This Week’s Question

I wanted to raise a patient-experience opportunity related to radiology access at UConn Health. While patients can view radiology reports in Epic/MyChart, they are unable to access their actual imaging studies. UConn is one of the few hospitals that does not currently offer this functionality, which is now standard at many peer institutions. Providing patients with secure access to their images would greatly benefit those who receive follow-up or emergency care at non-Epic institutions, reduce duplicate imaging, and improve care continuity. This would be especially impactful for maternal-fetal medicine patients, allowing access to additional ultrasound images that are already digital, without reliance on printouts. Enabling this capability would modernize the patient experience, support care coordination, and likely improve Press Ganey scores by aligning with current patient expectations.

Thank you for raising this. I’ve shared your comments with our Epic experts in IT. It turns out they already are working with radiology on this, understanding that there are a great number of steps and other systems involved, as there are implications for secure storage and of course patient privacy.

I always appreciate suggestions like this, as they show an understanding of the importance of serving our patients and a commitment to finding ways to improve our patients’ experience where possible. More to come on this.

 

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