient receptionist in the imaging area schedules the appointment for the appropriate date and time. During this initial process, the receptionist confirms the date with the ordering physician's office, which will then notify their patient of the scheduled exam date. The ordering physician's office confirms the scheduled date with the patient, and they are notified to arrive at the radiology outpatient imaging center where the first encounter takes place between the radiology receptionist and the patient.

During this first encounter, the receptionist would typically greet the patient, confirm the appointment, verify the patient's identification, and validate the method of payment.  The second point of patient contact in the process takes place when the assigned radiology technician calls the patient from the radiology waiting area. During this encounter, the technician identifies the patient and escorts them into the exam room for an additional interview. The patient is fully involved in the process as they are asked to help provide a relevant medical history, as well as the primary purpose of their visit.

After obtaining the information the technician positions the patient for imaging and takes the required images that were ordered. Once the imaging process is completed the technician reviews the images taken and walk the patient out. After the patient has been released the technician completes the exam by sending the final images to the radiologist for review and dictation. With the current dictation process, the raw verbal dictation completed by the radiologist is submitted to the Radiology Information System (RIS) and Hospital Information System (HIM) for typing by the medical transcription company.

The medical transcriptionist types up the draft report, and it is submitted back to the RIS and HIS for review and approval by the radiologist. The approved report is then electronically signed by the radiologist and is prepared for distribution. The signed report is returned to RIS and HIM, where the radiology outpatient receptionist prints the reports for distribution to the ordering physician by fax or mail.