A majority of respondents (70.9 percent) to Jobson Optical Research’s 2011 The Waiting Game report said that it took them about 10 minutes or less to complete the paperwork for their last eye doctor appointment in total. Only 5.9 percent said that it took them longer than 10 minutes to complete all of the paperwork, and 15.4 percent said that they didn’t have to fill out any paperwork.
The paperwork required in a typical patient complete examination visit can be placed intothree different categories: demographic information, medical history documentation and lifestyle questionnaire. Because of third-party reimbursement issues, most practices have focused on the first two categories and pay little attention to the most important category–the lifestyle questionnaire.
It’s the lifestyle questionnaire that helps prepare the patient for having all of their eyecare needs identified and met during their visit to your office. Using the lifestyle questionnaire to preset your patients for care is one of the most important practice management techniques available.
To see an example of how this is done nicely in the digital world, visit Dr. Dave Ziegler’s web site http://www.zleyecare.com/index.html.Follow this path to see his presentation: “Home, New Patient, You.”
It’s not important if you do the lifestyle questionnaire on paper, digitally or have a staff member administer the questions. The key is to make sure it gets done. Take today to review and update your lifestyle questionnaire so that your patients receive complete care in your practice.
