Staff are instrumental in educating patients on advances in spectacle lenses and contact lenses. This is because patients spend a considerable amount of time with staff, who reflect the optometrist, and repeated messaging increases follow-through on an upgrade, say those interviewed for this article.
Two patient touch points are crucial in utilizing staff for patient education on the latest advances in spectacle lenses and contact lenses, according to those interviewed for this article: The front desk and the pretesting area. (See “Staff Training: How Patient Education Happens,” below.)
Staff Training: How Patient Education Happens
All those interviewed stress that without staff training, staff would not be able to provide patient education on the latest offerings in spectacle and contact lenses at these two touchpoints.
“There is always a temptation to fill free time with seeing more patients, but we absolutely must carve out the time to continually train and educate staff on what’s new, so we can continue to be the problem-solvers patients seek,” Dr. Quint points out.
Carmen Castellano, OD, FAAO, of Koetting Eye Center, in St. Louis, adds that staff training on new advances in refractive interventions prevents them from looking “flat footed,” should a patient ask a question about an on-hold message or educational materials in the office. “That’s not a good look because staff represent the optometrist.”
Those interviewed say they provide ongoing staff training via three means:
1. Staff meetings. “We communicate to the staff what it is we want discussed and recommended to patients during regularly scheduled staff meetings, so staff have the information they need to be able to talk to patients about refractive interventions that can benefit them,” says Dr. Castellano.
2. Industry representative appointments. Dr. Quint notes she also relies heavily on industry reps to provide education about anything new — whether it be a new AR coating, or some other technology.
Dr. McElroy adds that consistent and accurate messaging comes from involving industry reps.
“We consider our reps part of our team, so making sure that they have opportunities to spend time with us and talk to our staff about what’s new is critical to our success,” he says. “It has to be more than dropping off brochures. It’s hard to get excited about what’s new that way. So, we make time for meetings with the entire team.”
3. Practicing patient scripts/role-playing. “We go through actual examples of how we might phrase a recommendation, or we do different role-playing scenarios,” Dr. Quint explains. “As with any new education, it starts with leadership, so all the office managers and the doctors have to be on the same page with the messaging.”
The front desk
“When patients present for their annual exam or contact lens visit, our front desk manager knows to greet and start talking with them about new advances in spectacle and/or contact lenses,” explains Ted A. McElroy, OD, president, and CEO of Vision Source-Tifton, in Tifton, Ga. “Even if patients didn’t present thinking about those things, we find bringing them up initiates some thought.”
Dr. McElroy says he recently asked his front desk staff to start inquiring with patients whether they were aware of a new contact lens material that improves all-day wearing comfort, and whether they were aware of a new contact lens that greatly improves both near and far vision.
Jessilin Quint, OD, MBA, MS, FAAO, co-owner of Smart Eye Care, in Maine, notes that sometimes, patients verbalize their refractive needs as early as when they’re calling for an appointment, which gives her staff a head start on what specific refractive interventions to discuss when patients present.
“Front desk staff are trained to be active listeners and make a note in the chart if patients bring up a potential need that a new contact lens or spectacle lens could meet,” she explains.
As an example, Dr. Quint says a patient who recently called to schedule his comprehensive eye exam mentioned to front desk staff that he was struggling a bit with his golf game because he was having a hard time reading the lines of a putting green. Thanks to the front desk staff member’s active listening, she made a note of it in the patient’s chart.
“It’s a good thing she made a note too because that patient never brought up this vision issue with the technician during the history and workup,” Dr. Quint relays. “He also didn’t mention it to me until I mentioned it. This discussion then led to him purchasing a second pair of glasses (a progressive sun prescription with polarized lenses) in addition to updating his current progressive lens prescription for daytime wear.”
The pretesting area
Susan A. Resnick, OD, FAAO, FSLS, of Drs. Farkas, Kassalow, Resnick & Associates, in New York, and Optometric Management’s “Contact Lens” columnist, says staff has been trained to “probe a bit,” in terms of asking patients about both the comfort and vision provided by their current spectacle or contact lenses.
“Specific brands are not mentioned,” she points out. “The staff let patients know a note is being made in their chart, so I can assess their need or problem and present a solution. I refer to this as the “tech tee-off.”
Dr. Resnick adds that the ‘tech tee-off’ is something her patients appreciate because they know they’ll hear about something new at each visit, whether it’s an actual upgrade or, equally as important, knowledge of ‘what’s to come.’
Dr. Quint says she has trained her staff to discuss with patients the recent upgrades they themselves have gotten on spectacle lenses or contact lenses at this patient touch point. The reason: Because staff is an extension of Dr. Quint and the refractive interventions she offers, they trust a staff member’s experience with one or more such products.
“Staff never prescribe but they do say things like, ‘I wear this new spectacle lens or this contact lens, and we should talk to Dr. Quint about whether it’s a good fit for you, too,’” she offers.
More face time
Dr. McElroy emphasizes it makes perfect sense to have staff start these conversations because they spend much more time with patients than the OD.
“For an hour visit, I’m likely with a patient for 20 minutes of that, so it’s critical that we have a well-educated team who can take care of our guests in the best way possible,” he elaborates. “Also, if they were only to hear messaging about something new during my short time with them, it would not resonate the same way than if that message is repeated.”
Indeed: The American Psychological Association refers to this as the mere-exposure effect, or “the finding that individuals show an increased preference (or liking) for a stimulus as a consequence of repeated exposure to that stimulus.” OM
