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OPHTHALMOLOGY BUSINESS 66 August 2017 by Vance Thompson, MD Team culture and the patient experience at least have to allow someone else to do it and invest in them and the team's time to work on this aspect of your practice's future. Traditions in medicine Over the centuries, certain traditions in the practice of medicine have perpetuated themselves that do not resonate well with today's patients. One of these traditions has been the waiting room. Not only has the entry and first impression not always been great (e.g., clutter, dull décor, odd odors, noisy, etc.), but the greeting by the front desk recep- tionist may not have even included a smile or eye contact. The chairs may be uncomfortable, and you may be sitting there looking directly at someone else because of the chair placement. On top of that you find out the true meaning of "waiting room"—it is a long wait, there is no WiFi, and someone says your name loudly for all to hear when it's your turn. Mindset surgery Why have patients put up with this? Because they needed the doctor. They were sick, there was something wrong. There was nothing elective about being there—they had a need. And they didn't know any different. Please know that I think the vast majority of doctors and their teams are caring, wonderful people. Dr. Thompson kicks off a series dedicated to the people in ophthalmologists' professional lives: their work family and patients T he fact that you are reading this article bodes well for the future of your practice. Many doctors skip over articles like this to get to the newest technology or surgical approach. I love that stuff, too, but it is important to read articles like this if you have a goal to take your practice joy and success to the next level. If you are wondering what is missing in your practice, this might be one of the most important topics you can study, understand, and implement. It may also be the most difficult aspect of medicine to mas- ter. In our medical practice, the key to optimizing our success can be dis- tilled into one seemingly simple yet complex word: people. In this series of articles, we are going to cover the people part of what we do because the key to thriving in modern day medicine is mastering your team experience to create a world-class patient experience. Make each interaction your masterpiece John Wooden coached the UCLA basketball team to an unmatched 10 national championships. One of his main passions, though, was teach- ing. His insight and wisdom led to the publication of Pyramid of Success, which outlines behaviors he thinks are necessary to achieve success in life. It is worth looking up all the principles he taught, but I want to focus on one of them for now. He taught "make each day your mas- terpiece." When I first read this, I thought about the various times I let the pressures of a day lead to shortness with a work family mem- ber or patient, and how I regretted that moment each time. It made me think about the smile shared with a fellow worker or patient when I handled the situation with kindness and a positive attitude. I decided I wanted to take Coach Wooden's "make each day your masterpiece" and bring it to the level of "make each interaction your masterpiece." I have always felt that the honor of practicing medicine is a gift, but that gift has not always had top of mind awareness in my day. When the day came that I truly took each interac- tion as the gift that is my practice of medicine, joy and success were brought to another level. There is greatness in all I truly believe there is greatness in all people. If we create a safe atmosphere where our team can contribute ideas and not be worried about whether they are perfect, and they can be lifted up when their idea leads to practice improvement, something amazing happens: The team starts to enjoy continual practice improvement in every way. It becomes a way of life. For us busy doctors, to have a team who addresses the things that may lead to a patient complaint and to have departments work together on ways to prevent such things from hap- pening helps our practice growth immensely. When that same team has structured retreats and meetings to come up with ideas together to help create a positive, caring envi- ronment, my partner John Berdahl, MD, says, "It's fun to come to work on Mondays." When you have such a dynamic in your practice, you are evolving to a level that will help you thrive in modern day medicine. Creating that environment to allow everyone's inner greatness to show is a key to creating a great team cul- ture. That is why we love the phrase "work family." It is fun to come to work when you have the honor of being with a work family who cares deeply about you and each other. Patients who come into an atmo- sphere of a close work family often say, "Where do you find all these nice people?" My answer is, "There is niceness in all of us when we are put into an environment where we feel cared for and about." How to implement this My goal in this series is to cover what has worked well for us in our practice. My hope is that you will take away ideas to implement in your practice. For our practice, when our CEO Matt Jensen joined us 15 years ago as a caring leader and tal- ented communicator, our team and patient experience went to another level. I love people and helping them understand how special they are, so it was a joy to work on our culture and experience with Matt. But it was also critical in my busy clinic and surgery schedule to have a passionate implementer like him. I tell doctors that even if you are too busy or not interested in helping to create the systems that lead to orga- nizational change in this arena, you Thriving in modern day medicine continued on page 68 Vance Thompson, MD

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