Ophthalmology practices need a plan to deliver good patient experience
Key takeaways:
- Creating the ideal patient experience begins with developing a good team culture.
- Every part of the patient’s journey in the surgical process should be planned.
KOLOA, Hawaii — Ophthalmology practices need a plan to deliver the best patient experience, according to a speaker at Hawaiian Eye 2025.
Vance Thompson, MD, said the first part of creating that experience is developing a good team culture.
“The team that loves and cares for each other will create an environment where the patient feels loved and cared for,” Thompson said.
Thompson works with his team to create what he calls the patient experience cycle, which tracks a patient through every step of the surgical process from the first phone call to follow-up appointments. Every part of the cycle includes educational materials, scripting, and nonnegotiable dos and don’ts.
This experience extends to the ASC. Every part of the journey is preplanned, down to waiting room activities for the patient’s driver.
“Every step is done in a caring way with a lot of knowledge and confidence,” Thompson said.
When a patient comes in for surgery, Thompson’s team has a rule to not point to show patients or their driver where to go; instead, they walk with them. If a patient has a question, “I don’t know” is not an option for an answer. Instead, the team will seek the answer, Thompson said.
Thompson likes to limit the time patients spend waiting, but if a longer wait is unavoidable, he wants to keep them informed.
When surgery is over, Thompson said the team keeps things calm, gives simple instructions and never rushes patients out the door.
“The departing portion of this is important to us,” he said. “We walk them to the vehicle, and we celebrate the moment. This is a big deal. There’s nothing routine about it.”
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Thompson V. Optimizing patient experience: OR flow at the ASC. Presented at: Hawaiian Eye 2025; Jan. 18-24, 2025; Koloa, Hawaii.
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