2008.12.11 01:51:46

John McDaniel

#8…”Which chair should I choose?”

The patient walks into the exam room and looks left and then right and then left again.  It appears that a major decision making process is underway.  Which chair should they sit in?  If statistics are useful I’d guess that 1 out of 5 patients picks the wrong chair.  It is a difficult decision after all.  If you’re thinking this is a small, rarely occurring problem I have some good evidence that it is not.  My routine discussions with patients are many and one of them gets used every time I take a patient into the examination lane.  It goes something like this: “you can have a seat over in that (pointing) big, comfy chair over there.”  I have observed dozens of eye doctors during patient exam times and have noticed a good number of them have a similar type of narrative if they ever escort a patient into the exam lane.  This decision has always befuddled me so I decided to analyze it from the patients perspective to see just how challenging it can be.  So here it goes…

You, the patient, walk into the room.  You see three seating options for you.  The first you are able to determine is the doctor’s adjustable height “doctor” stool.  You want to sit there because it looks fun but you know better.  This leaves you two potential options.  The option on the left is interesting.  It has lights on it and buttons and dials and switches.  It is actually plugged into an outlet somewhere.  It is a big chair with its very own retractable foot rest.  It is connected to an even cooler looking thing with more lights, buttons, and dials.  The big green power switch really catches your eye.  This thing connected to the fancy chair has a lot of arms with stuff on it too.  One of the arms has something you remember as being the torture tool used during the “which is better, 1 or 2” inhumanity soon to come.  There is also a big black thing that is attached that looks like a very old fashioned camera from the 1890’s.  You then notice that near the top is an arm with a light on it that is turned on.  Finally, your eyes meet the most impressive piece of “stuff” by the big fancy chair.  It looks like a microscope and it looks expensive.  You clench a little because you are certain that this is where the “puff of air” test will soon be coming from.

Now you look at the other option to the right.  It is a $15.95 chair from Sam’s Club.  The choice is obvious now – you sit at this one confident you’ve made the best decision possible.

Congratulations!  You’ve picked a winner once again.  But you are wondering why the eye chart is showing up on the wall behind your chair, aren’t you?

Le meas,

John G. McDaniel, OD, MLHR
President/Founder
Waugoo Consulting Group, LLC
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