This is an example of a flier that can be used as part of a light-hearted promotion with your chiropractic patients on “Blame Someone Else” Day. It is a “tongue-in-cheek” promotion and should be altered to fit your office personality.
[ Download/View File ]
The following dates are listed by organizations as special times to observe a particular health related subject. Trade associations will designate a date where they can showcase their services. There may be other reasons for these “observances”, but promotion is certainly one of them. Not all dates are specifically health related. Some are just FUN!
These dates give you many new avenues, and excuses, to promote your services. But, they won’t work by themselves. They are opportunities for creative, bright, and energetic health care promoters.
January
1 – 31
Cervical Cancer Awareness Month
www.nccc-online.org/awareness.php
1 – 31
National Birth Defects Prevention Month
www.marchofdimes.com
1 – 31
National Blood Donor Month
www.aabb.org
1 – 31
National Glaucoma Awareness Month (Prevent Blindness America)
www.preventblindness.org
Candy Holidays – Different ones for each month.
http://www.candyusa.org/Classroom/calendar.asp#mar
January 13 — Blame Someone Else Day –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blame_Someone_Else_Day
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_326847.html
Sample Flier.
January 14-20
National Slow Down Week
http://www.adbusters.org/media/flash/slow_down_week/
January 23 – National Pie Day –
http://www.piecouncil.org/national.htm
February
1 – 28
AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month – Prevent Blindness America
www.preventblindness.org
1 – 28
American Heart Month
www.americanheart.org
1 – 28
National Children’s Dental Health Month
www.ada.org/goto/ncdhm
2
Groundhog Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_day
2
National Wear Red Day 2007
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Health Information Center
www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/hearttruth
February 7
National Girls and Women Sports Day
http://www.aahperd.org/ngwsdcentral/template.cfm?template=eventcalendar.html
4 – 10
National Burn Awareness Week
www.shrinershq.org
14 VALENTINE’S DAY
11 – 17
Children of Alcoholics Week
www.nacoa.org
11-17
Child Passenger Safety Week
http://www.boosterseat.gov/
16 – National Women’s Heart Day
www.womansheartday.org
February 12-18
Random Acts of Kindness Week
http://www.actsofkindness.org/people/days.asp
March
1 – 31
National Nutrition Month
www.eatright.org
1 – 31
Save Your Vision Month
www.aoa.org
1 – 31
Workplace Eye Health and Safety Month
www.preventblindness.org
5 – 9
National School Breakfast Week
www.schoolnutrition.org
17 St. Patrick’s Day
March 26-30
National Youth Violence Prevention Week
http://www.violencepreventionweek.org/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/04/20050401-3.html
April
1 – 30
Alcohol Awareness Month
ncadi.samhsa.gov
1 – 30
Foot Health Awareness Month
www.apma.org
1 – 30
National Autism Awareness Month
www.autism-society.org
1 – 30
National Child Abuse Prevention Month
www.childwelfare.gov/preventing
1 – 30
National Youth Sports Safety Month
www.nyssf.org
1 -30
National Humor Month
http://www.larrywilde.com/month.htm
1 – 30
Sports Eye Safety Month
www.aao.org/eyemd
April 5
A Day To End Sexual Violence – National Sexual Violence Resource Center
www.nsvrc.org/saam
7
World Health Day
www.who.int/world-health-day/
2 – 6
National Work Zone Awareness Week
http://www.atssa.com/page.ww?section=Meetings+%26+Events&name=National+Work+Zone+Awareness+Week
April 15-21
Cowboy Poetry Week
http://www.cowboypoetry.com/week.htm
April 16-20, 2007
National Occupational Health Nursing Week
http://www.aaohn.org/about/ohn_week/index.cfm
22 Earth Day
http://www.earthday.net/
28 – May 6
National SAFE KIDS Week
www.safekids.org
28 – 29
2007 WalkAmerica – March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation
www.walkamerica.org
May
1-31 National Correct Posture Month
http://www.amerchiro.org/membership/cpm/index.shtml
1 – 31
National Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month
www.nof.org
1 – 31
National Military Appreciation Month
http://www.nmam.org/
1 – 31
Older Americans Month
www.aoa.gov
1 – 31
Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month
www.aafa.org
1 – 31
Better Sleep Month
www.bettersleep.org
1 – 31
Healthy Vision Month
www.healthyvision2010.org/hvm/
1 – 31
National Physical Fitness and Sports Month
www.fitness.gov
1 – 31
National Bike Month
www.bikemonth.com
5
Cinco de Mayo
http://www.cincodemayo.net/english/other.shtml
May 9 -National Teacher Day
http://www.nea.org/teacherday/index.html
May 6-12
North American Safety and Health Week
http://www.asse.org/naosh
May 7-11
Teacher Appreciation Week
http://www.nea.org/teacherday/index.html
May 6th – 12th
National Nurses Week
www.nursingworld.org/pressrel/nnw/nnwhist.htm
6 – 13 National SAFE KIDS Week
www.safekids.org
13 Mother’s Day
14 – 19
National Women’s Health Week
www.womenshealth.gov
14 – 19
National Running and Fitness Week
www.americanrunning.org
16
National Employee Health and Fitness Day
www.physicalfitness.org
25
National Missing Children’s Day
www.childfindofamerica.org
29 Memorial Day
http://www.usmemorialday.org/
31
World No Tobacco Day
www.wntd.org
June
1-30
June National Outdoors Month
http://www.greatoutdoorsmonth.org/
2-10
National Fishing Week
http://www.takemefishing.org/default.aspx?id=241
4 – 10
National Headache Awareness Week
National Headache Foundation (Links mostly go to drug companies.)
www.headaches.org
12 – 18
National Men’s Health Week
www.menshealthweek.org
18 Father’s Day
21
National ASK Day
PAX/Real Solutions to Gun Violence
www.AskingSavesKids.com
25 – July
1 Helen Keller Deaf – Blind Awareness Week
www.hknc.org
Goal setting is very important and is a well-established function of good practice management for any chiropractic practice. Usually goals are set for what you want to get as a chiropractic doctor and clinic owner. Typically this includes collections, profit, office visits and new patients. This is almost essential, and should be done.
However, goal setting often omits the processes and procedures that produce these outcomes. It is a simple formula:
If you want to improve one side, you have to improve the other. If you want more office visits, you may have to improve your procedures for patient education and retention. If you want more new patients, you may have to start to practice asking for referrals.
Money is an exchange for something valuable. If you want more of it coming in, you have to have more valuable services going out.
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This is not just a matter of working harder or longer. It certainly may be a factor, but you really want to look at how you can make your services more valuable. Review how you can increase the speed of service, the friendliness of service, and improve patient compliance and education. How can you make your patients happier with your service? How can you get them better, faster? All this adds value to your services.
If you increase the quality of your patient education, the perceived value of your services will also increase. Your patients, in turn, will stay with you longer by continuing with their care on a wellness/maintenance program, and feel responsible for bringing in their family and friends for care as well.
Working On Your Business
All this does take work. True. But it really is part of your job. In addition to being a doctor working in your business, you are also a manager and have to work on your business. Just setting a goal for collections, income, or new patients is not thorough management. Neither is trying to increase the value of your services by finding a higher RVS code.
You can schedule meetings two to three times per month with your staff to work out how you can improve your procedures. Take any service procedure and discuss with the staff how it could be improved. Then, you can practice different methods of the same procedure to see what works best. You should also practice promotional procedures.
You can ask your patients for ideas of service improvement. This can be done with formal surveys, focus groups, or informally with your more loyal, and honest, patients.
Make sure that you have a simple outline or checklist for all the steps of each procedure. This will help in the future for revision, practice, and review.
Sample Goals For Production Outcomes and Procedures
Sample Production Goals:
___1. Income:
___2. Office Visits:
___3. New Patients:
Sample Procedure Goals:
___1. New Patient Paper Work: Faster time, better experience for patients.
___2. Patient Education Programs: Better educated patients.
___3. Exam & E-ray procedure: More useful data, better experience for patients.
___4. Report of Findings: Faster, more informative for patient, better agreements with patients.
___5. Financial Consultations: All bases covered, more understanding for patient, better agreement with patients.
___6. Patient Satisfaction Survey: 2 Surveys. Second one with improved scores.
___7. Promotional Procedures:
By improving your procedures, you will be able to improve the outcomes, and have a much better chance of achieving all your goals.
For more information on chiropractic goal setting for improved service and marketing, go to this link. You can also read more about marketing procedures of the Marketing Manager System here.
GOALS 2007: Part 1
You set goals for your chiropractic practice, right? Maybe you do it on a monthly basis. Some chiropractors even set weekly and daily goals. Almost everyone decides on a goal or two at the beginning of each New Year.
This is good, usually.
Goals help you to focus your energies towards outcomes that help you survive and succeed. Without goals, it is easier to become distracted. At the end of the day, month, or year, you can look back and realize that, even though you were very busy, you may not have gotten much done. And in business, what counts in the end is what you get done.
But there are dangers in setting goals too. I have seen staff meetings where goals were set and after an initial flurry of activity for a week or so, the office numbers crashed to the basement and stayed there for months afterward.
Setting your goals is a function of managing your business. But just throwing out a number for a goal can be a lazy way to manage. It omits many key elements that have to be in place for goals to work.
Here is a list of seven critical factors that can help you achieve the goals you set for the New Year.
These are simply numbers, of course, but they represent the outcomes of hard work excellently applied. We often look at these as “scores” that show how well our health care “team” played, doctor(s) included. This puts it into a less serious but still highly focused frame of reference.
The numbers are very important. They represent real outcomes that are not open to much interpretation. The money comes in and you can pay your staff. If the money doesn’t come in, they are out of a job and you cant pay for your kid’s education. Successful doctors watch the numbers daily. Doctors that are not successful seem to have distaste for monitoring their practice statistics.
Use these seven factors in setting up your goals and you will have a much better likelihood of achieving them and having more fun in the process.
Ed Petty
Dr. Tom Potisk was selected by his peers as Chiropractor of the Year for the State of Wisconsin. As a long time client and friend, we want to express our deepest and hardiest congratulations.
CONGRATULATIONS DR. TOM!!
Whether you live in Wisconsin or in Australia, Dr. Tom Potisk is the kind of chiropractor, man, father, husband, and friend you would like to know. Unassuming and modest, his passion is strong and his accomplishments are many. He is a leader of the best kind: by example. He sets an excellent standard for us all.
Kind, generous, industrious, and dedicated, he lives a balanced life while managing a very productive three doctor office. Here are some of the highlights:
· Graduated from Palmer Chiropractic College in 1984, interned with Dr. Larry Troxel before starting his practice in South Milwaukee, WI, U.S.A.
· He has invested a great deal of time and resources for community programs including the YMCA, the local high school, veterans association and his Chamber of Commerce.
· He has twice been recognized by the United States Military as “Patriotic Employer.”
· President of the South Milwaukee Association of Commerce, Dr. Tom was the recipient of the “Outstanding Leadership and Effort” award.
· Tom has maintained active memberships his local state organization (Wisconsin Chiropractic Association), the Christian Chiropractors Association, and The Gonstead Clinical Studies Society. Dr. Gregory Plaugher of the GCSS will soon be publishing a particularly exciting case study pertaining to one of Dr Tom’s patients with autism.
· Tom has had many articles published, including: “Snowmobile Magazine”, “The Small Business Times”, and articles in the local community paper. He authored an expose in “The Chiropractic Report” titled “The Art of Chiropractic”. He writes a monthly column on natural health care for the “Wisconsin Natural Foods.”
· He has provided chiropractic to hundreds of patients during several mission trips to the Amazon, Belize, Costa Rica and Poland. A man of faith, Dr. Tom feels that these trips are an expression of God’s love that transcends his own faith community as an elder of St. Marcus Lutheran in Milwaukee, and touches many lives in places far from home.
·Tom has had eight associate doctors with whom he has maintained a mentoring relationship during their time in his office and after they moved on in their careers. It is not uncommon for him to be on the phone with one of his prior associates giving and taking ideas on how to better serve patients. Of course, he also always finds time to provide adjustments to local chiropractors in need.
· As an indication of the friendly kind of work environment Tom creates, it is worth noting that he has had the same office manager for all 21 years of practice. With the help of Petty, Michel and Associates, Tom has been an excellent clinic director and manger. He is progressive in his chiropractic practice marketing and management, and works to continually reach out and promote chiropractic.
· Tom has been happily married for 13 years to Sue Potisk and has three children. The family lives on a mini-farm a rural setting with a family “swimming hole” pond, and keeps busy tending to their organic garden, small flock of chickens, barn cats and their pig.
Tom has set such a great example, and continues to do so, that we thought it worthwhile to post it as an example for all to see.
(Much of this information was provided by one of his current associates Dr. Steven Seheuing.)
Sample Poster for Spinal Health Awareness
[ Download/View File ]
The American Chiropractic Association recognizes October as National Chiropractic Health Month. You can use this as a springboard and tie-in to sponsor a “Low Back Awareness Week” or “Spinal Health Awareness Month.” It can be “in conjunction with National Spinal Health Month.”
Throw up some posters around the office, get some press releases off to local newspapers, and put a notice in your statements. Offer a free spinal screening, a trigger point workshop, or whatever you want. The more attractive the offer, the better. Have a staff meeting and cook up something fun. This is designed to generate referrals, but to do so, it should also generate some enthusiasm with your staff.
You can find a down-loadable poster here in pdf format. For those of you who have the Marketing Manager System CD or Binders, you may email us and we will send you two sample posters in Word format for easy customization.
Back To School Health Poster
[ Download/View File ]
Kids Health Care and Chiropractic (updated 8/10/2010)
The “Back To School” season is a great time to host a special promotion for children’s health and chiropractic care. There are many different approaches to this, which include:
These are internal promotions for your patients and their family and friends. (They can also be for external promotion as well.)
For those of you who have the Marketing Manager System (sm) , you can click to the “Toolkit” and, under “Special Promotions” and find more information about promotions to and for kid’s.
These events are not usually designed to generate a large number of new patients in the short term. A few perhaps, but they can be a useful tool to create long term relationships with parents, future patients, and good will in your community.
For more information on children health care and chiropractic, look into the follow linked sources:
We have also added a sample poster which you can down load, and an extra poster that one of our clients just did. (Active clients and Marketing Management System owners: let us know and we can email you the poster on Word format, or you can find them on your MMS program or on your PMA members site.)
By the way, internal office posters do not have to be professionally done. In fact, they are usually less effective if they are. Internal posters are just friendly notices, between you and the patient.
As with all internal type of promotions, the effectiveness of this program depends upon the motivation level of the doctors and staff. Do you and your doctors and staff have a real purpose for this promotion? If so, are you going to have some fun with it? If so, it will work well!
Staff Management: An Essential Component To Practice Success
A big reason for your chiropractic practice is doing well is because of your staff. And, a big reason your chiropractic practice is not doing well is because of your staff. Either way, your staff plays a major role in the success of your business.
How much can a good staff member contribute to the office? What is the Return On Investment for staff expenses? There does not seem to be any good research on this for chiropractic offices. (If you know of any, we would appreciate the references.) We have seen some studies and based upon these and our experience it would be safe to say that a staff member should contribute at least double what you pay them.
This means that if you pay a Chiropractic Assistant, for example, $2,500 (including taxes, FICA , etc.) a month, you should at least be able to generate $5,000 because of her. On the other hand, when a staff member is not performing well, their contributions can go to zero, or even lower. If they are alienated from the doctor and the practice, they can actually become a liability. An unhappy or defiant staff can turn away patient referrals, discourage patient phone appointments, create disharmony with other staff, and many other costly problems.
Staff Turnover
The cost of staff turnover can be very high, as much as three times their monthly pay. This would include recruiting cost, training cost, extra time on your part, lost patient and lost new patients. For example, if your senior front desk C.A. leaves and she is paid $2,500 per month, it could take a couple of months before you find another CA that has the qualifications you need, and at least a couple of more months before they are trained.
By the way, this is why it is so important to have your practice systematized with all of your procedures written up for fast training and evaluation. (This is what our PM&A Practice Development Programs help you with!)
Conversely, as mentioned above, you can save money by letting an under performer go.
Staff Motivation
Once you have personnel, you have to keep them motivated. Frankly, this can be a problem for many doctors. There is a basic reason for this which I will explain later on. First, let’s look at some interesting information on employee motivation.
A recent article from the Harvard Business School reports on a study that showed that most employees start out relatively motivated, but things change after about 6 months.
“The great majority of employees are quite enthusiastic when they start a new job. But in about 85 percent of companies, our research finds, employees’ morale sharply declines after their first six months—and continues to deteriorate for years afterward.”
One of the biggest causes for this goes straight to the relationship they have with their managers.
“Many companies treat employees as disposable. At the first sign of business difficulty, employees—who are usually routinely referred to as “our greatest asset”—become expendable.
“Employees generally receive inadequate recognition and reward: About half of the workers in our surveys report receiving little or no credit, and almost two-thirds say management is much more likely to criticize them for poor performance than praise them for good work.
“Management inadvertently makes it difficult for employees to do their jobs. Excessive levels of required approvals, endless paperwork, insufficient training, failure to communicate, infrequent delegation of authority, and a lack of a credible vision contribute to employees’ frustration.” (You can read the entire article here.)
We have seen versions of these problems in every office. Even our own!! It happens. One of the most common habits of doctors that can impede staff performance and motivation is micro managing. For example, fretting over the office volume, doctors can hover around the front desk causing the staff to be more concerned about the doctor’s constant evaluation than engaging with the patients.
To solve these de-motivation factors, the authors suggest the following:
1. Instill an inspiring purpose.
2. Provide recognition.
3. Be an expediter for your employees.
4. Coach your employees for improvement.
5. Communicate fully.
6. Face up to poor performance.
7. Promote teamwork.
8. Listen and involve.
We would add two more factors. First:
9. Clear policies and procedures consistently applied. You need to coach your team on the same procedures today that you applied yesterday, and will use tomorrow. These procedures should be written down in some form for easy reference. This gives an objective reference for staff coaching (#4) and regular staff evaluations (#6).
And the most important, and most overlooked in a doctor’ office:
10. Separate your roles of doctor and clinic director so that you can be a part time manager.
The Most Common De-motivator
Most chiropractors are either too busy and/or too focused on doctoring to have much attention left for caring for staff. After all, the staff is there for the doctor and to help him or her with the patients. The doctor is not there for the staff. And, the staff is paid to do their job.
So, what’s the problem?
The problem is that employees are people and not machines. And, like all living things, they need a certain amount of nurturing. Growing a business is like growing an orchard. It needs tending. Doctors do not feel they should have to do this, and as doctors, they shouldn’t.
However, as the C.E.O. their business, they have too. Larger offices have office managers or practice administrators that can help do much of the staff management. We usually recommend that the doctor assign a staff member to take the role, if only for a few hours per week, of senior C.A., office coordinator, or office manager.
Most doctors can be managers and coach their staff, but don’t. The reason, and the solution are relatively simple: just separate the roles of doctor and clinic director. As the doctor, everyone works for you and the patient. As clinic director and a part of management, you work for everyone else.
With good business systems in place, a well organized office should require little time of the doctor to be a clinic director. And in the role of business owner and investor, the doctor should see a very good return on his efforts if his staff is motivated.
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I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something-something I can use
People love it when you lose,
They love dirty laundry
–Don Henley
We live in a world of losses and failures – of tragedy and of many serious issues for grave concern.
Or at least, it seems that way. But is it true?
Certainly, horrible events happen. But the percentage of bad to good is probably very minor. Mostly, there is an abundance of wonderful events that are constantly occurring. But are they news-worthy?
It seems that most people find bad and sensational news more interesting, and this is what our media gives us. But too much bad news can lower our morale, dampen our spirits, and make it more difficult for us to reach our practice goals.
It happens in your practice all the time: your attention will stick on that one tough case you had a few days ago. Remember?
It has been said that: “You can’t let the negative Few outweigh the positive Many.”
Not only do you want to limit your exposure to negativity, you also want to accentuate the positive “Many.” Here are some steps you can take to do this:
1. Notice your patients. If they seem to be doing better, tell them.
2. Compliment your patients for keeping their appointments.
3. Compliment them for attending your patient education programs.
4. Check to see if they are making any life style changes or doing their exercises. Compliment them for anything they are doing new to improve their health.
5. When they have shown significant improvement, ask them to fill out a Patient Success Survey.
a. Click here for a sample form
b. Click here for a actual success story.
c. Click here for a sample Doctor letter to patient about writing success stories. (Note: this is for PM&A clients but is available now publicly for a limited time.)
6. Read these patient successes at your staff meetings, and displayed in your office and on your web site.
Promoting the successes of your patients efforts to improve their health has many benefits:
· It validates the work they put into improving their health and reinforces their desire to do so.
· It recognizes their accomplishments and helps identify your office as the major contributing factor to their success.
· They are more likely to promote their achievements to others and refer them to you.
· You can use their testimonies and successes to validate your services to your staff and doctors.
· You can use their written successes on your web site, newsletter, bulletin board, or other media to promote the services you provide.
We all can take for granted too many of our accomplishments, and those of others. If you do start to celebrate the wins you have, you will likely see more of them.
Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.
Lord Byron
You probably don’t laugh enough.
And, just probably, there could be more humor in your clinic.
Sometimes offices can be downright grim. Stressed insurance staff, doctors working with an emergency case, patients running late… the list goes on and on. You may not notice it from the inside, but your patients do. Have you ever walked into a doctor’s office that seemed less than happy or friendly? How about a dentist’s office? You don’t really want to return to an office that is stressful and tense.
Laughter is good medicine, or rather, good therapy. It is good for patients, employees, and doctors. It helps make the work day go smoother, tasks seem easier, and goals more obtainable. And more fun to achieve.
Even if you are not good at telling jokes or making them up, you can work on it. And that can be funny too! At least for others!!
ACTION STEP
Start each staff meeting, or your morning case management meetings with a joke. Have your staff take turns. (No mean or off-color jokes.)
Telling jokes can help you to take the gravity and stress out of your work. Successful practices, and people, tend to be lighter hearted than those that are worried and very very serious.
Sometimes when you start laughing you can find more things to laugh about. Try it sometime. You can always check out our “Breakroom” for a joke or two. They may be a little corny, but that is funny too.
P.S. April is National Humor Month. Click here to learn more.
Good News Is A Wonderful Thing
Dear Patients and Friends,
We get hit with bad news all the time. From what the newspapers and TV serve up, you would think we are gluttons for negativity.
But the fact is, there is always so much more good news happening than bad. It is probably true that we overlook the many daily events and experiences for which we can be grateful and happy.
For health reasons, it is important to get more good news than bad. Stories about calamities can add to your level of stress and bring about physical tension and mental anxiety. This stress can help create subluxations that can lead to back problems, headaches, stomach conditions, and many other dis-eases.
Chiropractic care can relieve back pain, headaches, and the effects of subluxations and stress. To support your health efforts, we also offer regular classes on Yoga, nutrition and medication.
As additional support, I suggest you try to limit the amount of negative news you get assaulted with each day. Instead, look for the good news events. Find reasons for which you can show gratitude.
This is one of the reasons we invite our patients to fill out a survey at some point during their active care. We call these “Success Stories.” It is a time to reflect on your health progress and achievements and write them down.
We love hearing about your success. Part of getting and staying healthy is staying positive, and nothing is more positive than celebrating the successes we all share in.
See you soon,
Dr. John
PS We invite you to read what other patients have said in our reception room. We have also recently posted a number of these patient successes on our web site and you can read them there at www._____ .com
Change happens. And you either are making the change happen and evolving your business, or the change will happen to you and to your practice. It is a matter of either being proactive or unresponsive.
Too many offices seem to be changing, but they are actually caught in a kind of neurosis: compulsively putting out fires, and like a dog chasing its own tail, never getting anywhere.
Other offices go to the seminars and read the books, and talk about improvements, but never really change. They stay stuck and hide in their comfort zones, doing business the way they did back last century.
You have to change. All you have to do is look at other business models for examples. We have a McDonalds a few miles from our office (who doesn’t?). It has been there for many years. A new Panera moved in near to it. It is a beautiful and convenient restaurant with all the things people want now: upgraded coffee, salads with chicken, and some no-fat bread. Oh yes, with Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity). And it is very busy. So what is McDonalds doing? About two weeks ago heavy equipment moved in and started demolishing the building. Today, it is completely destroyed and plans are underway for building a new McDonalds with a new design and improved features. I assume with Wi-Fi and fancy coffee.
Peter Drucker, one of the world’s foremost management consultants who recently passed away, said that “business has only two functions — marketing and innovation.”
You have to change, or to put it better, you have to innovate. And you have to market.
We have recently talked about the process of Continuous Improvement. The Japanese call it Kaizen. We have begun implementing a process called Continuous Improvement Reviews (C.I.R.), which is an adaptation of some of our basic consulting procedures that have been so effective. The CIR looks to be a vital tool for improving practice innovation and marketing. We will be posting more information on how to do the process in the future.
A new month is coming and it is time for a change. Time to innovate and market and grow your practice.
(Directions: Please write a few sentences regarding your condition before treatment, and then a few sentences regarding your condition now after receiving the health care we provided.)
Name ________________________
1. Describe your condition. How long had you been suffering? How did it start?
2. What previous unsuccessful steps had you taken to try to solve your problem?
3. How did you find out about Dr. _____________?
4. Describe what Dr. _______________ did to help you. ( Examination, x-ray, treatment program, etc.)
5. What did Dr. _______ tell you your problem was?
6. Describe your progress, your results , and the benefits you received.
7. How has your life been improved since coming to our office? What can you do now that you could not do before?
8. Words of encouragement for others who have similar problems.
Signature _____________________________ Date_________
I hereby give my permission to publish my success story in whole or in part: (initial) _______
When the patient is ready to write their “success story”, have her or him fill out this survey.
Then, you can re-type it and have them sign the new version. Type the following on the bottom of the newly retyped story. When you display the patient’s story, you can mention: “(Individual results vary. These accounts were obtained without remuneration and within HIPAA guidelines.)” You may also want to check with your state association if you have any questions.
I hereby give my permission to publish my success story in whole or in part:
Signature _________________________________ Date:______________________
NO OPERATION FOR ME!
February 2006
I have spinal stenosis, which is a narrowing of the spinal column that causes lower back pain along with some arthritis. I also have spondylolisthesis recently diagnosed early in 2005. This is the term for a slipped vertebrae compressing on a nerve. This added to my lower back pain, including right leg and foot pain. I have been dealing with the discomfort through pain management, epidural steroid injections, orthotics, massages, ibuprofen and chiropractic treatments. This was all done in my hometown. After moving to Smithville [name of town changed] two years ago these treatments ceased and the pain worsened.
I then saw a neurosurgeon in Smithville. The surgeon said I needed a lumbar spinal fusion which would be done in a seven hour procedure. Recovery would take 6 months, sometimes as much as 18 months before fusion is complete. She told me I did not have much of a choice. Was she wrong! I sought a second opinion and was told I did not need an invasive surgery as she suggested.
I met Dr. A at the Women’s Expo in the fall of 2005. I told him my tale of woe. He did a computerized spinal exam, which showed my right side from neck to lower back was unbalanced. He was very encouraging and seemed to know exactly what was giving me back pain. I have been receiving treatments from him ever since until January 2006. I am now on monthly maintenance treatments which I feel is very important to maintain my road to recovery.
I can now sleep through the night. Being fairly active senior citizen. I can resume most of the activities I enjoy doing, which improves my mental attitude. I am looking forward to summer gardening, playing with my grandchildren, golfing, hiking and more, all with less pain than before.
Thank you Dr. A for helping to improve my lifestyle and to enjoy life to the fullest. Yoga, meditation, healthy eating and a positive mental attitude professed by you has influenced my life. Your friendly and professional staff, A & K are a plus to your practice. I am always greeted with a smile and genuine concern for my well being. Chiropractic is the way to go!
J. M.
(Individual results vary. These accounts were obtained without remuneration and within HIPAA guidelines.)
As a chiropractor, you always have to know before you go. However, successful business leadership sometimes needs to act first and figure it out later. It all depends on which role needs to be fulfilled.
There are times when you should leap before you look.
As a chiropractor, you have a number of different roles. And for each role, there is a certain but different mindset that is most effective.
Your first role is that of doctor. The mindset and motto for this role is: Know Before You Go.
Each time you start a new case, you do your diagnosis to find what the best treatment program should be. You want to know what to do before you go with the treatment program. And, at each visit, you briefly reassess the patient’s condition before you go ahead with that day’s treatment.
In your role of senior manager, you have a similar mindset. You assess the business situation, make plans to improve it, and then execute the action steps. Again: Know Before You Go.
The opposite seems to be true with entrepreneurial doctors that have successfully built their businesses. The lesson seems to be that, as a business owner, you need to have the inclination to GO before you KNOW.
Why is this? Because we are all faced with degrees of procrastination, of fear, of “paralysis by analysis.” Given any opportunity, many of us can find reasons to wait, do more planning, get more information, talk to more people, and just think about it some more.
Pretty soon, other issues come up and our planning gets bumped to handle new issues. In time, we have a garage full of uncompleted or never started practice building projects. An attitude of going for it, without waiting for all conditions to be perfect, gets us out there promoting our services, telling our story, and serving more people.
Too many of us get ready, then aim, get more ready, aim some more, and never fire. On the other extreme, the successful entrepreneur often just fires. This can result in wasted money and time, but it does get the office moving and this is what leadership is all about. Hence, the sequence of fire, ready, aim.
Many chiropractic practices and businesses do suffer because the entrepreneur has never adopted systems of good management that stabilize the business so that it can grow. Their growth is stunted because of poor organization. We see this all the time. But, that is the role of managing.
We also see the opposite: wonderful, skilled doctors, well organized, and broke. Or nearly so.
Successful business owners and entrepreneurs have a bias for action. This especially applies to marketing activities, but can apply to anything that improves your business. Marketing is a very broad category and covers everything from the services you provide to the way you promote them.
For example, you can always improve the brochures and letters you send to your patients and community. And you should improve them. But no matter the quality, you need to get them out and distributed, not lying around in stacks on the top self in the storage closet.
When was the last time you painted your office, gave a lecture, did a screening, wrote a letter to the editor, set up a referral relationship with an MD, dentist, or car repair shop? The color of the paint, the content of your lecture, the location of your screening, the grammar in your letter, or what you say to the MD or business owner is secondary to just doing it.
As a doctor your have to know before you go. In practice management, you have to develop strategies based upon set policies and procedures. But as the business owner and leader, sometimes you need to just get going, and figure it out later.
Starting firing!
The following dates are listed by various web sites as special times to observe a particular health related subject. Trade associations will designate a date where they can showcase their services. There may be other reasons for these “observances”, but promotion is certainly one of them.
These dates give you many new avenues in which you can promote your services. But, they won’t work by themselves. They are opportunities for creative, bright, and energetic health care promoters.
February
1-28 Heart Month
www.americanheart.org Participate in the local “Heart Walk.” Give your patients a free cap if they participate in the walk and bring in a friend for an exam and or massage. Donate the money paid to the local Heart Foundation.
1–28 AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month
www.preventblindness.org Set up a health fair with a local optometrist.
1– 28 Kids E.N.T. (Ears, Nose, Throat) Health Month
www.entnet.org/KidsENT Give a workshop on “Kid’s Care” with a nurse or M.D.
5 – 11 National Burn Awareness Week
www.shrinershq.org
7 – 14 Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week
www.tchin.org/aware
14 VALENTINE’S DAY
11 – 18 Cardiac Rehabilitation Week
American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation
www.aacvpr.org
12 – 18 Children of Alcoholics Week
www.nacoa.org
17 National Women’s Heart Day
www.womansheartday.org
26 – March 4 National Eating Disorders Awareness Week
www.nationaleatingdisorders.org
March
1 – 31 National Nutrition Month
www.eatright.org
1 – 31 Workplace Eye Health and Safety Month
www.preventblindness.org
1 – 31 Save Your Vision Month
www.aoa.org
1 – 31 National Brain Injury Awareness Month
www.biausa.org
1 – 31 National Multiple Sclerosis Education and Awareness Month
www.msfocus.org
6 – 10 National School Breakfast Week
www.schoolnutrition.org
13 – 20 Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week
www.nationalmssociety.org
13 – 19 Brain Awareness Week
www.dana.org/brainweek
17 St. Patrick’s Day
April
1 – 30 National Occupational Therapy Month
www.aota.org
1 – 30 National Humor Month
http://www.larrywilde.com/month.htm
1 – 30 National Youth Sports Safety Month
www.nyssf.org
1 – 30 Sports Eye Safety Month
www.aao.org
1 – 30 National Child Abuse Prevention Month
nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/topics/prevention/index.cfm
1 – 30 Foot Health Awareness Month
www.apma.org
3 – 7 National Youth Violence Prevention Week
National Association of Students Against Violence Everywhere
www.violencepreventionweek.org
7 World Health Day
www.who.int/world-health-day/
22 Earth Day
http://www.earthday.net/
22 – 29 National Infant Immunization Week
www.cdc.gov/nip/events/niiw/
29 – 30 2006 WalkAmerica
March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation
www.walkamerica.org
30 – May 6 North American Occupational Safety and Health Week
www.asse.org/naosh
May
1-31 National Correct Posture Month
http://www.amerchiro.org/membership/cpm/index.shtml
1 – 31 National Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month
www.nof.org
1 – 31 Older Americans Month
U.S. Administration on Aging
www.aoa.gov
1 – 31 Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month
www.aafa.org
1 – 31 Better Sleep Month
www.bettersleep.org
1 – 31 Healthy Vision Month
www.healthyvision2010.org/hvm/
1 – 31 National Physical Fitness and Sports Month
www.fitness.gov
1 – 31 National Bike Month
www.bikemonth.com
5 Cinco de Mayo
http://www.cincodemayo.net/english/other.shtml
May 1-7 Teacher Appreciation Week
http://www.nea.org/teacherday/index.html
6 – 13 National SAFE KIDS Week
www.safekids.org
12 Fibromyalgia Awareness Day
fmaware.org/may12.htm
14 Mother’s Day
14 – 20 National Women’s Health Week
www.womenshealth.gov
14 – 20 National Running and Fitness Week
American Running Association and American Medical Athletic Association
www.americanrunning.org
15 – 19 Bike to Work Week
www.biketoworkweek.com
15 National Women’s Check-up Day
www.womenshealth.gov
17 National Employee Health and Fitness Day
National Association for Health and Fitness
www.physicalfitness.org
25 National Missing Children’s Day
www.childfindofamerica.org
29 Memorial Day
http://www.usmemorialday.org/
31 World No Tobacco Day
www.wntd.org
June
June National Outdoors Month http://www.greatoutdoorsmonth.org/
4 – 10 National Headache Awareness Week
National Headache Foundation
www.headaches.org
12 – 18 National Men’s Health Week
www.menshealthweek.org
18 Father’s Day
21 National ASK Day
PAX/Real Solutions to Gun Violence
www.AskingSavesKids.com
25 – July 1 Helen Keller Deaf – Blind Awareness Week
Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youth and Adults
www.hknc.org
A fill in chart of the Six Components To A Self-Reliant Chiropractic Clinic
You can use this worksheet to help you implement a process of continuous improvement in your clinic.
| Today’s Date: | Person in charge of meeting: | Date of Next Meeting in 3 Months: |
| Clinic Areas for Possible Improvement | Grade: 1- 10 | Improvement Goals |
| Front Desk | ||
| Billing & Collections | ||
| Case Management | ||
| Internal Marketing | ||
| External Marketing | ||
| Staff Training & Education | ||
| Patient Education | ||
| Office/Clinic Appearance | ||
| Patient Service (Extraordinary, fast, friendly, etc.) | ||
| Wellness Practice | ||
| Office Volume | ||
| Speed of Service | ||
| Paperwork, Documentation | ||
| Clinical Enhancement | ||
| Other | ||
| Personal Areas for Possible Improvement | Grade: 1- 10 | Improvement Goals |
| Professional, Technical, or Job Skills | ||
| Health Care Education | ||
| Personal Health Program | ||
| Other areas: | ||
| Recreation | ||
| Family | ||
| Relationships | ||
| Savings | ||
| Study | ||
| Hobby | ||
| Spiritual | ||
| Other |