5 ways to center patient care

Excerpted from page 56 of the December 2023 edition of AOA Focus 

Do you practice patient-centered care? Mile Brujic, O.D., past chair of the AOA’s Contact Lens & Cornea Section, is an expert. Dr. Brujic explains his patient-first approach. 

1) Respect patients’ time.

Caring for children, along with their extracurricular activities and making sure they get to their appointments on time; work responsibilities; and keeping up with their homes are just some of the responsibilities that our adult patients have. Respecting our patients’ time and delivering care as efficiently as possible is critical. Everything I do as a process with my patients has two common themes: What is the care that is in the patient’s best interest, and how do we most efficiently deliver that care? 

2) Set up care patterns to emulate how you would want to be treated.

As an extension of the above response, we attempt to deliver care that is comprehensive in nature, and we are willing to go the extra mile to understand and provide solutions for patients. If we can perform diagnostic testing to understand the underlying cause and create a better path forward for patients’ concerns sooner, we can start with the best treatment plan sooner. Although this may mean a little more time in the office for a patient in a single visit, it means getting to the root of the problem that a patient is experiencing. When I am to be cared for, I certainly want this type of care without needing to return for additional testing if it could be performed on the same day. 

3) Advise patients fully and honestly on all options that may serve to restore, maintain or enhance their vision and general health.

The Optometric Oath provides us with the guiding principles that set the precedent for the optometric care we provide for our patients. Although every point in the oath is unique and valuable to us, this one statement is the one I have held nearest to everything I do in my interaction with patients. This includes digging deeper and understanding our patients’ needs. But this also means providing them with an adequate understanding of all their options. As an example, a presbyope who is happy wearing glasses will also hear about the other options to correct their presbyopia, including contact lenses and eye drops. Only by knowing what the options are can you and the patient make the best treatment decisions. 

4) Make it easier for patients to engage.

As communication becomes increasingly text-driven, it is important to understand patients’ needs and strategies we can pursue to improve. New software advancements are providing opportunities to better communicate with our patients in more sophisticated ways. This creates the convenience of being able to communicate with patients the way they are used to communicating with everyone else and provides a level of unsurpassed service to our patients. We can remind them of their upcoming appointments, notify them when it’s time to schedule their appointments and can have two-way communication with them through contemporary platforms. We can look back at text conversations with our patients. It stays saved in the software. 

5) Demonstrate compassion in patient interactions.

I always try to remember that every individual is just that: an individual. I try to always make sure the care I am providing demonstrates compassion for my patients and the individuals I am working with to deliver this care.