As an eye practitioner, it’s critical you effectively communicate and do everything possible to enhance optometry patient education. Connecting with your patient and making sure they have the information they need to make the best decision should be an extremely high priority for your practice. 

Even so, hectic optometry practices and time constraints regularly cause optometry patient education to be — unfortunately — too short and sweet. However, the experts at Keeler are here to provide a few easy, actionable tips you can use to make an immediate impact on your optometry patient education. 

Educational Libraries for Optometry Patient Education

While the Internet is full of information, not all information is created equally. In fact, some of this information may be misleading or outright wrong. One way you can potentially enhance optometry patient education is to offer access to a library full of digital patient videos. Whether you create your own videos providing overviews of common conditions or you curate approved videos, these powerful tools can be used to improve patient education. 

Best of all, you can use them to help explain complicated diagnosis while they are in your office, or you can share the videos with the patient, so they can review at a later date. By offering long-term access to patient videos, you can improve their education and help them be more engaged in their treatment plan. 

Improve Optometry Patient Education by Encouraging Note Taking

If you’re like most eye care professionals, your patients seemingly nod in agreement after you’ve discussed a critical piece of information with them. However, their pseudo-positive affirmation doesn’t always mean they understand everything you’ve explained. Besides, it has taken you several years to gain a firm grasp on the medical condition you’re attempting to explain to your patient in a few moments. 

While some patients may grasp concepts faster than others, you can help improve your patient education by suggesting they take notes. You can take it one step further by even providing simple note pads to your patients while they’re in the office. These inexpensive items will encourage your patients take notes during the visit and can help improve their ability to recall information on subsequent visits. 

Keep It Simple But Specific

As a human being, we all have the natural tendency to shrink or shy away from providing in depth details when it comes to uncomfortable subjects. Illnesses and healthcare problems are undoubtedly uncomfortable topics for patients — and many healthcare providers. 

Even so, excellent patient education requires in depth details from you as well as the patient. Make sure you steer the conversation away from generalized words like “things”, “recently”, “stuff”,  “somewhat”, and “ a little.” It’s best to replace these ambiguous words with more detail-oriented terms. If your patient starts using these types of words, simply ask them to be more specific. At the same time, make sure you don’t weigh your patient down with useless jargon. 

Confirm Your Patients Understand

When it comes to optometry patient education, it’s vital your patient understands. However, it’s not good enough for them to provide you with a simple head nod. Countless variables come into effect when determining whether your patient understand what you’ve just explained, such as: 

With so much at stake, it’s vital for you to take your time and break the information into digestible bits, while speaking clearly and looking for patient comprehension. You can use visual aids, reference materials, printouts, and even the previously mentioned videos. Most importantly, you should ask questions to ensure your patient understands and comprehends the information, which will go miles in improving optometry patient education. 

Encourage Your Patients to Do Their Own Research

By the time your patient comes to you, they’ve probably already Googled their symptoms and/or condition. In fact, a stunning 2/3s of consumers use their smartphone to actively search for healthcare related information, and this number will continue to grow every year. When your patients take an active role in researching and owning their health, they will feel more empowered and involved in the care plan. 

In turn, this will help them feel more confident communicating about the condition, which will serve as a catalyst for optimized optometry patient education. As we previously mentioned, not all information on the World Wide Web is good information, so you can suggest a few reputable sites for your patient to learn more about their condition and the treatment options. 

Contact Keeler Ophthalmic Instruments

Although patient education is critical, your ability to accurately diagnose and/or treat ocular conditions is unparalleled. As a result, it’s vital for you to have reliable equipment that you can count on, which is exactly what Keeler Ophthalmic Instruments offers. In fact, we’ve been producing the most cutting-edge, leading optometric equipment for over 100 years. All of our innovative solutions are uniquely engineered to improve and enhance your ability to treat your patients. 

Contact Keeler Ophthalmic Instruments today to learn more.