Bringing Comfort and Communication into the Spotlight

Every October, the College recognizes Breast Cancer Awareness Month — a time to focus on making patients aware of the benefits of early detection, reduce confusion about screening guidelines and inform patients about what they can expect from breast cancer screening. Similar to other commissions in the College, the ACR Commission on Patient- and Family-Centered Care (PFCC) is doing its part to educate patients on when they should begin mammography screening, the types of screening options such as mammography and breast MRI and the importance of adhering to screening recommendations.

The Commission’s Patient Engagement and Outreach Committees are supporting the College’s efforts to promote patient education around breast cancer screening. “What makes breast cancer screening so important is the actual impact it has on patients’ lives,” says Anand K. Narayan, MD, PhD, chair of the PFCC Outreach Committee and vice chair of equity in the breast-imaging division at the University of Wisconsin. “We are often the first ones to tell patients that they have a life-changing diagnosis. These conversations may be among the most meaningful discussions in a person’s entire life.”

Educating patients on screening and diagnoses is an important but complicated aspect of a radiologist’s job. Finding a way to give patients the information they need in a way they can understand is crucial. Fortunately, the PFCC Commission is hard at work on finding a solution to bridge the gaps in communication for both radiologists and patients.

Raising Awareness Through Animations

In October 2022, the PFCC Patient Engagement Committee launched a new series of animated short videos to help patients understand the appropriate use of imaging procedures. Source content for the videos comes from the ACR Appropriateness Criteria® (AC) patient-friendly summaries, which are written by nonphysicians.

“When we started creating the patient-friendly animations, we decided we would begin with Breast Cancer Awareness Month,” says Nina S. Vincoff, MD, vice chair of the PFCC Commission. “Our feeling was that October is a time when everybody’s talking about breast cancer and patients will be out there looking for information. This was a good opportunity for us to release information that was evidence-based and that came out of the work that ACR has done with the AC.”

 

The videos cover topics ranging from what to do if you feel a lump in your breast to different screening options for dense breast tissue. They also include dozens of animations translated into Spanish to reach a wider demographic This month, the PFCC Commission expects to release several new videos related to breast cancer screening, including a video titled “Talking to Friends and Loved Ones About Breast Cancer Screening” that will be released in both English and Spanish languages.

Sonya Bhole, MD, chair of the PFCC Patient Engagement Committee, adds that she wanted to provide an option to put patients’ minds at ease when talking to a doctor. “With Breast Cancer Awareness Month coming up, anxiety is very high in patients, and we find that patients are constantly searching the internet for answers,” Bhole says. “Unfortunately, there’s so much misinformation out there. I think the best thing we can do for our patients through the PFCC is to make sure that we not only have evidence-based information out there, but evidence-based information that’s easily accessible and easy to understand. Sometimes, the jargon can be very hard for patients to comprehend.” According to Bhole and Vincoff, the Patient Engagement Committee has received overwhelmingly positive feedback on the animations and hopes to continue to build relationships with healthcare organizations to promote the animations and spread their message.

Improving Communication

While it is important to educate patients about screening, it’s also crucial for radiologists to learn how to properly communicate with patients. According to Narayan, using the right words and tone when talking to patients about a certain diagnosis or scans could help ease their anxiety about what to expect during a screening examination. This led Narayan’s Outreach Committee to focus on improving communication with patients in the breast-imaging space. Narayan and his colleagues presented an educational exhibit at the April 2025 Society of Breast Imaging Symposium, titled “Deploying Patient-Centered, Equitable Communication Strategies in Breast Imaging Clinics: An Educational Toolkit.” On Nov. 30 at RSNA, Narayan and his colleagues will present an exhibit titled “Core Communication Skills for Patient Encounters in Radiology: A Toolkit,” which focuses on offering specific tools to provide a high-quality, patient-centered-care approach during imaging encounters.

“A key gap that a lot of people in radiology have is we don’t necessarily get a lot of training and knowledge about how to communicate effectively with patients and really provide best practices for that,” Narayan says. “I think a lot of trainees who have looked at some of the work that the Outreach Committee has done have said [the] ‘sessions have helped to make me feel a lot more comfortable when I communicate with patients.’”

Narayan wants the PFCC Outreach Committee to continue to help radiologists refine their patient communication skills. “I think that’s something that we can collectively improve upon as a society,” he says. “The next step is to really provide the best practices. I think through our Commission and through our Outreach Committee specifically, we are able to reach different audiences and provide high-quality education on patient communication. That will really make a difference in terms of moving our field forward.”

By Alex Utano, associate editor, ACR Press

Celebrating the PFCC Commission’s 10th Anniversary

From May 2 through May 6, 2026, the PFCC Commission will be celebrating its 10th anniversary. The celebration will look at how the PFCC Commission has been working for a decade to highlight the importance of patient-centered care in radiology. Amanda Crowell Itliong, who was posthumously awarded the ACR Distinguished Service award in 2024, said of the PFCC, “Including patients and families isn’t just a nice idea; it’s the only way to do business. We’re ready to share insight and help with the perspective that radiology teams don’t have access to otherwise. Scanxiety (scan-related anxiety) is on the rise for patients and families because of the fear and stress related to imaging. I believe it’s the responsibility of radiology teams to find ways to better support us through these experiences and that will lead directly to happy repeat ‘customers.’”

Visit these other PFCC resources:

• PFCC Commission Page
• PFCC Resource Center
• LCS Resources
• PFCC’s YouTube Channel