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Wellness for Diabetes Patients

Expand your practice by promoting lifestyle changes in these patients

JEFFRY D. GERSON, O.D., F.A.A.O.

Does a week or even a day go by that you don’t see a patient in your practice who has diabetes? I would wager the answer is “no,” as nearly 30 million Americans have the disease, and close to one in three American adults have pre-diabetes, a condition that will most likely lead to diabetes without intervention. Guess what? We, as optometrists, are in an excellent position to intervene by endorsing wellness to these patients.

Here, I explain why and the benefits of doing so.

Why optometrists

Although doctors perceive discussing diet, weight loss and quitting smoking with patients who have diabetes as an uphill battle, optometrists may have an inside track with these patients that other physicians do not have.

Specifically, patients who have diabetes fear vision loss above all else. That’s right. Even though these patients are more likely to die from a heart attack or have a stroke than they are to go blind, it is the threat of blindness that tends to influence their healthcare decisions.

The benefits

There are three benefits associated with promoting wellness to diabetes patients:

1. Patient loyalty and referrals. When you show your patients you truly care about their overall wellness, they become more endeared to you and your practice, prompting referrals to family and friends.

2. Patient compliance to appointments/recommendations. Once patients are aware of the effect their lifestyle has on their vision, they are more apt to adhere to your recommendations and follow-up appointments, a plus for both patients and your practice. Further, once retinopathy or macular edema appears, additional diagnostic testing becomes necessary to best serve these patients.

3. Lens remake reduction. By helping diabetic patients manage their blood glucose and performing careful follow-up refractions when needed, you can curtail potentially expensive remakes, not to mention keep these patients happy because their prescriptions are correct. When explaining to patients why I want them to come back for a repeat refraction, they rarely object once they know it is in their best interest.

The inside track

Given the amount of patients who have diabetes and pre-diabetes, the optometrist’s inside track as eyecare practitioners and the benefits of promoting wellness to these patients, it’s time you start discussing lifestyle changes with these patients, if you haven’t already. Too often we see patients with “problems” as a burden. Instead, let’s see diabetes and patients who have diabetes as an opportunity for us to improve wellness, quality of life and even our own practices. OM

DR. GERSON PRACTICES AT GRIN EYECARE IN OLATHE, KAN., A FULL-SCOPE COMBINED O.D./M.D. PRACTICE. E-MAIL HIM AT JGERSON@HOTMAIL.COM. TO COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE, E-MAIL OPTOMETRICMANAGEMENT@GMAIL.COM.