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EW SHOW DAILY 14 ASCRS News Today Tuesday, May 9, 2017 by Vanessa Caceres EyeWorld Contributing Writer ularly. Sometimes, just offering that as an option prompts patients to re- think and stick with what they have. In the rare occasions when they need to exchange IOLs, Dr. Hardten will not charge for it. In his talk, Dr. Hovanesian focused on several guiding pearls to help build the practice, including the following: • Let the doctor take the lead- ing role in patient education. Although doctors may be hesitant to speak about premium IOLs because they feel like salespeople, they shouldn't feel that way, Dr. Hovanesian said. "We're educating patients," he said. • Believe in the technology. This should be done with all staff. "You have to develop enough comfort with the subject to take hesitation out of your voice," he said. • Keep it simple. "Patients want to know how good is it, how long it will last, and what are the down- sides," Dr. Hovanesian said. Find ways to explain that succinctly. You want your patients' ex- perience with refractive cataract surgery to be strong enough that they become ambassadors and will share their positive experience with others, he added. As you refine communication with patients about refractive cata- ract surgery, think about how you would explain it to your mother or father, said Kevin Corcoran, COE, San Bernardino, California. "You want to be clear, answer questions, and be truthful," he said. "Think of a way you can explain this in under 30 seconds." Mr. Corcoran also addressed billing and insurance guidelines for refractive cataract surgery. For instance, if you perform femtosec- ond laser-assisted cataract surgery, you can't charge more for use of the technology alone, but you can charge more if it's used for refractive correction, such as for astigmatism, he said. EW Editors' note: Mr. Corcoran has no financial interests related to his com- ments. Dr. Hovanesian has financial interests with MDbackline (Laguna Hills, California). Dr. Hardten has no financial interests related to his comments. Y our practice can become a successful refractive cataract practice, but you have to commit to the new results and standards that patients will expect, said John Hovanesian, MD, Laguna Hills, California, during Monday morn- ing's "Secret of Highly Successful Refractive Cataract Practices." It also takes commitment from everyone on staff to believe in the potential of refractive cataract surgery, he added. During the session, David Hardten, MD, Minneapolis, suggest- ed planting the idea with patients in a questionnaire that gets them thinking about their vision goals. In their responses, they may say they don't care about wearing glasses postoperatively, even though that desire could inadvertently change later. Even if patients say they are not interested in presbyopic IOLs or are not candidates for them, you should still discuss what they are. Otherwise, "they'll wonder why their results were less than ideal," Dr. Hardten said. Practice staff should always try to think a step ahead of patients to help increase the chance of patient satisfaction, Dr. Hardten said. For instance, aim to perform surgery on the worst eye first, maximize the recovery speed, have a plan for unhappy patients, and have proto- cols to address dry eye and posterior capsule opacification. Surgeons should be prepared to address astigmatism to maximize patient satisfaction. You should aim to offer different types of premium IOLs so patients have more options, Dr. Hardten said. There are some patients who require postop enhancements and in those cases, Dr. Hardten gener- ally waits about 1 to 2 months for IOL rotation or exchange and 3 to 6 months for laser vision correction. If patients are still unhappy and think they want a monofocal IOL exchange, Dr. Hardten will let them know it's possible but that they'll still need reading glasses more reg- Becoming a successful refractive cataract practice Dr. Hardten shares secrets of highly successful refractive cataract practices.

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