Week 7: Little Developments

Welcome back! Greeting everyone with a shorter blog post this week 🙂 

This week has been a familiar blend of clinical routines, inventory management, taking calls, and digging deeper into the heart of my business proposal. I continued with my usual responsibilities (checking in and pre-testing patients, packaging frames/lens, and calling patients to schedule their pick-ups). Most calls are pretty straightforward, but I did run into my first more difficult one this week. I called a patient to let him know his eyewear was ready for pick-up, but he didn’t take the news too well. In fact, it came across as more of an inconvenience to him than anything. After repeating several times that he’d come by on his own schedule, the call ended pretty abruptly with a hang-up. It was a small moment, but a useful reminder that even routine interactions can take a turn — and that strong communication skills are just as important in those moments as in any formal setting.

This week, I also attended a staff meeting where we went over new protocols to help keep things more organized between shifts. We covered small but important end-of-day responsibilities (turning off lights, clocking in and out accurately and clarifying who’s hourly vs. weekly salaried, and sterilizing patient spaces). Taking the time to delegate such tasks really cut down on the little moments of confusion, like when two people unknowingly clean the same room and thereby supplies get wasted. 

Another topic that came up this week was how we’re better supporting individualized care. While I was making patient calls, the manager reminded me to check each patient’s preferred language before reaching out. Hence, I spent some time analyzing our patient demographic data and how recent updates, like assigning dedicated phone lines for Spanish-speaking individuals, have improved communication, trust, and overall service. It’s something I hadn’t considered in depth before, but seeing the impact of such a targeted change made it clear how thoughtful systems can enhance the patient experience.

Meanwhile, on the proposal front, I’ve been hard at work drafting the marketing and administrative portions of my problem statement for East Hills. This section outlines the core challenges I’ve observed and what I’m aiming to address, particularly when it comes to patient retention, communication systems, and overall workflow. I also had a call with Dr. Ngo to learn more about the financial management side of the practice, which gave me a clearer picture of how different operational choices impact the clinic’s sustainability.

Looking forward to what next week brings!