Director’s Cut

BY BETH ALLEN

EFFICIENCY IS THE KEY

How is it possibly December of 2022? Where did the year go? In this column last December, I spoke of where we go from here and what 2022 would look like. What would we accomplish? How would we get where we want to be?

We have moved from pandemic to endemic. We tackled and conquered a global contrast shortage. We endured supply chain constraints, staffing challenges, recruitment difficulties, inflation and that never-ending stress that comes from trying to do too much with too little.

I mentioned that 2022 might be “the year of the tech.” While I am not sure that anyone has made that claim, imaging is more important than ever. There are new radiopharmaceuticals, pre-surgical image guidance studies, new artificial intelligence opportunities and scanners that can process information more quickly than ever. But we still have the human element. Patients can only go so fast and so can our team members, for that matter. Fast is not the keyword; efficient is. Work smarter not harder. Just because we did things a certain way before does not mean we need to continue that way. Efficiency is the key.

Being efficient means that we have the time to listen to our patients tell their story. It may mean we have some extra time in our schedule to bring a patient in early or work someone in that showed up on the wrong day. It means that we have time to do all the tasks expected of us without the stress of trying to do too many things at one time.

In order to become the most efficient, we can break down each task into separate steps. We can identify what steps are redundant or not necessary, which can be combined, and prioritize the order in which steps should be completed.

I used to be a fan of letting people do things however they wanted to do them. I do not like to micromanage. We worked with Siemens on a project with a goal of making our MRI scheduling, authorization and implant research more efficient. As an ice breaker for the group, the leaders asked us all to draw the profile of a pig. That was it, however you want to draw the pig. Some of the pigs we just the profile of the face, some included the entire body and two legs, some had all four legs, but no two were alike. We all interpreted the instruction differently.

For Step 2, we were given a piece of paper with lines dividing the paper into nine sections. There were specific instructions directing us what should go in each of those sections. Once complete, every pig drawn was similar. We all knew exactly what we were supposed to do efficiently and precisely, with no room for interpretation. This was a light bulb moment for me. When I give instruction, I know what I mean but the person receiving that instruction may interpret differently. This is where inefficiency and waste can come in.

By being clear and concise in our processes, we may find that we have time for the extras. Time to take care of our patients and take care of our team. We hear about time on team member stay interviews, our patient survey comments and in discussions with our vendors. We can’t go out and buy more time. We have to work smarter not harder so that we have time for the human element.

And now we have completed another trip around the sun. Time is precious. Let’s spend it on the good stuff and make the required stuff easy. I am looking forward to 2023 – my 40th year in imaging. I don’t believe it.

I have learned to adapt and change. I am still fascinated by something new every day. One thing has remained the same, and that is the fact that there is the same amount of time in each day. In order to make life easier for our patients and teams, let’s take the time to become efficient so we have a few minutes to enjoy each other. Thanks for all you do! •

- Beth Allen, RT(R)(CT), CRA, is the director, clinical operations at Banner Imaging.