Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.
PHOENIX, Ariz. (October 24, 2012) — Providing a thorough vision exam and clearly communicating with patients will result in more patient referrals, according to data presented at the American Academy of Optometry Meeting in Phoenix.
To understand factors of patient satisfaction and practice recommendation, researchers conducted an online survey of 1,000 non-contact lens wearers and 3,000 soft contact lens wearers representing the census of the general U.S. population for 18+ year old adults to gauge attitudes and behaviors regarding vision care.
Subanalyses were done according to the “0-10 likely to recommend” score using Net Promoter Score (NPS) concept to determine correlations of referrals. NPS is the difference between the percentage of “promoters” (9-10 rating) and the percentage of “Detractors” (0-6 rating).
Referral/recommendation were related to factors such as patient satisfaction with the doctor, providing a comprehensive exam, treating the patient as a valued customer, and having a friendly and helpful staff to assist with the patients directly.
When looking at the impact of contact lens satisfaction on recommendation, of 2,539 contact lens wearers with a regular eye care practitioner, contact lens wearers who were Very or Extremely Satisfied had an NPS of 70 (73% promoters, 3% detractors), whereas Satisfied to Dissatisfied wearers had an NPS of -61 (3% promoters, 64% detractors). For patients with astigmatism, NPS scores were lower, with NPS scores of 37 for CL wearers and 32 for non-wearers.
“The research demonstrates a direct connection between patient happiness/satisfaction and the desire to recommend,” notes study author Cristina Schnider, O.D., Senior Director of Professional Communications, VISTAKON® Division Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. “For contact lens wearers, ensuring that they are well satisfied is critical to their propensity to recommend a doctor. It also appears that there is a particular opportunity for improving the vision care experience of patients with astigmatism.”
Source: Schnider C, Gilliam C,” “Net Promoter Score – How Happy Patients can Drive Referrals in Your Practice,” Presented October 24, 2012 at American Academy of Optometry Annual Meeting.
The study was supported by funding from Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.
VISTAKON® is a trademark of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.
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