In this episode of Your One Thing, discover Dr. Chris Wood’s key strategy for achieving exceptional patient satisfaction at Northwest Eye Physicians. Find out what makes his approach to patient care stand out.
Hello everyone, welcome to Your One Thing.
We interview thought leaders throughout the medical industry to discuss what is the most important part of the patient experience to them.
Today, I'm excited to have our special guest, Dr. Chris Wood, ophthalmologist and owner of Northwest Eye Physicians.
Chris, how have you been?
Very good.
You know, recovered from our COVID.
Our whole family had Omicron, so I'm glad to be done with that.
We're just looking forward to getting our practice growing in the new year.
Awesome, awesome.
Thank you again for making time today.
You're an expert not only in the patient experience, but you also specialize in cataract and laser surgery, and you're a consultant for Luminous Laser Company.
You're an expert in floater and laser treatments.
Tell me a little bit about that.
So, I got interested in floater laser a number of years ago when I saw patients suffering from this, and I knew it could be treated.
I went to an Academy of Ophthalmology meeting, a paper session or a poster session, where I met Dr. Jack Kirikov, who kind of pioneered this surgery or procedure.
I learned from him, read his book, got his lenses, and I've gotten better at it over time, about 15 years.
I'm now a consultant for Luminous, and I have both Luminous and LX lasers.
It's been a challenge trying to get it out there because it's off-label and not taught normally, so I'm trying to teach individual doctors and get the word out over time.
That's awesome, that's awesome.
You have an amazing education, you're a business owner, and one of the coolest aspects I think a lot of people may not know about you is that you're an outdoor enthusiast and also, we see in the background there, a musician.
Yeah, I enjoy skiing and all outdoor activities.
I grew up in Buffalo, New York, where you have to enjoy your winters.
Now I live in Chicago, so I can still do that, but not as much as in Buffalo.
I'm also a trombonist.
My dad played trombone.
It was a family thing; a lot of us played brass instruments.
This is my dad's old trombone from Elkhart, Indiana.
It's a Conn 88H from the 50s that he had as a high school student.
He studied at Eastman in high school, so he was quite good.
I've kept up his trombone playing.
He was an orthodontist in Buffalo, and I mean, I call myself an eye dentist who also plays trombone.
I love it, I love it.
But I enjoy it.
I play all sorts of different stuff.
I'm in a local community orchestra, and I play with the Chicago Trombone Authority.
Wow, the CTA, yeah.
It's amazing, the ability to be an amazing surgeon but also have the time to balance those hobbies.
Very important.
Kudos to you, that's awesome.
I have a very understanding wife.
That's awesome.
Well, I'm excited to ask you the next question.
Again, it's one of those things that's near and dear to our heart at Satisfied Patient.
What is the one thing that is the most important part of the patient experience to you?
I would say it's feeling listened to as a patient.
That's the most crucial thing for me.
I personally try to customize everything I can for every patient, and while I can't always do that, that's my goal.
That's amazing.
The inverse of that, there's nothing worse than leaving an appointment and having two or three unanswered questions from the patient's side of it too.
That is absolutely spot-on.
That's phenomenal advice and a key one thing.
Thank you for sharing.
Another thing I'd like to ask you today, since we have you, what is one piece of advice you would give to a bright, driven ophthalmologist that's about to join a practice?
I would go with JFK's speech where he said, "Ask not what the practice can do for you, ask what you can do for the practice."
That involves being engaged, getting yourself out of the residency mode where you become an engaged learner.
Learn what your patients need, listen to them, listen to your mentors, try to expand your repertoire rather than reduce it over time, and be open to new technology.
The other important thing is giving patients a sense of direction and engagement with their own care.
I think the concept is now called an education prescription because we provide prescriptions for drugs but also giving them an education prescription to provide videos, write everything down very clearly for them, what their instructions are, both in terms of what they're to do, what they're to take, and what their follow-up should be.
As you can, try to whittle that down for a patient and make it more digestible.
That would be really helpful because we as specialists have a tendency to throw in a lot of terminology that is not understandable.
So, trying to make it very understandable, do a little reflective listening, speak a little more slowly, and ask if your patient has any more questions at the end.
I love it.
I love it that you're self-aware that sometimes there is terminology that the patients might not grasp.
That's awesome.
You don't know that from residency because you're used to bantering with all these other doctors.
In the community, it's a bit different.
If you can do that and really connect with a patient, I ask them one or two things about their family.
I know my patients really well, so connecting at that level doesn't take a long time.
But if you do a little bit of that each visit, it really helps a lot.
Dr. Wood, it has been a pleasure having you today on Your One Thing.
Thank you so much for your time and for sharing the wisdom and knowledge that you've learned over all these years.
Thank you so much for your time today, truly appreciate it.
You're welcome.
Thanks for having me, Ryan.
Thank you.
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