Greeting the Patient
The initial greeting of the patient is very simple.
1) Smile and greet the patient.
2) Tell them your name and the name of the doctor you are working with.
3) Let them know that you that you are going to start their exam by completing some initial testing and information gathering on behalf of the doctor.
But embedded in these steps are three general rules that should govern all of your interactions with the patient.
Be Kind
There are many different personality types and dispositions you will during your time at Professional Vision Care and not every patient that you work with is going to be happy to be at the eye doctor. When we greet the patient, we smile, which immediately lets the patient know that their needs are not a burden to us, it has the potential to disarm someone who is already on edge, and comforts someone who may be concerned about the results of their appointment. A genuine smile is a display of kindness, and kindness is just as essential as anything else we do during the exam because it engenders trust. If a patient does not believe that the doctor or their staff cares about them, it will be difficult for that patient to trust them with their medical care.
Scope of Practice
When we greet the patient, we let them know that we are working on behalf of the doctor. This lets them know that we are not doctors and as such, cannot interpret data for them or diagnose them the way that only a doctor can. This limitation is part of our scope of practice and all of our interactions with patients should fall within these boundaries.
As OAs we are able to complete certain tests, accumulate certain types of information, and record the doctors findings and recommendations in the patient’s medical record, but we cannot interpret data or information in any way for the patient, nor can we diagnose that patient with a condition based on symptoms they relay to us. Scope of practice acts as a safety net for us because if something were to happen due to incorrect information being relayed, whomever relayed the information could be subject to disciplinary measures.
Staying within your scope of practice can be very difficult sometimes, especially the longer you work in an optometry practice and become more familiar with different eye conditions, because patients will want you to let them know what you think their symptoms might be related to, or what their test results might indicate. To do so, however, would both fall outside of your scope of practice and ultimately be a disservice to the patient, potentially leading them to think that the status of their eye condition is more or less concerning than it actually is.
Whenever a patient asks you to interpret testing results or symptoms, kindly let them know that you are not able to interpret their testing or diagnose based on their symptoms but that the doctor will be with them shortly and will answer all of their questions. Moreover, if a patient asks you to clarify what a doctor said, let them know that you will tell the doctor know that they still had some questions about the results of their exam and that they will return shortly to answer them.
Respecting the patient’s Time
Our patients’ time is valuable, and we want to respect the time commitment that they have made with us. In every interaction with a patient we should always keep in mind the reason they are here, and that is to see the doctor. This means that, while being kind:
1) we avoid over socializing with patients, which will take away from their time with the doctor
2) we improve our efficiency in patient workups while maintaining high levels of accuracy
Another concept comes into play here called “patient flow management” which is the skill of organizing where several of a given doctor’s patients are at in the exam process so that the doctor is always occupied with a patient and never has to wait for someone to be ready to be seen, either for an exam, dilation, or extra testing. This will be discussed more in a later module.
Please complete the Checkpoint Quiz