In healthcare, following rote procedures doesn't always cut it. To treat the whole human, you have to account for subjective realities. It's no secret that the way patients experience, perceive, and respond to treatment makes a huge difference in outcomes.
These factors loom large in urodynamics testing. Because urology seems like wizardry to many, it's not uncommon for practitioners to face hurdles in patient communication and understanding. But these mountains can be overcome with dedicated effort. Here are some thoughts on creating a friendlier urodynamics testing environment that ensures patient comfort and satisfaction.
1. Educate Patients Properly in Advance
Teaching people what to expect cuts through the fear factor. When patients know what they'll go through and why, they'll be less wary.
Patient education is a common practice, but it's critical to go the full distance. Don't just offer up a pamphlet or a link to an informational website. Have a genuine conversation that contextualizes the procedure well before it happens. This will make it far easier to assuage people's fears, and more importantly, understand why they're afraid.
2. Walk Patients Through Procedures Thoroughly
When explaining urodynamics testing, don't gloss over the steps. They may be familiar to you and your team, but you've got the benefits of advanced training.
Instead of omitting things because the patient might not get what's going on, take it upon yourself to help them understand. They won't become experts overnight, but familiarizing them with each step helps nonetheless. By sketching out the entire procedure, you'll help them feel more confident while it's happening because they'll have a better grasp of the roadmap.
3. Train for Confidence, Not Just Competency
Your staff should be competent enough to perform urodynamics testing to accepted standards. But they should also be well-trained enough to feel confident in their actions and take the unexpected in stride.
People inevitably feel lost when subjected to new diagnostics or treatments. When your patients ask your nurses and specialists what's going on, how will they answer? By training your team to understand the holistic scope of testing, such as the underlying theory, common patient concerns, and how procedures are billed, you'll equip them to respond more effectively.
Thorough training also reduces the odds of errors and makes it easier to administer tests with minimal delays. Trained staff are better at catching data artifacts, generating reports, and alerting you to abnormalities. There's no better patient confidence booster than procedures that go smoothly, so be sure your team has the required knowledge and hands-on skills to make it happen.
4. Control the Testing Environment
Many factors contribute to ideal patient experiences, and your testing environment is a big one. For instance, one 2021 study found that the way patients perceived the quality of physical testing environments impacted their experiential satisfaction. This relationship was reinforced by patient-doctor relationships and patient levels of empowerment and dignity. The researchers also asserted that patients with more fear about their health were more sensitive to these kinds of circular relationships.
The way you manage your testing environment speaks volumes. After all, patients can't always see the fruits of your work behind the scenes. It's critical to build a testing environment that projects your professional competency, so pay attention to:
- Orderly design elements that make it easy to navigate your clinic or facility, find restrooms, and seek assistance
- Unified aesthetic layouts that tie everything together — you can still show your personality, but do it uniformly
- Regular upkeep procedures that go beyond simple sanitation and let patients see you value cleanliness — presentation matters!
- Unseen environmental elements, like sound dampening and climate control, that set your facility apart from hectic or unwelcoming surroundings
5. Address Concerns Promptly
Don't wait around to field patient questions and concerns. But don't make the mistake of thinking you'll be set if you simply reply promptly.
Take a cue from the world of customer service — modern brands succeed by building systems that let them communicate effectively. For instance, you might create a widget on your web portal to let patients know roughly how long they'll be waiting for test results. Or you could add a feature that tells them you've received their complaint or feedback and will respond soon.
Notice anything? You don't necessarily have to send a substantive message to make people happy. The mere act of letting them know you're working on a solution does wonders. Of course, you'll have to follow up afterward, but building a comprehensive communication framework often makes that step easier.
6. Learn From Established Standards
You don't have time to test-drive every possible practice administration methodology. So save yourself some valuable effort by learning from those who've gone before you.
Clinical care standards and frameworks provide vital information on how to plan and administer tests for improved experiences. They can often help you master things you might never have assumed would be issues, like positioning patients for comfort. For instance, you might not have known that:
- Assigning recordation to clerical staff can improve throughput and reduce wait times.
- How you time measurements can potentially invalidate your tests with erroneous data.
- Patients need to void before urodynamic studies.
- Most urodynamics equipment requires regular preventative maintenance, such as conducting calibrations, checking cables, updating software, and cleaning sensors.
From customizing your interfaces for streamlined diagnostics to performing procedures interactively with patients, it's critical to follow an established framework. You can learn more about some of our recommended best practices here.
Help Your Patients Get More Comfortable With Urodynamics Testing
If you want to foster good experiences, then take the time to understand how patients relate to their health. Each person you diagnose or treat brings a different set of circumstances and a unique perspective to the table. Build a clinical system that focuses on adapting to these unique viewpoints. In doing so, you'll gain the power to respond to emergent concerns more effectively and fluidly.
Learn what it takes to build a patient-centric practice. Reach out to discover how we can help you streamline your training, urodynamics testing, and administrative workflows.
If you organization needs help with urodynamics staffing, reach out to BHN using the button below:
