Until a few years ago, I assumed I was doing a great job educating patients about their eye health. At the end of each visit, I’d ask the patient whether they had any questions — pretty standard. Sometimes, they did have questions, but more often they would just look at me and not say much. As a result, a few years ago, I changed up my approach.

Instead of asking patients whether they had any questions, I began asking, “Is there anything that we didn’t discuss that you were wondering about?” I’ve seen concrete results from this one small change: Practice reviews have improved, and patients specifically mention that they feel heard and cared for at my practice. Our patients return, and they spread great word-of-mouth referrals about the practice!

Typically, we think that we’re educating patients by explaining their test results, but we often end up glossing over questions they’ve had in the back of their minds. Because they’re trying to absorb everything we’re telling them, they miss that opportunity to ask what is in the back of their minds. Let’s give them the opportunity to pick our brains. OM