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The Extra Mile
Patient surveys help Imaging center deliver patient satisfaction
Before she even underwent an outpatient imaging procedure, Margaret Smythe was surprised to receive an unusual invitation.
“They invited me to come down and look at an open MRI machine before I set up my appointment," she says of the staff at St. Anthony's Outpatient Imaging Center. "I came down with my husband and they explained everything to me and showed me what to expect. I was really impressed."
Smythe, a spry 70-year-old from Manchester,makes no secret of the fact that she was overly anxious about undergoing an MRI. “I had an MRI years ago on my leg, and even though my head wasn’t in the machine that time, I felt claustrophobic in the cigar-shaped tube,” she says. “There was no way I could do that again, especially if my whole body was going to be in there.” Smythe was able to see firsthand St. Anthony’s high-field open MRI, designed especially for patients anxious about enclosed spaces or too obese to be placed inside a traditional MRI scanner.
“It was the people at the Imaging Center. They understood that I was anxious and helped me get through that,” she says.
Trudy Trossauer, who came in for an outpatient ultrasound procedure, also raves about the customer service. “I have fibromyalgia, which makes some movements quite painful,” the South St. Louis resident wrote in a long letter to the staff after her appointment. “I was so scared, but (the staff) made me very comfortable … and explained what happens. I cannot say enough good things about how I was treated.”
St. Anthony’s regularly surveys its patients about their overall experience, both in the hospital and when receiving outpatient services. For the past several years in monthly survey reports, the outpatient imaging centers have scored an average of 4.95 on a 5-point scale for excellent service and caring employees.
Patient satisfaction also translates into physician satisfaction because St. Anthony’s works closely with referring physicians to ensure test results are returned in a timely manner. In fact, 97 percent of the time, reports are turned around to the physician in less than four hours. Complex scans requested in emergency cases can be completed and analyzed within 30 minutes.
“I always liked receiving compliments when I was working,” adds Trossauer. “So when I like the service or how I am treated, I tell someone. I gave the whole experience all fives!”
For information, please call our Health Access Line at 314-ANTHONY (268-4669) or 800-554-9550 or visit find a physician online.
At St. Anthony's, our vision is to be the area's premier health care organization
— and your first choice for health care services.