When I graduated from optometry school, a suggestion to reduce the amount of time spent with patients would not have been received well. It was generally accepted that the amount of time spent with a patient correlated to better quality of care. The more tests you performed and the more education you provided, so we thought, the more effective you were as a clinician. We also assumed this is what patients wanted.

Over time, we’ve come to realize this school of thought may have some flaws. For starters, patients aren’t going to remember all of what you tell them. We’ve also come to realize that while patients value good care, they also value their time. 

The implementation

Here are a few ways to shorten exam times without compromising value:

 • Be succinct with your patient education. Excess verbiage and lengthy explanations can risk confusing people.

 • Utilize a scribe for documentation and entering data during the exam.

 • Perform only necessary testing.

 • Delegate as much as possible to trained staff members. OM