Eyeworld

OPHTHALMOLOGY BUSINESS 68 August 2017 even though it is difficult to change a mindset—I like to call it mindset surgery—it is worth it. Since we are in an era where elective medicine has grown tremendously, this part of your practice will thrive, too. Real-life example: Premium cataract surgery In our practice, premium implant surgery has grown tremendously. I think the main reason is the people part of our practice—how we treat our team and how our team treats our patients. Is premium cataract surgery a need or a want? There is certainly one aspect that is a need: The pa- tient's vision is blurry. They need to get it cleared up to function opti- mally in life. But there is another as- pect that is a want: the restoration of reading ability. That "want" aspect of premium cataract surgery puts it in the category of elective medicine. When patients are paying out of pocket for that elective aspect of the surgery and you are competing with other practices offering a world-class elective patient experience, patients will gravitate toward the practice that treats them with kindness, educates them the best, offers all the options, and helps them make a quality decision while making sure they feel cared for every step of the way. The patient wants help with the decision, "Now that I under- stand my lens lost its reading ability and clarity, should I replace just the clarity with a single vision implant or should I replace both reading vision and clarity with a premium implant?" The practice that helps a patient understand this perfectly, de- livers whatever their choice is, and makes every step of the experience cycle enjoyable is going to be the practice that thrives. In the next column in this series, we will talk about what "ev- ery step of their experience cycle" means. Also, if you want an exercise you will not regret between now and the next article in this series, read the book Secret Service: Hidden Systems That Deliver Unforgettable Customer Service by John DiJulius. It will change your practice life. Better yet, have your whole team read it. We did. EW Contact information Thompson: vance.thompson@vancethompsonvision.com But many of those people have not taken the great experience they love in a restaurant or hotel and imple- mented it in their own modern day practice. The time has come to ad- dress that, especially since the com- petitor down the street is probably working on improving the patient experience in his or her office. Changing a mindset is one of the most difficult things to do. Changing negative traditions that have insinuated themselves in med- icine takes a tremendous amount of work and commitment. Since an ex- perience is never perfect day in and day out, you are also committing to something that will never end. Thus, it helps if you approach it as a joyful journey. When you announce to your team the goal of working on team culture and the patient experience, you will be amazed what it does for your team's job satisfac- tion. The chance of someone leaving your practice decreases because they feel cared about. On the patient side of things, the word of mouth refer- rals from patients will sky rocket because they feel cared about. It's like the old saying, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." So EACH WEEK, OIS INTERVIEWS THE LEADERS OF OPHTHALMIC INNOVATION The conversations continue between the bi-annual OIS meetings. Subscribe for free, and listen in on weekly one-on-one candid conversations between Tom Salemi and the innovators changing the face of ophthalmology. VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR OUR COMPLETE LINEUP OF PODCASTS WWW.OIS.NET/PODCASTS Team continued from page 66

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