By Mary E. Boname, OD, MS, FAAO
SYNOPSIS
Differentiate your practice by providing every patient in your office with individualized care.
ACTION POINTS
PERSONALIZE FROM THE START. Have receptionist and optician greet patients as soon as patient enters office asking about patient’s life and family.
PERSONALIZE IN EXAM ROOM. Ask about hobbies and issues that could be causing their stress, impacting overall health including their eyes.
PERSONALIZE OFFICE ENVIRONMENT. Framed pictures of your own family can warm up an otherwise impersonal office space.
My grandfather was a small-town family doctor who knew each patient by name, and had often also treated their mother or father or another family member. When patients came to see him, he remembered individual details about each. At my practice, I try to offer the same treatment of patients. I make a point of remembering and using individual details of a patient’s life and eye health when in conversation and in diagnosis, and have set up my office so our whole staff also provides individualized care.
One of Dr. Boname’s framed family photos in her optical dispensary. Dr. Boname’s family photos add a personal element to what might otherwise be seen as an impersonal office environment.
Define Your Practice: Is a Concierge Practice Right for You?
I have approximately 11,000 patients after 17 years in my own private practice. I do not participate in any vision care plans (vision exams and insurance coverage for hardware, i.e. Rx eyeglasses and contact lenses). This definitely allows me the ability to provide more comprehensive care, especially regarding wellness and nutrition: “An ounce of prevention, is worth a pound of cure.”
Institute a System of Collecting Personal Data
I am fortunate to be able to rely largely on my memory, but I do make notations in the patient’s electronic record: the names of other family members who are not yet patients so I can ask about them and see if they are in need of comprehensive eyecare themselves, where the patient grew up, their educational background and special interests.
For example, one of my patients, Tom, is a 26-year-old who loves film noir and classic movies, and we have intense discussions about the cinema and our favorite actors and actresses. I allow extra time for his visit because he travels several hours to have his eye examinations with me, and I want to be sure we have time to catch up.
Personalize As Soon As Patient Enters Office
Personalized means the receptionist and optician greeting each patient by name, and asking about their family, pets, recent vacation, offering congratulations on a new job, new baby, and recognizing any other personal developments, along with reviewing what happened the last time we saw one another. It is very rare for me to be running late, but if I am, the patient is offered a beverage, and invited to be comfortable with a magazine, or encouraged to browse our new styles.
All staff members review the schedule as the day begins. I make notes in our EHR, and alert the receptionist and optician about patients’ individual needs.
If patients are new to the office, we welcome them to Montgomery Eye Care and ask how they discovered us. It is a point of pride for me that the majority of my referrals are word-of-mouth from my patients. Just today, I saw a new patient who has lived for three years in the Princeton, NJ, area, near where my practice is based. She presented for a problem-specific visit and was referred by a patient who is a realtor. I learned that she is from Santa Monica, Calif., and hasn’t had a comprehensive eye examination in a few years, so we scheduled her back for that.
Another patient I saw a few weeks ago said she recently visited one of the large surgical practices in the area, but she wanted to transfer her records and have a refraction for a “second opinion” on the prescription glasses she had never seen well with. In addition, she was recently diagnosed with cancer, and said she just doesn’t have the stamina to wait for hours in the surgeon’s office. Our office offered her the kind of environment and personalization she was seeking.
Personalize in Exam Room
I begin by confirming the service the patient is in the office for that day, and reviewing when I last saw them. If ophthalmic medication was prescribed, I ask them to tell me the name of the medication they are using, the dosage, the frequency of dosing, and whether they are noticing subjective improvement in their condition. I also do a thorough social and medical history. I routinely ask patients how they alleviate their stress: A walk after dinner? Yoga? Spin class? Lifting weights? Biking? And, if they are taking nutritional supplements, where they purchase them and how they decided what to take. I also ask them about family medical and ocular health including the cause of any close family members’ recent deaths.
Personalize in Optical
Ben, the licensed optician at Montgomery Eye Care, does a “needs assessment” with every patient. He inquires about the amount of computer work they do (number of hours on a laptop/desktop/iphone/ipad), their hobbies, if they are currently protecting their eyes from the sun and if they are protecting their eyes from blue radiation. I have already initiated all of these conversations in the exam room and he reviews it with patients.
Create Conducive Office Environment
My office was remodeled in July 2013, and, according to my patients, it is an inviting, warm space that makes them feel at home. I have cherry-wood framed photos of my family dating from the 1890s to the 1950s, and patients love to look at them and reminisce about their own family photos. There are pictures of my maternal and paternal grandparents, my parents, brother and sister and my aunts and uncles. Then, in the exam room, I don’t concentrate on inputting data in my EHR, I look my patient in the eyes, and may even take ahold of their hand when I ask them how they have been. I invite them to update their medical, ocular and social history with me. I send birthday cards, sympathy cards, wedding cards, etc., that are handwritten, not e-mailed.
I am currently looking for ways to create an even better office atmosphere. I want to create an even more sumptuous, spa-like environment in my office. I want my patients to feel pampered, and as though every eyecare need is being exceeded, leaving them saying:” Wow! I had such a great experience at Montgomery Eye Care, I want to tell everyone I see how terrific they are!”
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Mary E. Boname, OD, MS, FAAO, is the owner of Montgomery Eye Care, P.A., in Skillman, NJ. To contact her: mboname@mecnj.com.
