to veteran ODs: how to deal with stingy pts

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drbizzaro

Varilux/Essilor Advocate
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to all the veteran OD's out there:

what's the best way to deal with pt's who are ungreatful after you find some retinal findings and have them undergo an OCT (after being concerned that there may be some macular edema), and find that there is only mild macular puckering?

So essentially, what the pt's are complaining about is that they feel upset that they are receiving a finding that is not seriously sight threatening.

This is from a doc friend of mine who works in the office next to mine (in a different commerical establishment). I have had similar patients who have mentioned that they feel that finding out their eyes are healthy (with essential emmetropia) is a waste of time. Some people are just ungreatful, while others are amazing and so thankful. I just had this one lady who had a terrible time at her previous eye doctor and then came to see me, and thought I did a great job.

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to all the veteran OD's out there:

what's the best way to deal with pt's who are ungreatful after you find some retinal findings and have them undergo an OCT (after being concerned that there may be some macular edema), and find that there is only mild macular puckering?

So essentially, what the pt's are complaining about is that they feel upset that they are receiving a finding that is not seriously sight threatening.

This is all in the presentation....when you find out the results are normal, phone the patient and say "Mrs. Smith! I have GREAT news for you! Your test results came back just fine! Nothing to worry about at all! We'll see you in a year!" will work a lot better than "you're normal."

This is from a doc friend of mine who works in the office next to mine (in a different commerical establishment). I have had similar patients who have mentioned that they feel that finding out their eyes are healthy (with essential emmetropia) is a waste of time. Some people are just ungreatful, while others are amazing and so thankful. I just had this one lady who had a terrible time at her previous eye doctor and then came to see me, and thought I did a great job.

There is always going to be some of that when working with the general public in any capacity in any industry. That's just part of the job and unfortunately is just something that has to be "sucked up."
 
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