Transcript

Interviewer:

What would you say, if you were to give bullet points – however many bullet points it is, maybe three, maybe four, maybe five – what are the major areas of your practice, the major spheres of care that you offer?

Dr. Alan Shuster:

Well general ophthalmic or eyecare, in terms of diagnosis of a whole bunch of diseases, ocular well-being and preventative strategies, and surgical planning for things like advanced technology cataract surgery, laser assisted cataract surgery, cataract with multifocal or accommodative implants, cataract surgery for correction of astigmatism or combinations of that, and the glaucoma surgeries: the laser – selective laser trabeculoplasty, where patients may or may not want to have drops or may not want (due to cost and hassle, or either or both of drops) – they’ll choose laser or if, it’s more advanced, they have the option to go to a minimally invasive glaucoma surgical procedure such as eye stint or endoscopic ciliary photocoagulation: PCP.

Interviewer:

Just thinking real quickly – just go north, east, south, west: name some of the cities and suburbs from which your patients come. So the people that you’ve served through the years – hopscotch around and name for us some of the communities they come from .

Dr. Alan Shuster:

Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, North Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Hope Sound, Tequesta, Port Saint Lucie, Palm City, Port Salerno, Fort Pierce – that’s it for starters.

Interviewer:

Pretty broad spectrum.

Dr. Alan Shuster:

It’s a big demographic. I didn’t realize how big and how far patients would drive – but even with it up farther north in Stuart.

Interviewer:

We’ve already seen it today. The lady I just talked to, she drove almost forty minutes to get here and she said she would not have even dreamed of stopping anywhere else – that lady with the dog. She had to get back and walk her dog.

Dr. Alan Shuster:

That’s part of what I missed … about wanting to come back – and retirement wasn’t an option.

Dr. Alan Shuster, a practicing Ophthalmologist in Stuart, Florida, chats through the array of medical areas his practice touches – and a quick array of some of the physical areas from which patients most commonly venture to him.

Ophthalmic or eye care is obviously key in his area of medicine – and he touches matters of diagnosis, ocular well-being, and preventative strategies. And he is a worldwide expert in surgical planning, advanced technology cataract surgery, laser assisted cataract surgery, cataract with multifocal or accommodative implants, cataract surgery for correction of astigmatism or combinations of that, and the gamut of glaucoma surgeries.

Dr. Shuster is sought by patients well beyond even Florida — so many people around the U.S. and around the globe have discovered not only the wonders of Florida’s East Coast but also the wonders of Dr. Shuster’s first-rate practice: ophthalmic excellence, practical helps, surgical skills, and kind care.

You can reach to his office to schedule an appointment or interview at (772) 210-7070.

Transcript

Interviewer:

When you’re dealing with a patient – regardless of male, female, regardless of age, wherever on the continuum of age that person is – what are you trying to do for that person? What is your highest hope?

Dr. Alan Shuster:

Improvement in vision, if there’s improvement to be made … or maintenance of good quality vision and prevention of disease … or delay in progression [of disease] – of inevitable progression – in some eye diseases. So really [it] is to get the best possible vision and maintain the highest quality of vision.

Interviewer:

The folks I have spoken with – and I’ve already spoken with quite a few – they speak to things like your excellence, your care, your attention to detail, your professionalism, your kindness in your mannerism — in your patient care — and they say the same kind of attributes about your staff that you’ve hired. They say it’s also – three people have said that it’s – evident that it’s not just about … that you possess those attributes or qualities; but you also deliberately hire staff who mirror those things that you possess inherently. Why are those – why have those – things proven so important to you as you deal with the folks you serve?

Dr. Alan Shuster:

To me that’s easy. The staff is so important. They make me look good so I have to choose – a lot goes into selection of staff. I don’t like turnover because that’s – that reflects poorly on me that I don’t know … that I have poor judgement if I have a high turnover. And it’s costly to invest our money and time into training someone to be at the quality that I’d expect myself to be in those positions; and they, again, are my extenders. So I can’t answer the phones and, if somebody is gruff on the phone or doesn’t pick up the phone early – you know, by the second ring – I take it personally and they can make me look terrible before [my patient] ever meeting me. So the staff — I can’t impress enough to the staff how important they are in doing their jobs … not just doing their jobs but doing them extremely well in keeping the patient as the number one concern: their well-being and kindness and compassion has to show through the phone, through the first contact, to when they say goodbye and check out.

Interviewer:

We serve – through the years of my doing this … I’ve done this now for over 31 years, if you can imagine … almost 31 and a half years – we’ve served a scad of different medical practices, not just ophthalmologists but all kinds of doctors; scads of other businesses; scads of ministries; scads of nonprofits; and what you just said, I’m going to be sharing with many of them because it was brilliant and brilliantly stated – and so valuable and yet what you just said…

Dr. Alan Shuster:

It’s so easy though, it’s common sense to me. It’s like smiling: it takes us less energy to smile than to frown and if you’re nice – to smile and say hello – how hard is that? And it conveys much more than – in a positive way – than just a blank stare or somebody not looking up from their desk to acknowledge a patient when they walk in. The patient is the lifeblood of the practice and a bad experience does not generate referrals, no matter how good a surgeon I am.

Across several decades, we have served countless doctors from an array of practice areas. Alan Shuster is as gentlemanly a person and doctor as any you can locate. His easy, friendly spirit with his staff and patients alike have created the perfect atmosphere.

Unannounced to Dr. Shuster’s patients, we arrived on a random day and invited the first half dozen of his patients to be interviewed about their experiences with Dr. Shuster and his staff. EVERY SINGLE PATIENT wanted to be interviewed because Dr. Shuster’s excellent care and personal style had left them overwhelmed with gratitude and respect through years of his attending to their eye care!

We even had a spouse of one patient ask if he too could offer words about his and his wife’s amazement both at Dr. Shuster’s elite skills and elite manner of care. Person after person expressed sincerely their fondness for Dr. Shuster – and their estimations that he was the best doctor they’d known. I exited his office that day realizing more than ever that the person I’d known professionally – in the arena of web development, marketing, and search engine optimization discussions – lived fully consistently in his treating of his patients with a keenly listening ear and a warmly interested heart.

I’ve seen Dr. Shuster treat patient after patient with equal and high dignity – and with mindful attention to their eye care needs … and I’ve seen him treat his staff with that same brand of dignity and attention. He’s the type of doc who brings – absolutely and unequivocally – the greatest amount of joy to our work in helping people understand practices and the doctors within those practices. You would want him as your doctor; you would want him as your friend!

Transcript

Interviewer:

Okay I think we’re good.

Paul Lamey:

My name is Paul Lamey: LAMEY; and I live in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida – at PGA National – and I just got through playing golf this morning.

Interviewer:

How did you fair?

Paul Lamey:

Uh, I didn’t do badly today: I had a good round, we enjoyed the good weather and everything was fun.

Interviewer:

What’s your handicap?

Paul Lamey:

I’m about an 18 right now.

Interviewer:

Really.. And what has been your best in your life?

Paul Lamey:

Handicap wise, I’ve been a fourteen at one time. But I’ve lost a little bit of that – and I’ve been in the mid-twenties as well … so my game varies with the amount of time you spend out there practicing, right? You work at it a little more, you get a little better.

Interviewer:

So today your wife came to see Alan Shuster. Why have you guys longed to have him provide your eye care through so many years?

Paul Lamey:

We’ve been seeing Dr. Shuster for fifteen, twenty years now – at least – and he’s just been right on with everything. I had cataract surgery with him [and] the laser work – and he did a fabulous job. I came in a couple weeks after he checked me and my vision was back to 20/20. He’s also had occasion to refer me: I had a retina problem and he referred me to a fellow doctor in business with him and he’s always been right on. My wife has had cataract work done – again with the laser – 20/20 when she came out of it and so he’s really pretty special and so we don’t mind going the extra mile and the extra distance to come and see him … not to mention the fact he’s a pretty good guy.

Interviewer:

So he’s worth the drive?

Paul Lamey:

Oh absolutely, without question we wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t for Dr. Alan Shuster.

Interviewer:

And both you and your wife have had both eyes done right, both eyes together?

Paul Lamey:

Absolutely, we’ve both had both eyes done. It’s been great; it’s been perfect. And the laser, there’s no thinking in your mind about, “Are there knives involved, the stitching, and what’s this that and the other thing.” I really don’t know a darn thing about what I’m talking about right now with regard to “techno-lese” of all this but the laser is comforting to know that it can be done that way. For a long, long time, he has been one of the few around here who specializes in that kind of care. We think the world of him and we are very very pleased, especially pleased with the results.

Interviewer:

And yours was done how long ago and your wife’s how long ago?

Paul Lamey:

I think Patricia’s was done – my wife Patricia’s – was done probably about two and a half years ago. And let’s add a couple of years to that; so probably four and a half years ago for mine. I’m without specs right now. I use them to read but for everything else I’m in good shape.

Interviewer:

Yeah, wow, impressive. And what about Alan’s demeanor or patient care: what is it that’s so attractive to you guys?

Paul Lamey:

He’s always there when you need him. He’s very sensitive to taking care of you. He shows a lot of real depth and knowledge about what he’s doing. He spells it out clearly and you understand what’s going on. You just feel good with him. He gives you the self-confidence that you like to have in the doctor that’s working on your eyes.

Interviewer:

Very good. So you guys have known him for how many years now, approximately?

Paul Lamey:

Oh I would say somewhere between maybe fifteen or twenty years we’ve been coming to Dr. Schuster – and he’s been great. And we’ve recommended him to everybody we know. Somebody says “I have to go get myself an opthamologist.” Well, by gosh, I just happen to have one for you. Let me give you his name and his phone number. And I think it’s worked a few times.

Interviewer:

Excellent, Thank you so much

Paul Lamey:

Okay, it’s been my pleasure.

Interviewer:

Awesome, fantastic … couldn’t be better.

Interviewing Paul Lamey from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, proved exceptional. Paul had accompanied his wife for her eye appointment with Dr. Shuster, saw scattered people offering quick testimonies regarding Dr. Shuster’s care, and asked if he could offer words as well.

No interview was planned – the interviews were solely random among patients seeing Dr. Shuster on that day. But Paul felt so impassioned about the excellent care he and his wife had received through the years that he wanted to speak to Dr. Shuster’s faithfulness, professionalism, and kindness. You’ll likely find his words equally as riveting as the words of everyone who speaks about Dr. Shuster – he is a well-loved, even adored, opthalmologist!

Transcript

Interviewer:

Ok so, why don’t you just – real quickly – state your name on camera.

Jackie Brown:

Jackie Brown

Interviewer:

Okay, Jackie, and give me a sense if you would: what is it about Alan and his manner of care that is so appealing to you?

Jackie Brown:

It’s a number of things: Number one he always is extremely thorough. He is very personable — warm person. He’s very smart. I just always feel like I’m in good, kind, thorough, smart hands when I see him.

Interviewer:

And how long have you or any of your family members been seeing him?

Jackie Brown:

Many years. I would have to take awhile to think of how many: maybe eight, nine… many years.

Interviewer:

What kind of care has he provided for you or any of your loved ones?

Jackie Brown:

He provides for me — at this point, I just need general eye care, glass adjustment, dry eye … make sure that he checks everything out. My husband, who is a bit older than I am, has had cataract surgery in both eyes; so he sees really well and you know it’s good.

Interviewer:

And did Alan perform his cataract surgeries – both?

Jackie Brown:

Oh yes, Alan is our doctor, our ophthalmologist.

Interviewer:

How long ago did he do his cataracts?

Jackie Brown:

That was just within the past six months.

Interviewer:

Okay, outcome?

Jackie Brown:

Good, good.  He sees and doesn’t wear glasses. He needs a few adjustments for glare with the computer. You know, people have different sensitivities. But Alan has solutions and help for everything that you could think of that’s come up, so it’s good.

Interviewer:

Yeah, and you guys live quite a distance from here – so what has propelled you to drive past twenty-five ophthalmologists to get here? What’s the bullseye?

Jackie Brown:

Trust – you know, a relationship that you have over time where the results have been good, that you feel a loyalty to somebody who we feel knows you, and knows your condition. And it’s well worth driving for; it’s not that much – you know – it’s a little farther but it doesn’t matter. It’s more important to have the quality that we get.

Interviewer:

Thank you very kindly.

Jackie Brown:

You’re welcome.

Jackie Brown provided a perfect on-the-fly interview. All the interviews we do are deliberately unsculpted and unrehearsed. We typically arrive inside the walls of a practice and invite a handful of patients to offer thoughts and words through interview.

Commonly, many won’t wish to be interviewed; in Dr. Shuster’s office, I found it stunning – UTTERLY, UNIMAGINABLY STUNNING – that every single person we approached about providing an interview wanted to do so. And each person didn’t merely wish to do so — each person wished to do so eagerly!

Jackie articulated things in such a rich, full manner while getting to the essentialities succinctly. Her words will help you discover the reasons so many people love and cherish Dr. Alan Shuster.