This post was contributed by Nicole Saphier, MD.
FOX News Channel recently asked me to provide ongoing comment on health care policy on their national morning show “Fox & Friends.” As a radiologist and physician, I jumped at the chance. I think physicians should provide public context on important health care issues. And radiologists must reinforce that we are physicians with vital expertise that can help ensure health care reform actually makes care better.
I am not suggesting that every radiologist has the opportunity to be on television every Thursday. However, if we look for opportunities to raise our profile in practices and our communities, we will find them — whether in person or online.
Social media may be a place to start. I have launched a webpage and a Twitter account to maintain the patient and community connections I have made during my career. I created the #RadsHaveAFace hashtag to urge all of us to spend face time with our patients.
I am a breast imaging radiologist. I understand that every radiology discipline may not lend itself to regularly seeing patients, but I will bet that many other radiologists (or at least one on the radiologist team) can make time to see a patient or two. Reinforcing the patient experience is a building block of reinforcing your role as one of “his” or “her” doctor (in the patient’s view).
Offering yourself as an expert interview source is another avenue to higher visibility. Brett Parkinson, MD, and I will share our media expertise at the upcoming ACR/SBI Breast Imaging Symposium in Los Angeles. If you will be at that meeting, and I invite you to check it out.
The ACR provides patient- and family-centered care resources, including a whole series of Imaging 3.0 case studies, to help equip you to engage patients in their care experience.
In the meantime, what do you think are some things that have worked for you to increase your patient interaction or visibility?
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