Working in the eyecare industry, sometimes it’s hard to remember that not all patients come from the same eyecare knowledge backgrounds. With an eyecare background, you understand the importance of following the physician’s treatment plan and returning for follow-up appointments to ensure the health and recovery process of your eyes. It can become frustrating to have a patient return for the same eye problem or further damage caused by lack of follow through on their treatment plan.
However, with this gap of understanding, patients might not see the importance of following the process and fail to complete the suggested course of action or return for follow-up appointments. Today, we are going to discuss 3 tips to help ensure patients stick to their treatment plans such as patient engagement in the treatment plan, teach- back methods, and return for follow- up appointments.
3 Tips to Share with Patients to Help Follow Treatment Plans
Patient Engagement
As previously discussed, creating a treatment plan for patients is key for their recovery success. However, determining a diagnosis and creating a realistic treatment plan that is going to fit the lifestyle of your patient will determine if the patient follows through. Getting to know your patients on a personal level to help educate them on the significance of following the provided treatment will help them understand the importance of their follow through.
Teach- Back Method
The teach-back method is used in most optical offices today when teaching patients to administer contact lenses. The patient is not able to leave the office until the tech is sure they are comfortable enough to take their lenses in and out by themselves. That being said, the same method of teachings should be considered in other areas of treatment plans such as administrating eye drops, taking oral medications etc. This method creates trust and credibility by providing a space for patients to feel comfortable to ask questions or voice their concerns.
Returning for Follow- up Appointments
Now, we've covered the importance of engagement and teach-back methods for patients' education on their eye health from the beginning of their first initial visit. It is more than likely they will follow their treatment plan and schedule follow up appointments or annual visits in general. By building rapport and trust with patients, they will continue to be a loyal customer building your business' reputation.
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