The benefits are three-fold

Staff participation in both the diagnostic testing and patient education of dry eye disease (DED) is crucial to the success of one’s DED clinic for three reasons: (1) It enables ODs to see more DED patients and, thus, speedily prescribe the treatment(s) required to provide symptomatic relief; (2) it emphasizes the importance of diagnosing and complying with the prescribed DED treatment; (3) and it creates staff loyalty to a practice, as they are playing a major part in patient care vs. just going through the motions. Regarding the latter, in this post-COVID-19 era of short staffing and the challenge of staff retention, I think it can be argued that it is more imperative than ever to draw staff into direct patient care and, thus, show them they are valued.

Here, I explain how, specifically, staff receive training at my practice, so they can participate in DED diagnostic testing and patient education, and how, specifically, they participate.

MONTHLY STAFF TRAINING

I think staff training is always a work in progress to determine what resonates best, but what I’ve found success with thus far is once-a-month staff meetings during which videos about DED, live presentations of its clinical appearance (attaching my cell phone to a slit lamp), discussions regarding new related technologies, and PowerPoint presentations about the currently available treatments, their purpose, and use are discussed.

As an example, we have talked about ocular nutritional supplementation and how, specifically, to communicate its value to patients to reinforce what I, as the doctor, will also be discussing in the room with the patient. Also, we have talked about why I recommend a certain lid scrub vs. another for Demodex, so that at checkout staff are able to reinforce the importance of why I am suggesting a particular product.

My staff is especially fascinated by clinical photos and videos. One time, I showed them a video of meibomian gland expression, and they were just enthralled (and a maybe a little grossed out). I find that if you make staff education interactive, engaging, and fun, they’ll retain the information you provide and eagerly deliver it to patients.

SPECIFICS OF PARTICIPATION

My staff implement what they’ve learned by triaging patients into specific appointment slots based on patient complaints; providing the Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness (SPEED) Questionnaire at check in; deciding which diagnostic testing is most appropriate based on complaints; and delivering patient education on the reasoning for and dosing of the prescribed treatment(s). They perform refraction with a hyper awareness of DED-related visual fluctuation, which is then communicated to me prior to walking into the room. Also, staff have been well prepared and educated during our meetings to confidently and correctly answer common patient questions, such as “how should I clean my lids?”

Their participation is of enormous benefit, in terms of cutting down on chair time for the patient because when I enter the room, I have a wealth of information at my fingertips to help assess whether a patient has DED and what approach I will likely take treatment wise.

Another way that I have found to engage staff is similar to how we engage our externs and residents: I ask them what they think the diagnosis is. My staff wants to know the diagnosis and treatment regimen given, so that they can better understand what they are seeing when they perform entrance testing and the slit lamp exam on the patient. This is another way of showing staff that they are valued, and I can tell that they appreciate being asked for their input. OM

DR. KOETTING practices at Hines-Sight in Denver, Colo. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, diplomate of the American Board of Optometry, an active member of AOA, and a speaker and consultant for multiple companies. Follow her on Instagram at Dr_Jazz_Hands, or email her at Dr.CeceliaKoetting@gmail.com.