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Pagers signal less stress for Hollings patients

by Cindy A. Abole
Public Relations
Radiology’s Mary Platt, a cancer survivor, loves the ease and convenience of HCC’s new patient pagers. Patients are able to stroll around the block, visit the cafeteria or perform other leisurely activities around campus instead of sitting idly in the center’s waiting area. Here, Platt chose to return to her desk. 

Ask any patient visiting the Hollings Cancer Center (HCC) what’s their least favorite thing to do and most will agree on one thing: It’s the waiting, waiting and more waiting.

“One of the biggest complaints concerning patients is the waiting time to see their physician,” said Sterling Hannah, volunteer coordinator for HCC. “If we can somehow ease the stress and boredom for patients, it would be wonderful.”

Hannah found a way. She contacted Rachel Schanberg, director of the Cancer Patient Support Program at Duke University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center. She learned about a successful pager program that Duke created to provide relief for cancer patients as they waited during appointments.

Now the 200 people who report to the Hollings Center check-in desk every day to attend follow-up or initial appointments can choose between sitting in the waiting rooms or spending their time doing something relaxing and leisurely before seeing their physician. 

The center provides patient care to more than 36,000 patients. With its staff of 35 to 40 specialists, the clinic days can be hectic and schedules can easily fall behind. 

As patients check in, they provide a blood sample at the lab and enter one of three first-floor waiting rooms to stay until called. Depending upon physician schedules and other variables, the wait can last from 15 minutes to several hours.

The main waiting area is not much for distractions. There’s magazines and other reading materials; bulletin boards filled with flyers, messages and pamphlets promoting the latest program activity; a TV suspends from the ceiling giving visitors a chance to watch CNN; a water cooler and hospitality area for tea or coffee. In one corner, a patient education resource center kiosk sits idly surrounded by rows of stiffly padded chairs. 

“The program provides relief during lengthy waits,” said Schanberg. “It allows our patients to chose other activities besides sitting and waiting. They can take a stroll, walk to the chapel or nearby gardens or have lunch on campus.”
 Hannah adopted the idea and approached marketing associate Carol Cottrell with Alltel in North Charleston. Alltel donated 15 pagers. The cost for MUSC is nominal, amounting to less than $15 per month for insurance. For Alltel, this collaboration marked the first opportunity for pagers to be used within a hospital setting. 

“It’s a great program,” said Cottrell, describing Alltel’s practice to help non-profit organizations within communities. “I can understand the stress built from waiting for a patient’s appointment. A pager is a communication tool that allows people to be themselves. They can walk around and feel easy about leaving the waiting area.”

Mary Platt is a cancer survivor. Last September, Platt was diagnosed with breast cancer and began spending time as a patient at HCC. A special projects coordinator for MUSC Radiology, Platt has been with MUSC for more than 24 years.

“It was terrible, especially during the first few appointments where I didn’t know much,” Platt said. “There was a lot of anticipation and a basic fear of the unknown. The waiting just magnified that.”

A year later and a lumpectomy, axial dissection and several rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatments behind her, Platt is recovering well. She’s a member of the Hollings Breast Cancer Support Group. Several times a year, she visits Hollings for follow-up appointments with her physicians Paul L. Baron, M.D., associate professor of surgery, and Rayna Kneuper-Hall, M.D., assistant professor of medicine.

Arriving for her Monday afternoon appointment, Platt spent her time doing something else besides sitting in the waiting room.  She checked out one of the 15 pagers available at the clinic’s volunteer desk and headed out the front door of HCC.

Walking back to her second floor office in radiology, she felt less stressed knowing she didn’t need to sit in the crowded waiting rooms. “If I didn’t have anything else to do, I’d sit outside in the horseshoe, read a book and chill out. In the waiting room, everyone’s nervous.”

In less than 10 minutes, Platt received the page and headed directly back to Hollings. She has just about the same amount of time to check back in and make her appointment.

“The program provides needed relief during lengthy waits,” Hannah said. “It offers a distraction for patients who are normally stressed at this time. It also gives them a choice on how to spend their time without inconveniencing both the physician or the schedule.”