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EW NEWS & OPINION 14 December 2015 Device focus Dr. Donnenfeld's group (Oph- thalmic Consultants of Long Island) conducts office-based surveys when people arrive in the office. "Conducting an online survey is a very reasonable thing, and with the electronic medical records, it's a relatively easy thing to do, and a thing I would strongly consider doing," but his practice has not yet implemented a means to conduct online surveys, Dr. Donnenfeld said. "We want to know what the patient experience has been like in the office, and we want to know how to improve that experience for them," he said. Typically, these patient questionnaires will address every interaction a patient has with staff, from how their initial call was received to how they were greeted when they first arrived. Ophthalmic Consultants of Long Island even asks about the website experience. "We want to know how the in- teraction was and whether patients' needs were met and their reaction to the quality of care they received," he said. Additionally, follow-up surveys will address whether patients are following medical advice and imple- menting preventive steps and receiv- ing the care they need on a regular basis (e.g., regular ophthalmic visits for glaucoma patients, monthly vis- its for diabetic retinopathy/diabetic macular edema patients). "We'll use our survey data to follow up with patients who are by Michelle Dalton EyeWorld Contributing Writer articles to help change physician perceptions," he said. These types of analyses take significantly more time than a quick 10-question online survey would, Mr. Fundingsland said. The ASCRS Clinical Survey is conducted both in person and online during the ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Con- gress. Results from the survey data are published in the fall as a sup- plement to EyeWorld, and then plans begin in earnest to develop overarching education programs the following year, based on this data. Now in its third year, year-over-year practice patterns and clinical opin- ion trends will likely start to emerge, which will continue to add to the information gained from this survey. There are some disadvantages to conducting surveys only at live meetings, namely that the respon- dents may not be a true represen- tative cross-section. To overcome that hurdle, ASCRS also invites its membership to participate online after the conference has concluded. Surveying your patients Beyond answering surveys alongside colleagues, many ophthalmologists are beginning to survey their pa- tients for feedback that goes beyond what's necessary for benchmarking. Dr. Gossman thinks "Apple's ResearchKit (www.apple.com/ researchkit) might be useful for oph- thalmologists in practice to survey their patients' health and desires." Wanting to "bring clarity on how people are doing things after a discussion comes up that points out how there's 'more than one way to skin a cat,'" Mitchell Gossman, MD, in private practice, Saint Cloud, Minn., began polling members of the ASCRS eyeCONNECTIONS fo- rum. Surveys can quickly and easily identify where ophthalmologists disagree, he said, and can lead to a more robust discussion about what- ever the topic may be. In fact, an upcoming survey of his may address the femtosecond laser for cataract surgery debate, he said. ASCRS and EyeWorld think that education should be evidence-based and meet the needs of its members/ readers, said Eric Donnenfeld, MD, Rockville Centre, N.Y., chief med- ical editor, EyeWorld. "Surveys can identify areas of weakness and areas where education is needed by the ophthalmic community. We rely upon the expertise of the ASCRS Clinical Committees to establish standards of care and quality care guidelines for our membership," he said. ASCRS performs several sur- veys (including the Annual ASCRS Clinical Survey), and "where there is a departure from what we think is a standard of care and what's actual- ly being performed, by identifying those areas, we can then create edu- cational venues that assist EyeWorld and ASCRS in improving the areas of weakness that currently exist," Dr. Donnenfeld said. Both Dr. Donnenfeld and the ASCRS Program Committee urge at- tendees of the ASCRS•ASOA Sympo- sium & Congress to take the Annual ASCRS Clinical Survey. "Results from the survey are one of the several tools used by the ASCRS leadership to drive education programming," Mr. Fundingsland said. For example, 62% of surveyed ophthalmologists were under the impression that 0.75 D of residual refractive error was acceptable to patients and would not diminish visual acuity, but that's not the case, Dr. Donnenfeld said. "Based on the survey results, we created educational events and are creating regional courses and courses to be taught at the ASCRS•ASOA meetings. We can create online events (webinars) and have prepared Some surveys take only a few minutes to complete; others can take upward of 20 minutes. Here's why they are—and will continue to be—a viable means to gather data I n today's world of social media and the Internet, it's becoming more and more common to use web-based surveys. Every- thing from restaurants to credit card companies want your opinion on how their service was. Online surveys offer a bevy of advantages, among them automated processing. But that can also be a disadvantage when the goal is to get specific and individualized feedback, and it's equally difficult to ensure the survey is being completed by the right per- son. See Figure 1 for some advantag- es and disadvantages of the various survey methods. "The vast majority of surveys are not necessarily seeking deep details," said Brad Fundingsland, president, the Fundingsland Group which works closely with the ASCRS Clinical Education Department to administer an annual survey of ASCRS members. "Most surveys seek an interesting point of information that's likely more anecdotal and singly focused. They're not used as a foundational tool to guide educa- tion." Surveys and data gathering " Surveys can identify areas of weakness and areas where education is needed by the ophthalmic community. We rely upon the expertise of the ASCRS Clinical Committees to establish standards of care and quality care guidelines for our membership. " –Eric Donnenfeld, MD ASCRS completes third annual Clinical Survey More than 2,000 members responded with clinical opinions and practice patterns to help drive the future of ASCRS education Survey Overview The third annual ASCRS Clinical Survey was performed both at the ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Congress in San Diego and via electronic follow-up surveys to the ASCRS membership. More than 2,000 physicians responded to this survey, which included 174 questions that created 485 unique measurable data elements. Survey questions were developed and reviewed with the ASCRS Clinical Committees and validat ed by a social science statistician. The survey asked ASCRS members key questions relating to current issues they face on a regular basis. With 2,047 responses, a significant percentage of the membership was represented, and the results were reviewed and interpreted by the ASCRS Clinical Committees. While many surveys provide important data for our profession, most are not used to drive specific educational efforts aimed at improving the practice of medicine and assessing key clinical opinions. This is the objective behind the annual ASCRS Clinical Survey. In addition to this exclusive overview supplement, please watch for articles in upcoming issues of EyeWorld and the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery that will feature important detailed analysis of this data and commentary on key trends and gaps highlighted in the coming pages. Copyright © 2015 Global Trends in Ophthalmology and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. All rights reserved. No part of this survey may be reproduced without written permission from GTO, Global Trends in Ophthalmology, 4000 Legato Road, Suite 700, Fairfax, VA 22033 Global Trends in Ophthalmology ™ 2015 ASCRS Clinical Survey supplement.-Final DL2 #10.qxp_Layout 1 10/19/15 4:40 PM Page 1 To view the complete 2015 ASCRS Clinical Survey, go to: Supplements.EyeWorld.org and click on ASCRS Clinical Survey.

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