NEW YORK—The pandemic has exposed cracks in our healthcare system, leaving many patients feeling disconnected, distrustful, and scared. In response, healthcare providers need to rebuild trust and re-engage with patients. VM editorial director Marge Axelrad and lens and tech editor Andrew Karp discuss this new dynamic in their latest video conversation, Re-Establishing Trust in Healthcare. The video is the fourth in a six-part weekly series called “Micro Chats on Macro Trends,” that examines significant trends that are influencing the way healthcare providers and optical retailers are doing business today, while preparing for the “next normal.”

“We’ve reached a critical moment when healthcare leaders need to reimagine their business. That includes rethinking healthcare’s relationship to eye health as well as the retail components of vision care,” Karp observed.

Axelrad added that as decision makers move forward, “the patient experience needs to be at the center of what they do, as opposed to making patients try to figure out the healthcare system, because that was creating delays and issues for so many.”

The conversation concludes by asking viewers, “At a time when healthcare systems are under stress and many patients are worried about their health, what have you done to strengthen their trust in your practice or business? Email us your answer at vmsummit@jobson.com.

The video, titled Re-Establishing Trust in Healthcare, can be viewed here. 

The Micro Chat series, which kicked off on March 25, features Axelrad and Karp discussing big ideas and trends from the 2020 VM Leadership Summit that continue to reverberate throughout optical and healthcare in 2021. In their first conversation, Brick Learns to Click, they discuss how boundaries between the physical and virtual worlds are blurring in today’s healthcare environment.

Their second Micro Chat, Telehealth and Wellness explores the rise of telehealth and a crescendo of patients' interest in staying healthy and learning more about their own wellness. In the third episode, Access to Care, Axelrad and Karp discuss how the “social determinants of health” impact access to vision care.

Upcoming Micro Chats will explore the following themes:
• Optometry’s Widening Scope
• The Retail-Healthcare Convergence

VM will post a new conversation each week. To watch the Micro Chats, visit the VM Leadership Summit site.