In Ukraine, we have 300,000 cataract patients who have never had an operation. Despite 400k diagnosed cataracts a year, we have around 100k implantations. 300k patients are living with vision impairment.
But we do have enough surgeons, equipment, IOLs, and knowledge.
No issues with waiting time.
What is the reason?
Patient education is a global issue relevant to many healthcare industry fields.
What I have learned during the last 4 years is that looking for an "ideal patient education tool" absolutely makes no sense, as every person's unique background and circumstances make this mission impossible. If we give something that a person knows, we lose attention; if we give something that does not correspond with a person's background, it will be ignored.
It is a nature of the reality.
I have to mention a mistake we made in trying to educate. We never ask ourselves, "Is the person I am targeting really willing to be educated?". In many cases, the right answer is "NO". The person in front of us has an absolutely different goal.
The patient goal is simple - quality of life improvement.
However there is a critical condition to be met - the patient shall perceive that his or her quality of life is impaired, which is not easy to feel if the disease is slowly progressing.
To address this issue, related to cataract, and more importantly to glaucoma, AMD, and I am sure other issues like heart, vascular and other progressing deceases a special approach has to be developed, which will
1. Identify physiological changes at the patient side.
2. Based on that data, relevant, informative content shall be delivered in a timely manner to
- help a patient to perceive life quality impairment and understand the improvement options
- slowly influence a person to visit a relevant specialist
- help a patient be ready to understand the "education" provided at HCPs side
3. Ideally post-operative measurement of relevant parameters to assess patient quality of life improvement for further use.
I aim to create an MVP of relevant services during the next year, based on my knowledge and data on cataract patient communication gathered at the IOL-adviser project.
I am sure that a paradigm shift is needed, and I believe I can do it.
ps: despite the ambitious plans, we still need to address patient education in current circumstances now. The right way to communicate with the patient either from manufacturer or surgeon side is a key to success, and I can help here, so do not hesitate to contact OSVC consulting for more details.
Oleksii Sologub
MSc, LLB, SE MBA
Entrepreneur | Board Member & Strategic Business Consultant in Ophthalmology
Comments