EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/1242702
14 | EYEWORLD | MAY 2020 ASCRS NEWS Creating a safe environment for patients and staff will be of paramount importance in the post-COVID-19 world. Proactive commu- nication to patients will be a key to reducing patients' anxiety associated with a return to the ophthalmologist's office. A key to reducing the anxiety is to inform patients how the practice will keep the office setting as clean and decontaminated as reason- ably possible. Communicating these steps to patients could take place through a series of emails prior to the office visit and a bulleted text message the day of the visit. Points of emphasis: • Implement a check-in process where patients could check in through text messaging from their cars. • Restructure waiting rooms and patient holding areas with chairs blocked to ensure separation of 6 feet between patients. • Allow only one family member or friend to accompany the patient. • Inform patients that they should plan to wear N95 masks or available personal protection masks (encourage patients to bring their own). • Equip staff with N95 masks and gloves for each patient interaction. • Outfit diagnostic equipment with breath shields and send photos of this setup to help patients understand this safety measure. • Wipe down and disinfect equipment after each exam with CDC-recommended disinfec- tants. • Inform patients that interaction at the slit lamp or at other diagnostic stages should be minimized to reduce possible exposure time. • Store diagnostic eye drops required for oph- thalmic examination and multidose eye drop containers in cabinets or other closed spaces away from places that could become contami- nated during a patient encounter. • Move patient counseling to a telemedicine- based approach. ASCRS is creating an informational web portal, "Turning the Lights Back On," that will cover considerations for practices as they open up after COVID-19 social dis- tancing/quarantines. This portal is support- ed by Alcon in partnership with ASCRS. continued from page 12 Exceptional Clinical Education is One Click Away! Visit ASCRS.ORG Today!