Digital Tools for the Future Interventional Radiology Practice

Excerpt

For many years, interventional radiologists have been at the forefront of innovation. We have been pioneers in the field of technological developments and innovation in medicine that have shaped an industry and which has evolved into being one of the most dynamic and fast-growing subspecialties. However, the way we interact with our patients has not changed significantly, and we have to admit that our relationship with them has been “very remote” [1]. The majority of patients don’t know much about IRs until they are on our interventional suite. We are often seen as the technicians for our clinical colleagues. Many of our patients will probably never ever see us again, which makes us almost invisible to the patient who will most likely see another clinical colleague for his follow-up appointment. This is a recognized problem, and apart from the obvious issues that affect the quality of patient care, it is not good “customer” service. Of course patients should not only be treated as customers, but when it comes to promoting IR and being competitive, we need to embrace the concept of customer service and customer engagement [2]. These phrases are commonplace in the corporate world and are a core component of every modern business endeavor. …