How ChatGPT Can Be Used in an Optometry Clinic

Launched in 2022, ChatGPT is a chatbot software developed by the company OpenAI.¹ Its release and immediate popularity spawned an AI race that was joined by Google, Microsoft, and other technology companies. By now, most of us have at least played around with ChatGPT, and some of us may have even used it to help plan a vacation, suggest date night ideas, create recipes with the food we have in the refrigerator, and complete other real-life tasks. It can also do some pretty sophisticated work, such as coding and making calculations—and, in my experience, it can even lend a hand in an optometry practice.

I’ll explain how I have used ChatGPT to create social media and educational content for my practice and share ideas that you can implement, complete with prompts that have helped me achieve good results.

SOCIAL MEDIA

I consider myself to be a creative person (I love to draw and write music), but I get the occasional writer’s block. When I do, I can use ChatGPT to help me plan social media posts by using a prompt such as, “I own an optometry clinic. Help me create an engaging and educational Facebook post on macular degeneration. Keep it concise, but informative.”

Post Created With ChatGPT

Discover macular degeneration: your eye health guide!

Let’s talk about macular degeneration, a leading cause of vision loss. Here’s what you need to know:

What is it? Macular degeneration affects the macula, impacting central vision.

Risk factors: Age, family history, smoking, and poor diet increase your risk.

Early detection: Regular eye exams can catch it early, allowing better management.

Prevention: Maintain a healthy lifestyle, protect your eyes from UV rays, and quit smoking.

We’re here to help. Schedule your eye exam today for proactive eye care!

Stay informed, stay proactive, and let’s safeguard your vision together! #MacularDegeneration #EyeHealth #YourOptometryClinicName

Using the DALL-E Feature

If you subscribe to ChatGPT+, which costs $19.99/month, you get the bonus of DALL-E, the AI’s image generator. I used DALL-E to help me create an engaging and successful organic marketing campaign on my practice’s Facebook page (Figures 1 and 2) using the prompt “Create an image of a cute pig optometrist holding an eye chart and wearing a white coat in the style of 3D Pixar.” (My clinic is in Scott, Louisiana, which is known as the “boudin capital of the world” because it produces more than ⁴ million pounds of the sausage every year.) So, I asked DALL-E to generate a pig mascot for us.

I posted a picture of the mascot and asked our Facebook followers to suggest a name for him, noting that the winner would receive a $50 gift card to a local restaurant. More than 350 people submitted mascot names, and we ended up calling him Dr. Seymour Boudin. Having a mascot of your own allows you to create fun and engaging posts on Facebook and other social media pages on a regular basis.

EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION

Traditionally, my practice has handed out educational pamphlets made by the American Optometric Association (AOA) to patients to help them understand different diagnoses. (Incidentally, we can’t seem to keep the astigmatism pamphlet in stock.)

Rather than purchasing pamphlets from the AOA, I am now using ChatGPT to work on one-page educational sheets to print on-demand for patients. Each of my examination room computers has access to a shared Google drive, where I store educational materials. The advantage to making in-house educational materials is that you can add your practice name, logo, contact information, and website to them. ChatGPT is well-versed in ocular disease and works best at generating useful content if you ask it to be concise. You can also update information to reflect new developments in medicine and technology.

The next section provides an example of how easy it is to generate a patient handout about an ocular condition using ChatGPT, and the type of result I was able to produce.

Example With Floppy Eyelid Syndrome

Prompt: “Create a one-page educational handout for an optometrist to give to patients on the topic of floppy eyelid syndrome. Include its definition, causes, and symptoms.”

Be sure to edit the ChatGPT response to improve clarity and fit the style of your practice, in addition to checking for medical accuracy, of course. (See the first page of the educational handout I created with ChatGPT in Figure 3.)

FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU

This article only scratches the surface on what ChatGPT can do for an optometric practice. I even got carried away once and used it to help me turn my phone into a barcode scanner to scan contact lens trials! I did not finish that particular project, but I share it with you to offer an example of the technology’s capabilities. I’m sure you can ask it to help you write codes for your website, create an app, and more.

Experiment with ChatGPT, but be sure to fact check it against your own clinical knowledge and expertise, because it is not always correct. Try asking it to vertex a prescription, and you’ll find that it does not understand what to do!