Patients will start to back up in the lobby or clinical exam rooms. When the technologist has to transport the patient to and from the imaging department, you will see productivity drop by 25% or more. This allows for the radiologic technology just to focus on simply obtaining the x-rays. The runner also returns the patient after the exam back to the appropriate location in the clinic. A runner is a person who brings the patient to the radiology suite. One greatly efficient clinical model has an employee of the clinic designated to be a runner. Once they are dressed you tell them the doctor will get the results in the next few days and off they go, back to the exam room, lobby or out of the clinic. You can be completing your paperwork while they are getting dressed. Once completed you can let them patient change back into their personal clothing. With the patient properly prepped, you can begin the positioning and acquire your images. Watches come off for wrist x-rays and jeans come off for pelvic or leg x-rays. A woman’s bra would also need to be removed if it contained metal underwires. A chest x-ray, for example, would require the removal of a shift if it had metal snaps down the front or on the pockets. Anything with metal should be removed if it is on the body part being imaged. Some exams will require that the patient changes out of their street clothes and into a clinical gown. Once you have the patient identified correctly and the order is correct, you can proceed with your examination. A quick visit with the ordering doctor will clear this up and you can get back on track with a corrected order. Technologists will come across times when a patient will say their left arm is hurt but the order says to do an exam on the right arm. This will help to verify if the correct exam has been ordered by the doctor. Second, you verify the reason they came to the clinic. Many non-English speaking patients will simply nod their heads yes to every question no matter what. You never read the information from the order out loud and ask if it is accurate. You always ask them to say this information. Common rules say you have to ask for two or three “identifiers.” Identifiers are the name, date of birth and/or medical record number. You will then review the exam order to make sure the information is correct.įirst, you have to verify their identity. After a warm greeting and introduction, the patient should know your name and what you do for the clinic. Patients will come to your area with an injury. They know how to be very efficient with each patient. These are a technologist who has been performing x-rays for a long time. I know of a very busy orthopedic clinic that sees a patient every five minutes. It is not uncommon to see a new patient every 10 minutes. Because of the low acuity, these exams will be short and quick. Once a physician finishes examining his patient he will often times order an x-ray or other imaging exams. In clinics, patients are sent to your location from nearby physician offices. In an outpatient setting, you have a more stabilized patient load and zero trauma (outside of office drama, of course.) If you are interested in a typical day in the hospital setting check my article here. Shutdown the equipment and restock suppliesĭaily routines in an outpatient clinic setting are different from the hospital setting.Make sure all that your images are in the right place.At the end of the day finish all paperwork and restock supplies.Take care of each patient one by one and treat them as if they were your family.Turn on the imaging equipment and perform the proper warm-up procedures.Check your examination rooms and control room for proper supply stock.Check the daily schedule and plan for the appropriate patient volume.Briefly meet as a team and discuss the day’s objectives.The typical day for a rad tech working in an outpatient clinic setting:
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