Take this opportunity to build your practice and improve the patient experience

Optometry, as a profession, has rarely seen more exciting times. The areas of optometric specialization continue to expand, with practices focused on dry eye disease, glaucoma, myopia management, specialty contact lenses, vision and sports therapy, ocular aesthetics, and more.

As exciting as these specialized areas are, remember that nearly every patient we see relies upon our skills to provide them with an outstanding refractive experience. Our accurate refraction is critical to a patient’s visual experience every waking hour. Giving patients the best recommendations for how to achieve their visual goals with eyewear, contact lenses, or refractive surgery will not only lead to a happy patient, it will also keep them coming back for years to come.

To provide this outstanding experience, consider the following two steps:

1 SUMMARIZE RESULTS IN TERMS THE PATIENT UNDERSTANDS

At the conclusion of every refraction, I suggest providing patients with a summary of their refractive error and how, if left uncorrected, it will affect their vision and visual comfort. Specifically, summarize the realities of how nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and presbyopia affect ocular comfort in terms that the patient understands.

I’ve had many patients ask, “If my vision is so bad, why can I see my phone so well without glasses?” Or, “With LASIK, will I be able to see both far and near without my glasses?” Having a clear and concise script that explains basic refractive errors and their impact on vision answers such questions, and, ultimately, makes for a better patient experience.

2 PROVIDE A SUMMARY OF ALL AVAILABLE OPTIONS

After explaining the refractive error, I suggest providing a summary of the possible visual correction options available to each patient. Oftentimes, patients new to our practice have been led to believe that “once a glasses-wearer, always a glasses-wearer.” They are happy to learn of additional options that may better suit their lifestyle.

For example, even if patients may not want to wear contact lenses currently, I let them know outstanding new materials and designs are indeed an option, should they pursue activities that make spectacle wear difficult. In fact, during the COVID-19 pandemic, dozens of patients returned to specifically asked for contact lenses, saying, “Remember you told me that I could wear contact lenses? I’m frustrated with my glasses fogging from mask wearing, and would like to try them.”

Depending on the patient’s refractive error, their ability to comfortably wear traditional spectacles and/or contact lenses, and their ocular health, refractive surgery may be a life-changing option too. I routinely offer refractive surgery to any patient who falls within the required parameters of modern surgical procedures, such as LASIK. Patients have taken me up on the offer to co-manage their refractive surgery simply to minimize their eyeglass lens thickness and distortion.

A PRACTICE BUILDER

Taking the time to discuss refractive correction options can be a practice builder. It can generate excitement and, likely, keep your patients coming back for an update on the “latest and greatest” in vision correction for years to come. After all, our refraction and its use in vision correction is one thing our patients take from our office after every comprehensive eye exam; and it stays with them. It is imperative we get it right! OM

DR. EARLEY serves as a therapeutic optometrist at Northeast Ohio Eye Surgeons in Medina, Ohio, where he spent 23 years as vice president/secretary, and was the director of human resources. He is the clinic director of Bright EyeDeas Vision Clinic, a free clinic serving the uninsured, and a member of the AOA and the Ohio Optometric Association. Dr. Earley speaks nationally on specialty contact lenses, macular degeneration, dry eye disease, and practice management. He is a consultant for Alcon, and serves as a KOL for Notal Vision, MacuHealth, and Maculogix. Email him at tearley@neohioeye.com.