Because imaging often serves as the hospital's "front door," seamless access is at the heart of its value proposition. According to a recent member survey, access is the most important competitive factor in any imaging market, and poor access the single biggest detriment for patients seeking an imaging provider.

This study outlines three critical steps for improving imaging access to keep up with the evolving expectations of your consumers. We've provided tactics to walk you through each one, as well as a suite of downloadable tools and resources to help you take action.

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Uber, Instacart, and . . . imaging?

Consumer expectations for instant access are affecting all industries, from Uber's impact on transportation to GrubHub's entrance into food service. These companies are innovating traditional business models by finding new ways to meet market demands for convenience.

In many ways, health care is no different. Consumers are frequenting retail clinics and using telehealth services. Inability to meet new access standards won't just negatively affect imaging—because imaging often results in downstream care for the health system, imaging access breakdowns can causes volume leakage and stall system revenue. Read more about the new imaging access standard on p.5.

Three steps to streamlining imaging access

Step 1: Diagnose access vulnerabilities

Before imaging leaders can start to improve access, they need to measure their program's current access performance by building an understanding of its strengths and vulnerabilities. This step offers two tactics to help you gather market intelligence and compare your access metrics to your peers. See both on p. 11.

Step 2: Advance scheduling capabilities

Scheduling departments often provide the first interaction that patients have with an imaging program—which is why your access improvement campaign should start there. Use our four tactics to build a centralized scheduling department that provides patients and referring physicians with a tailored and seamless experience. View all four on p. 19.

Step 3: Extend access across the continuum

A sustainable access strategy continues to enhance convenience past the point of getting patients in the door. Use our two tactics to improve access after the point of scheduling with the goal of building consumer loyalty. Get them on p. 39.

Download related imaging resources.