COMMUNICATION IS crucial to the success of any practice, yet as the deliverer of the message — whatever it may be — doctors and staff members make assumptions that what we say is understood vs. ensuring clarity. It happens a lot. After all, we all operate in our own bubbles and, therefore, view the world from our perspectives.

With 2017 here, I’d like to recommend a resolution: clear communication. How can you accomplish this? The answer is by asking yourself and the receiver of your communication whether what you say/said makes sense before and after you’ve delivered the communication. For those you feel may be intimidated by the question, consider following up with, “I’m asking because sometimes what I think makes sense, doesn’t necessarily make sense to everyone else.”

Here are some examples of miscommunication.

“CLEAN YOUR LENSES”

One member of “ODs on Facebook” posted that when she was a new optician, about 25 years ago, she handed a patient his new pair of glasses and instructed him to keep them clean, though failed to provide him with a cleaning guide card she had on hand. The patient returned a week later with mangled glasses:

“When I asked how he cleaned them, he said, ‘Just like everything else I clean when I wear them. I put them in the washing machine,’” the poster wrote.

The outcome was remade glasses on the practice’s dime and a lesson to remember to give out that card, the poster says.

“PUT SHAMPOO ON WOOD?”

Another member of “ODs on Facebook” posted that his Philadelphia accent at his practice in Boca Raton, Fla., made for a fun patient encounter. Specifically, he gave one of his dry eye disease patients the following lid scrub directions: “Put baby shampoo and water on a washcloth.”

The poster says the patient, with a puzzled expression, replied, “You want me to put baby shampoo on a piece of wood and rub my eyelids with it?”

The O.D. explained that he meant “water” not “wooder,” and that he and the patient had a good laugh.

TINT VS. FILTER

One member of “ODs on Facebook” said he recently did fill-in work for a corporate practice when he overheard a conversation between one of the practice’s opticians and a patient. Specifically, she told a post-LASIK patient that she could “easily put a blue tint” on plano lenses when he asked for a blue light filter to help with computer eyestrain. The poster’s last line, “hmmmm.”

This post received three likes and six comments.

Examples of comments:

• “Wow…just wow.”

• “She was so close, yet so far. Lol.”

“Hmmmm,” indeed! We, as O.D.s, must ensure our opticians are educated on the latest lens technologies and frames, so they can provide the correct options for our patients. OM

DR. GLAZIER is founder of Shady Grove Eye and Vision Care, a five-doctor medical-model practice in the Rockville, Md. suburbs of Washington DC. He is an author, inventor, industry consultant and frequent lecturer on ocular disease and Internet marketing. He can be reached at aglazier@youreyesite.com. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @EyeInfo, or PM him on Facebook.