July 1, 2025
By Vaughn Brinegar, OD
Photo Credit: Dreamstime Photos
The best myopia management intervention is meaningless if you can’t get your patients to follow your recommendations. Good communication is paramount to optimize patient adherence to prescribed interventions.
Just like in school, where students have a variety of ways that they retain information, the same is true when patients sit in your exam chair. It is important to offer your patients different tools so they can absorb the information you need them to know in the way that best suits them. Some patients learn best by seeing videos, others remember by having a document to refer back to and some like to be able to draw conclusions by asking you questions as they go.
Being Available for Questions
While it may seem unorthodox, I give my cellphone number to patients so that I am easily accessible. The reason for this: Rather than assume they know the answer to a question, I want them to ask me questions, so they don’t do something that is potentially harmful to their eyes. It’s much easier to be available for a quick question here and there than to fix a problem because they were afraid to ask you something like which contact lens solution is best or what they should do in an emergency.
Automated Text Messages Save Us Time
Our office also utilizes automatic messaging to communicate with patients via text. I have programmed reminders to go out automatically at the end of an orthokeratology consultation. This automated delivery sends patients a few videos about everything we just went over that I think they will find helpful. This lets patients review insertion and removal training, so they can prepare themselves before our next appointment. This saves our office a lot of time on training because many patients already have an idea of what to expect at the appointment.
Sending these automated messages also streamlines things in the exam room. We have a uniform format for explaining things, and we know the key points we have to hit so nothing is forgotten.
Ahead of OrthoK follow-up appointments, I send a reminder message to patients so they remember to bring in their case, solution and lenses. This happens for every single follow-up appointment. If patients forget their lenses, but have complaints about pain or discomfort, it can be a wasted appointment. Often in these situations, I’ll need to send the lab a video or examine their lenses, and it’s imperative they bring them in for their follow-ups. These reminders take time to set up, but they save us time, and make each visit valuable for our staff and our patients.
Myopia Management Contracts
Another thing we’ve found to be helpful is keeping the messaging the same anytime anyone in our office talks to patients. This ensures that things run smoothly, each visit is productive, and patients know what to expect when they come in. One way to do this is by creating a contract for myopia management patients – and even one for specific myopia management treatments. This is a great way to set expectations for patients and their parents and ensures that everyone is on the same page.
Review, Review, Review
You can never review things too many times—especially with kids! We do a thorough review at each visit and annually to make sure that our patients aren’t skipping steps in the care of their lenses and that cleaning is properly done.
Inspecting the contact lens case can also be very helpful to make sure that patients are adhering to your cleaning regimen. There have been a few times that patients brought in their Clear Care case with debris floating in the solution, and it was obvious that they weren’t using fresh, clean solution each day. Parents are usually mortified to see this, but they also learn that their child has deviated from the care regimen we’ve put in place. It’s important to go over everything in a caring, educational way so that you can prevent complications from contact lens wear before they occur.
Ask patients open-ended questions regarding the typical cleaning routines. Have patients walk through the steps in a storytelling fashion rather than simply asking them yes or no questions.
Keep a Strict Follow-Up Schedule
Always have a return visit on your schedule for myopia management patients. Make sure your staff is aware that if a patient in this program cancels an appointment, you need to be aware so that you don’t lose them in the follow-up schedule. I always remind patients to reach out if they need to move their appointment, but we always want to have the next one on the books.
To keep myopia from progressing rapidly, it is critical that these patients be monitored carefully and continuously. I will make sure that they have all of their appointments for the year on the books. For a new patient, I will set a consultation, a dispense, a one-day visit, a one-week visit, a one-month visit, a three-month visit, a six-month visit, and their next annual visit. Having these appointments set in advance also helps keep track of warranty deadlines so you can control expenses as much as possible.
For returning patients, I will set their one-month visit after getting their new lenses, their six-month appointment, and then their following annual appointment. With our EHR system, we create the appointments, and the system does all the work. Patients receive reminders beforehand, and we don’t have to worry about chasing them down.
Communication is the key to having patients adhere to your treatment plan. A friendly, approachable demeanor, along with technology create a symbiotic relationship that benefits our office and the community.
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Vaughn Brinegar, OD, graduated from Southern College of Optometry in 2003. She has been in private practice with her sister, Victoria DeFeo, OD, at Ultimate Eye Care since May 2005 in Austin, Texas. Their office is in a suburban location with a lot of young families, so they emphasize myopia management. You can contact Dr. Brinegar at vbrinegar@ultimateeyecare.com |
