HOW TO DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS WITH SURGEONS AND SURGICAL PATIENTS

MY PRACTICE has long relied on relationships with surgeons to provide patients with the best care possible and to establish our reputation as full-scope eye care providers. It is always my hope that patients trust my referrals and recommendations, but in an age where many patients research and review, they often want to know why I choose a surgeon or specialist. How do we best communicate that? How do we establish great referral relationships?

ESTABLISHING RELATIONSHIPS

I think it’s ideal to meet with the surgeon to, first, gauge how much he or she wants to work with you, and, second, assess the intricacies of the potential referring relationship. This includes: rapport — if you don’t have this with the surgeon, chances are your patients won’t either — ease of sending patients, their information/records, letters of communication, and expectations — on both sides.

I’ve established certain standards for working with surgeons: excellent surgical outcomes, ease of patient scheduling, appointment flow and information transfer and timeliness with updates. At times, I have opted to discontinue to refer to surgeons due to a poor patient experience.

EDUCATE PATIENTS

Once you establish the relationship, it’s important to tell your patients to whom you are sending them — and why.

Your “why” might include such factors as the complexity of the case, timing requirements by the patient and who you think will be a good doctor-match for your patient.

For example: “Ms. Walsh, because you indicated you would like to minimize your use of reading glasses after cataract surgery, I am recommending the practice of Dr. May. Dr. May has expertise in implanting multifocal intraocular lenses, which can help you see up close, often without glasses.”

I’m not afraid to recommend a doctor who is an hour or more drive from my practice, even if closer options exist, if I feel the surgical result will be superior. If it were your eyes, or a family member’s, wouldn’t you weigh these considerations similarly?

ONGOING MANAGEMENT

Relationships can change through time, so regularly assess the surgeon’s patient outcomes and satisfaction, and your own clinical fulfillment with the surgeons to whom you send patients. Perhaps, the surgical group hasn’t updated its technology, so while still having what it considers successful results, you know it could offer more options to your patients. Or, maybe, wait times have become prohibitive from a care standpoint. These could be grounds to reconsider the relationship.

Recently, a surgeon inquired as to what I needed from him in regard to referrals. I asked for more timely communication and an easier scheduling protocol for my referrals. I received both. I appreciated his attention to what mattered to me.

Co-management relationships need to be attended to regularly, just like any company that serves your practice. Patient outcomes are a reflection of you and your practice, so seek a relationship that will do so positively. OM

DR. WESLEY practices at Complete Eye Care of Medina, a Vision Source practice, which she opened in 2008. She was honored as Minnesota’s Optometrist of the Year in 2011. Email drwesley@cecofmedina.com.