The advertising industry understands product education and uses it to win people over to their respective products. Through Facebook ads and ESPN commercials, we are constantly being educated about what we need and why we need it.
When patients receive education from their eye doctors about the proper care of their eyes, they often communicate this information to all their friends and family. For example, how many times have you heard something like, “My friend told me she can sleep in her contact lenses for months and the doctor says she is doing great. I want contact lenses like that.”
Whether you want to successfully pass your patients to the next generation of optometrists or you want to gain unlimited referrals, learning to educate patients about their eyes benefits everyone.
Be a great eye educator for your patients. Make sure they understand the importance of:
- Regular eye exams – Many patients do not understand why it is important to regularly (once a year) get their eyes examined. Use every interaction with patients to remind them of what you do when you care for their eyes. For example, when doing a slit lamp exam talk to the patient about what you are looking at and why. For the optometrist, the slit lamp is routine and monotonous, but for the patient it is a chance to learn something new or be reminded of something they think about only annually. Patients may not know that an eye doctor looks at the movement their contact lenses to make sure they don’t get an infection that could cause them to lose their sight.
- Not ignoring medical eye problems – During the course of a work day, an optometrist will likely see a patient who has early signs of macular degeneration and has ignored this medical eye problem for a long time. For example, the patient smokes but still hasn’t had an eye exam for five years, and is unaware that smoking increases the risk of blindness. The patient is also unaware that the macular degeneration started four years ago. How could this happen? Perhaps the patient’s last optometrist told her to return to the office in a year or two, but didn’t set an appointment. If the optometrist doesn’t educate the patient on her condition and insist on setting an annual appointment, the patient is left to assume that as long as her vision isn’t decreasing she doesn’t have a problem, and preventative care is optional.
- Comprehensive exams even if the result is refraction only – Optometrists will do a comprehensive eye exam and end the exam by telling the patient he needs to update his glasses. The optometrist did not discuss anything but the change in refraction because the optometrist did not find any problems. If the optometrist doesn’t mention the health of the eye, the patient logically assumes the eye exam was for glasses only. This not only hurts optometry but it is a disservice to the patient. Discuss healthy eyes also and what you are ruling out in an eye exam.
When whitewater rafting it is a break to ride the current through smooth waters. You get to rest, recuperate and prepare for the next whitewater. In optometry, riding the current can become a way of life and new ODs and experienced ODs alike can become comfortable with doing the minimum. You will get reimbursed the same for a comprehensive exam whether you barely talk to the patient or educate them extensively about their eyes. Everyone wins when all optometrists work together to educate our nation about the importance of regular eye care.
