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10 Practice Development Strategies for Chiropractors in 2015

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[If you think that you could make more money selling pharmaceuticals, injecting patients with vaccines and promoting flu shots in front of your office, these recommendations are not for you. For those matters, you might want to ask Palmer Chiropractic College or the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association for their opinions.]

What strategic moves should you be taking now to make sure that you have a better year in 2015 and in years to come?

After reviewing current literature and statistics, and based upon my observations and experience, I have put together a report which makes a number of recommendations that can be helpful to you. I have also included an extensive list of references for your further study.

The report contains a lot of information and so it is only for the serious practice executive. It will be a useful resource for you to refer to while you implement some of the suggestions I offer. Reading time is about 15 minutes. It offers new views on practice marketing, management, and leadership, with 25 specific recommendations.  To go straight to the main course, go here:

Here is a shorter version:

Executive Summary – 10 Strategies to Prosper and Flourish in 2015 and Beyond

1. Know Your Environment. The Medical-Pharmaceutical industries are spending more to dominate the market place. Their efforts are becoming more pervasive in reach and more covert in manipulation. At the same time, wellness statistics continue to grow. More people are turning to organic foods and are focused on wellness.

2. Marketing Positioning. My recommendation is to embrace the popular movement towards natural health and own it. Be its champion. You are the Healthy Life Doctors. This is your niche.

3. Unique Selling Proposition. Stay committed to your core services, but articulate your Unique Selling Proposition to your specific market niche(s). Not everyone is your patient. Select certain markets that are already reaching for your type of services: people fed up with drugs, baby boomers who want to stay healthy, mothers who want to avoid drugs for their children, athletes, employers who want healthy employees, etc.

4. Get More For Less. Watch your economics but don’t get stuck in a scarcity mindset. Central to economics is a return on investment -ROI. Invest in yourself and especially in making your support team expert professionals. Learn and apply the Pareto Principle (how 80 percent of your results come from just 20% of your efforts).

5. Insurance or Cash? Yes! Take insurance but don’t kowtow to the Insurance Cartel. There are millions of people who want help and can pay for it and are just looking for a solution. You have to let them know that you have their solution.

6. Shift from Personality Driven Practice to Team Driven Business. The successful offices of the future will be team driven and systematized. Each team member has to be an expert as a specialist, as a team member, and as a marketer. And each should try to achieve this as well. The doctor will delegate most marketing and administrative details to others.

7. Shift from Solo Practice to Group Practice. For those of you who are ready, you should join forces with other doctors in a group practice. This has not had a lot of success in the chiropractic profession as it has in other professions, but the time is right now to band together synergistically as brothers and sisters. There are many good reasons to do this now. However, it has to be set up — and maintained — correctly.

8. New Role: CEO and Leader. Why do CEO’s get paid so much? Because they can make such a positive difference in the business. Up to now in your career you have taken on administrative and marketing projects mostly from the role of doctor, or perhaps owner. The CEO role probably has not been emphasized. Shifting to the role of CEO changes everything. Growing a business becomes easier, you have more time available, and you make more money.

9. Seek Out and Integrate Your Greater Purposes with Your Business. The power for your office, and you, comes from those things that mean the most. This would include your family and your spiritual pursuits. But our world is smaller and we live in a networked economy and culture. Your office, in its own right, has to be a leader in your community and environment and contribute in some way beyond its walls. This also includes having a voice in your professional organization. Your greater purposes also include your personal hobbies. Since you are not working on an assembly line, many of these purposes should be integrated into your work.

10. Get an Executive Coach. Why does corporate America spend over a billion dollars on executive coaching? Because the return of investment proves to be at least 7 times, and in some cases, 10-49 times cost. Executive coaching doesn’t cost – it pays.

An executive coach is different from a clinical coach. An executive coach will help you be a better CEO – a better leader, marketer and manager who builds a team driven business which allows you to delegate most non clinical duties.  He or she will help you sort out what tasks will produce the greatest positive effects for your business, and help you get those tasks done. He or she will be your partner, counselor, confident, coach, teacher, drill instructor, and friend.

The future has never looked brighter, but the challenges are not slight. This makes your success all the more important – and sweeter.

Ed Petty

 

Fall Marketing for Chiropractic Offices

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Follow these links to some useful articles on what to do this fall to generate more new patients and increase your volume.

Chiropractic Marketing Ideas for Fall Promotions.
General Marketing Procedures and Ideas for Fall Marketing during October, November and December

Chiropractic Never Takes a Holiday.
Health doesn’t take a holiday, your appointment book doesn’t have to either.  Pointers on how to keep your patients on their care plan during the hustle and bustle of the fast approaching holiday season

Fall Marketing Ideas.
An outline of more Fall marketing ideas.

Heat up Winter With Chiropractic Health Promotions
Get a jump start on 2015 with putting good Healthy Promotions  for the New Year in place early.

Chiropractic Holiday Marketing Tips
This article covers effective marketing procedures, internal marketing, community talks, recurring events.

Fall Chiropractic Marketing
Internal promotions and External Community Events

Spinal Health Awareness Week
October is National Spinal Health Month.  This article covers ideas to get the word out.

Sample Poster for Spinal Health Awareness (PDF)

Promoting Kid’s Health 
Save your children the hassle of living with the same spinal problems you suffer from.  This article provides suggestions  to bring about awareness to Kid’s and Chiropractic

Special Event Health Care for Kids 
Detailed outline of how to hold a Kid’s Day or Kid’s Week.

Newsletters
The importance of doing an office newsletter and how to get the job done.

Independence and Dr. Jim Sigafoose

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Dr. Jim Sigafoose, 1985

Dr. Jim Sigafoose in San Francisco, 1985

What makes chiropractic so remarkable is that it works so effectively.  If you work in the chiropractic profession or receive chiropractic adjustments, you have witnessed this first hand.

But there is another factor that makes chiropractic even more remarkable – something that makes it truly unique above most if not all professions.

It hasn’t sold out. For the most part, since its inception in 1895, it has maintained its integrity. It has remained relatively independent and free from mega corporations that have otherwise hijacked our so called “health care” system.

It has stood up to the medical-industrial complex, and though coerced and bribed and enticed to go away or give up, chiropractors and their supporters have prevailed. With your help, it has stood strong and unbowed.

Certainly, there are odd roads that segments of the profession have tried to go down every now and then, not the worst of which has been catering to the “health” cartel. And the chiropractic profession will need to find its way to work more inter-dependently with all legitimate medical and health disciplines.

But most of all — it needs to continue to be itself.

Jim Sigafoose reminded us what chiropractic is and who we are in the chiropractic profession.

Yesterday, I was informed that he passed on.

I have to get personal here. Years ago I worked with Siggy, as did my business partner, Dave Michel. In the 80’s we hung out and worked with him in certain management seminars, or would work with him in the field with our clients. We recommended our clients attend his seminars, his “Gatherings”, and buy his educational material.

Siggy was my own Bob Dylan of chiropractic. He was a troubadour that didn’t play for any king nor cater to any earthly lord. He couldn’t be bought. I am not a doctor of chiropractic, but your profession appealed to me because it was so helpful and revolutionary – and even respected the spiritual aspect mankind. Dr. Sigafoose represented chiropractic to me in this way and were it not for him, I am sure I would be working in other endeavors than chiropractic.

At a WAVE seminar sponsored by Life West a couple of few years ago, Siggy went on the stage and challenged the audience why they felt they needed all the products sold by the vendors lining the hallways of the seminar. He said that he didn’t think saying this was going to be appreciated by the sponsors of the event, but I am sure Siggy felt the principles were more important than the profits.
After his talk, he walked down and sat down by himself. I went over and sat beside him and we listened to Bruce Lipton give a great presentation – full of science and slides.

People like science and slides. But science and slides should simply prove the principles – which was actually Dr. Lipton’s whole point. D.D. Palmer had it correct back in the 19th Century.

As did Siggy.

When he talked, the complexity of what we do in chiropractic fell way, like rust falling off of a hinge. Like crusted ice breaking apart on a car windshield here on a Midwest winter, when Siggy talked, you could see the truth better. And it was a truth that you already knew but was obscured by mental and physical clutter.

Siggy’s message seemed to motivate you not be a warrior, but to be a more loving servant.

I guess mostly I always felt Siggy was my friend and that he genuinely liked me. But I only say this because it seemed to me that he made everyone he touched feel like they were his personal friend.

He was passionate, he cared, and he suffered. He was tireless. He did not retire. He kept going. He was courageous. And I think he did all this because, most of all… because of love. I think he loved chiropractic, God, his family, his patients and all patients, and those of us who work in chiropractic.

Today in America, we celebrate our independence. But with independence comes responsibility and the need for integrity. Forfeit your personal and professional responsibility, care less, comprise more, and you will gradually slip into the state of dependence.

This is the tide that is rushing at your patients – to become more dependent upon drugs and vaccinations, entertainment, and big business masquerading as government.

For those of us in the chiropractic profession, we owe so much to those who have come before us, like Dr. Jim Sigafoose. For, like America, we have been given the hard won gift of independence. Through Dr. Sigafoose’s work, and others like him, we are reminded that we have to work to stay independent and help our patients to do the same.

(same article in PDF form for download)

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Here is a short clip with Siggy.  4 minutes

SiggySummer

Motivational Tent Poster – Secret to Success – Jiro Ono

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Shaw

“Once you decide on your occupation… you must immerse yourself in your work.

You have to fall in love with your work. Never complain about your job. You must dedicate your life to mastering your skill.  That’s the secret of success……

Even though I’m eighty-five years old, I don’t feel like retiring.”

    Jiro Ono – Sushi Master, Japan

Pilot of the Wheelchair: The Girl and Her Passenger

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This short story may not seem at first to pertain to your chiropractic office, but it does.

In the hot afternoon Sunday traffic, in the right lane waiting to turn right, our lane had stop moving.

Crossing the busy six lane intersection heading toward us was a man in a motorized wheelchair.  His face was full but motionless and looked worn. I couldn’t be sure, but he had that straight-ahead look of someone who was blind. He was maybe upper thirties or mid forties with short hair, perhaps a wounded veteran who paid no mind to the antsy cars that waited for him and his wheelchair.

Sitting on his lap was a thin little girl. Maybe eight years old.  She was curled up, cuddled with one of her shoulders against one of his. As they were crossing the last three lanes, she stretched out her arm with an open hand as if to say “halt, please let us cross.”

She had the look of a girl who had not had an easy life but was happy to be with this person whose immobile legs she rested on.

Once they made it to the other side our lane started to move. The pair moved closer as I moved forward. It appeared as if she was acting as the man’s eyes and told him when to go. I had the sense that he was a family member, perhaps her father, by the bond they seemed to share.

As I passed them in my nice air conditioned car, I looked closely at the girl and waved to her and smiled. She looked at me directly as I drove by. She gave me a wave and beamed a big smile as if to say “Thanks. We just made it across a busy road and me and my pa are having a Sunday outing.”

In my mind, her face reminded me of pictures of Anne Frank, the girl in Amsterdam that kept a diary before being taken by the Nazis to her death in 1945.

I would have liked to stop and help her in some way. Or say “hi” to the man in the wheelchair who looked so stoic. Maybe there was something I could do for them.

But the fact is – they did something for me.

They set an example – of courage, caring and love. They had heart: For each other, for their goals, and seemingly for their adventure.

Not everything can be put into a mission statement or measured by statistics.  No “boot camp” can teach this, and even if all your policies and procedures were followed perfectly, you could still miss it.

Heart.

One office I know has so MUCH heart the whole town loves the office and the office loves the town. The fact that there is a 2-3 week waiting list of new patients is the biggest challenge the office has.

By training and professional experience, I have a bias towards procedures, organizational structure and production.  No doubt, without these, offices would experience anarchy or insolvency. But I have also learned that heart is more important.

We can all become discouraged at times. Emotions and confusions can affect your patients as they do you and this can put a barrier around our capacity to care.  This may be affecting you or your office now.

But this is only temporary and not the real you.

This is what the little girl gave me. Her wave to me was a “thank you for stopping to let us cross the road”, but also, “we are all in this together.”

That is the lesson I am left with.

There is heroism all around us. Simple and quiet examples of selfless caring and love pass us by daily if we were to notice.  People want to help others and want help as well. Why? Because we are all in this together. Because we care. Because we have heart.

Training on procedures such as the report of findings is fine, but your patients aren’t adversaries and neither is your community. They want to get better and they want to help others to get better.   Really care for them, really love them, be honest with them, and have the courage to always do this, and they will never leave you.

Whatever your office mission statement says, if you have one, it should say what is in your heart. And if you follow that, I am sure you can successfully pilot your team on its adventure.

#  #  #

Ed Petty

Teleclass – Revised Schedule

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phone

There have been a couple of changes to the original schedule that was posted earlier this year.  Please check the calendar or click the link to print out a user friendly poster for your staff commons area.  [Link]

If you can catch these classes live, they are free! Otherwise they will be in our vault for those of you who are active with us. Hope to “hear” you in class.

There is nothing like a dream…

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What will the New Year bring – for you, your family, and your business?

No one can know for sure.  But we do know this much – either you create it or someone will create it for you.

Your dreams count. They count more than anyone may have let you to believe.

All things are created twice. First you dream your dream, then you build it.

We’d like to help you build your dreams in 2013.  There is no getting around it – we are all in this together.

And, by the way, we want to thank you for your efforts in making this world a better place. We know how hard you work and the sacrifices you sometimes have to make. We also know that you aren’t always recognized for the good you do.

We know that the world will be a better place in 2013 because of your dreams and efforts.

So, here comes 2013. Let’s get busy – it will be a blast!

The Chiropractor Versus the Chiropractic CEO

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There is a constant struggle in your office.

It is a battle between you as the doctor and you as the CEO.

As the CEO, you want to grow your business. You want it to be profitable, smooth running, and systematized.  You want it to be efficient and providing excellent service.

As the doctor, you want to focus on each patient and their unique treatment program. You really could care less about administrative concerns as these are usually just distractions to your patient care.

Who wins this war between the doctor and the executive manager?

Unfortunately, in most cases, no one.  Usually, the doctor’s duties blend in with the executive duties and the services get watered down and the growth of the office never reaches its full potential.

Without a doubt, the biggest dilemma in practice management is just this:

How can you be the best doctor you can be
and also run your office?
If you had the time (and perhaps the training, but that too just takes more time!) you could take your business to the next level.  But there just isn’t the time. You are too busy as it is.

This was the theme of Gerber’s book, the E-Myth, wasn’t it?

You know you should “systematize” your office procedures, but that still takes time. And maybe this systematizing stuff hasn’t worked all that well for you.

It comes down to roles: how can you be a compassionate and dedicated doctor while at the same time being the CEO of a growing small business?

This Thursday, October 18, 12:30 pm Central to 1:20, we will show you how –

Learn how you can, in 5 hours or less each month:

*  Drive your business to the next level
*  Improve communication with team members
*  Help each staff member be more goal oriented
*  Help create a stronger team that is more goal oriented
*  Have more fun in practice
*  Achieve more of your clinic goals

As the doctor, you are taught patient management procedures. You need them and patients benefit from them.

But as a business owner, you also need practice management procedures. Done properly done, your business will benefit.

We will show you how to do it in just over 1 hour per week, on average.

You won’t find this anywhere else. (Hype alert.) This is a culmination of our Marketing Manager System (2001), 3 Goals Management System (2008), and three other management systems which we have incorporated into our consulting over the last 25 years.

Because we feel this process is so important for your practice, we are waiving the fee for this webinar.

That’s right, this is one is FREE. It should be three times the usual price but we want to get it out to you now and fast. We want to help you get a head start on 2013.

But you have to register, so go HERE to do so.

Best regards,
Ed

PS This webinar is for doctor owners only and the office manager or administrative/office coordinator.

 

He Fired the Office Manager

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A few months ago a chiropractic office manager called me. She said that her doctor had fired her.

Her primary role had been that of Billing and Collections Coordinator, but she was also the office manager part time.  I had worked with the office for a few months and knew the doctor and Dorothy (not necessarily her real name.) I had gone over the role of the Office Manager with her and the doctor. They both felt that they understood the situation and would let me know if they ever needed any help. I was pretty certain they didn’t know what their roles were, or how to execute them, but their minds were made up.

Months went by and then late one Monday morning I got a call from Dorothy. She told me she had been fired. I asked her why? (Knowing her and the doctor, I had a pretty good idea.)  She told me that the number of new patients had been dropping for some months and that the doctor was not happy about this.

She said that she couldn’t believe it. “He fired me for that? I am not even in charge of new patients?” She was upset and went on about how new patients weren’t her responsibility.

What do you think?  Was she right? Or, was the doctor right?

Let’s look at this: the doctor is ultimately in charge of marketing. As the Chief Executive Officer for the business, marketing is a key component of his or her job. But since he is also so busy as a doctor, he needs to delegate most of the marketing activities. But to whom?

  1. First, to all of the staff. It is each team member’s responsibility to “sell health.”
  2. Then, a staff member could help coordinate all the marketing activities as a Marketing Coordinator or Marketing Manager.
  3. You might also delegate different marketing activities to different staff: someone for external events and screenings, someone for the internet, etc.

But behind it all, is the Office Manager’s role to make sure everything is running smoothly.

Actually, no one should have been fired. Instead, they all should have been trained on marketing and especially on MARKETING MANAGEMENT.

This is one of the reasons for our monthly webinars.  We just completed a very informative webinar on the key duties of the office manager (now posted on our members site) which can help clarify the role of the office manager.

The purpose of business is to create a customer, patient, and practice member. I didn’t say that. Peter Drucker did. You should know about Peter Drucker as he is the granddaddy of all management consultants.

“Because it is the purpose to create a customer, any business enterprise has two – and only two – basic functions: marketing and innovation. These are the entrepreneurial functions. Marketing is the distinguishing, the unique function of the business.”  Peter Drucker

Doctor, you are busy.  Your #1 focus should be on quality patient care. But as the CEO of your business, you HAVE to drive the marketing. To do this effectively,  you can and should delegate the marketing activities to others. The office manager is responsible for making sure all office activities are being done effectively, and this of course, includes marketing.

Whatever your office mission states, it has to include the concept of marketing.  It is your job, and everyone’s job, to tell the chiropractic story – and to communicate the value of your services in such a way and often enough that thousands of people come in to get better.

Don’t get fired. Get fired up!

Your Chiropractic Brand

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A brand is the representation of you in the marketplace. Well defined, it can cut through the thousands of health messages people hear each day so that your message is heard distinct from all others.

We have said this over and over, but you have the opportunity to make and improve your own brand.  And the way you principally do this is through an active and continuous conversation that you have with each of your patients, vendors, staff, and local businesses.

You start your conversation usually on your patient’s first visit. Then you continue it on the second and on successive visits thereafter. Also through newsletters.  Also while doing a community event, letters, or even while shopping: “Hi Bob. How did your wife do at the 5K run?”

The conversation has to be two way.  You have to listen as well as communicate.  Facebook fits right into this, but you have to post more than what you copy and paste  from the American Chiropractic Association or from Mercola. Pictures of babies, puppies, recipes from a patient with photos, and anything you feel genuinely passionate about.  Anything endearing: “Aw, look at the cute baby.” Even a bulletin board with local stories of your patients let’s others know that you are paying attention.

Your brand is based upon how you converse with your select community, your own tribe.

Here is a great quote from Seth Godin’s book, Small is the New Big.

“Markets engage in conversations, but marketing often doesn’t. The reality is that most brands are actually monologues, not dialogues.  A conversation might create a better, more robust, more useful brand but, alas, most organizations can’t handle that truth. So they do their best to do it the old way.

Big brands are dying. Little brands are doing great.”

Cal Jam Special Offer for Chiropractors

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Come on down to Cal Jam 2012!

Our great consultant and coach, Ms. Phyllis Frase, will be speaking at the 5th Annual California Jam, presented by the Dead Chiropractic Society in Costa Mesa California.  Register before January 15th and mention the Promo Code of FRASE for the special discount mentioned in the flier below.

All registration is handled through Cal Jam by calling the number below.

Call Today 949-250-0600

for more information: http://www.caljam.org/

Billy DeMoss Shakes Up Appleton Wisconsin at Petty Michel Seminar

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Billy DeMoss, ChiropracTOR

Dr. Billy DeMoss gave a heated and edgy presentation for 3 hours to chiropractors and their staff in Appleton, Wisconsin, Friday night, Aug. 19th. Full of anecdotes from his own practice, along with statistics, slides and videos, “Billy D” reminded everyone what chiropractic and natural health care is all about.

He talked about how providing chiropractic care is actually fun and how you should have fun in your office. He stated that patients want to come to a place that is enjoyable, where staff and doctors are having a good time in a positive atmosphere.

But he also explained that it takes a great deal of work to have a successful office. He recounted the days that he had to do manual odd jobs just to make it through school. He works hard at his office but keeps it fun.  “If you want a more successful and profitable practice you are going to have to work for it.”

“The days of the $200 dollar office visit are fading,” he said.  Workers Compensation reimbursement in California has been cut back and some money motivated chiropractors have abused the system. But money is not the goal, and never has been, he said.  Serving people will always be rewarded financially, but that is not our primary objective.

He emphasized that our main goal should be to teach and adjust. Some doctors complain about doing screenings or lectures, but Billy asks the audience: who do we do it for?  Are we worried about inconviencing ourselves or do we want to help people get healthier?

He discussed issues such as vaccinations, diet, United States health statistics relative to other countries, and said that the chiropractors were the ones best poised to take a leadership role in the health care of the U.S.

After 3 hours of Billy’s high energy, the mesmerized and energized crowd gave him two standing ovations.

One member of the audience who owns a small farm and who was not a doctor or staff member, said he wished there were more people speaking out like Dr. Billy DeMoss. He said it was one of the best presentations he had ever seen.

The next morning,  Phyllis Frase spoke to staff and doctors about how to be a “Rock Star” C.A.  Phyllis also gave a dynamic talk and will be speaking at the Cal Jam in California, February 24-26.

PM&A encourages all who can make it to Cal Jam to do so.  I attended 2 years ago and it was absolutely the most unique and refreshing chiropractic seminars I’ve attended in 20 plus years. Well worth the time and money.  More info about CAL JAM.

Dave Michel, Billy DeMoss, Dana Pittner, Phyllis Frase, Ed Petty

 

CATCH DR. BILLY DeMOSS SPEAKING MONDAY NIGHT, AUGUST 22 AT LAKE GENEVA, WI.  FOR MORE INFO, CALL: 262-275-5005

Video here

Photos here

Making a Chiropractic Patient Community

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Is it just YOUR office?

Or does it also belong to your patients?

One office we have the privilege of working with has been smashing its past records – month after month. We plot their growth on charts and nearly every month have to adjust them to keep the lines on the chart. And it has been in business for over 20 years.

Why? Well, there are a number of reasons, really.

But a key factor is that it has created a patient community. That is, it has created a systematized business where all the patients still feel that they are part of the clinic’s “family.”

They have created an environment where patients feel they belong, that the clinic is also THEIR clinic.

The principle behind this, and why it works to generate more patient volume, is that everyone wants to have friends and belong to like-minded groups. Facebook, for example, and the rise of social networking is simply a new twist to a basic impulse we all have for belonging and fellowship.

So from a practical marketing point of view, the more you include your patients as part of your chiropractic “family”, the more apt they will be to stay, pay, and refer.

For example, we have done our share of patient focus groups. Focus groups are informal discussions with 7 or so patients where we ask them about their likes, dislikes and general opinions of clinic activities. We’ve been able to learn things from the patients that we might not otherwise have known.

But what we also learned and hadn’t anticipated was that those attending suddenly started to be more active in the office. They kept their appointments and they started to refer more of their family and friends.

OK, so back to our client’s office: Each year, they give away t-shirts with the clinic name. The only requirement is that the patient has to wear the shirt at the local county fair.

This year, they sponsored a “T-Shirt Contest.” The contest was to help the office come up with a slogan for the back of the T-shirt.  The winning slogan would receive a 6 day pass to the fair.

The suggestions are…hilarious.  Some are good, some are fun, and some are just plain silly.  But.. the point is, many patients are eager to contribute.  (Some of the suggestions are below.)

 

It is no wonder, by the way, that this office which has been in business for over 20 years in small town, has been breaking its all time records for production month after month. (SHOUT OUT: Congratulations to Team Bartz Chiropractic!)

The lesson to be learned here is that it pays to empower your patients and make them feel like it is their office too.  Here are some ideas:

FRIENDLY CHATTING. Yea, I know doctors and staff aren’t supposed to spend much time socializing with the patients. I have heard that some consultants tell doctors to forbid staff to talk to patients other than talking “TIC” (chiropractic), doing a two handed hand-shake,  and mentioning the patient’s name 14 times at each visit.  Well, that is just silly.

A practice is a relationship and like any relationship, it simply has to be genuine. Be genuinely interested in your patients, like any friend.  All else can then follow.

NEWSLETTERS. A real newsletter just continues this chatting – between friends.  It can be both email and hard copy, and should include a column from the doctor. This continues your conversation with the patients.

Include survey results and patient successes and news about staff, doctor, etc. Keep it a “non professional” bulletin about your chiropractic patient community. Nothing glossy from some big company New York City. Keep it just short of being gossipy – but with pictures.

SUGGESTIONS FROM YOUR PATIENTS ABOUT UPCOMING EVENTS. The t-shirt slogans are a perfect example, but you can also survey patients about what color to paint the wall or color for the new carpet.

TESTIMONIALS FROM PATIENTS. These are another way patients can contribute to your purpose of helping more people to find better health, naturally.  It can be their purpose too.

FOCUS GROUPS. Get 7 or so of your patients, old and new, together for a luncheon and ask them survey questions about the office, promotions, advertisements, your services, etc. Best done by someone other than the doctor.  Mention the results in your newsletter.

# # #

Some examples:

T-SHIRT CONTEST ENTRIES FOR A CHIROPRACTIC OFFICE SLOGAN FOR THE  COUNTY FAIR

To be healthy and feeling fine, keep your spine in line at Bartz Chiropractic

Get your back in tact Jack….John…..Sue…. Larry at Bartz Chiropractic

You don’t even want to KNOW how bent outta shape I USED to be!

Back your Future with Chiropractic Care  (flaming tire tracks picture)

Make Your Day!  Help is on the way at Bartz Chiropractic

Get ACTIVATED at Bartz Chiropractic so you can spend the week at the Fair

Get a BOATLOAD of relief at Bartz Chiropractic (life jacket picture)

Got Pain? Be FAIR to yourself, see Dr Bartz!

I only have one spine, so I keep it in line at Bartz Chiropractic

IT NO LONGER SMARTS, WHEN YOU SEE DR. BARTZ!!

(Front)  Are you living with a pain in the neck??  (back) Dr Bartz CAN HELP!  Bartz Chiropractic Elkhorn, WI

It’s FAIR to say Dr Bartz Keeps me Healthy EVERY Day!

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Put your life BACK IN LINE with Bartz Chiropractic Care

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Electronic Health Records and Chiropractic

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There is more and more attention being placed on the topic of Electronic Health Records. For those of you who are not familiar with this subject, you can find basic information on the web sites of CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) and of course, Wikipedia.  There are other sources, but reader beware: many have ties to software companies (and their advertising and promotional distributors) that are trying to make a case for buying expensive software now.

Here is a Q&A with Dave Michel and one of our clients regarding this subject which may be helpful in understanding what is going on:

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Dear Dave,

Dr. H wanted me to e-mail you with some of our questions and concerns. We are hearing a lot of different things the more people we talk to about it. We are hoping that you can shed some light on the situation. Here are some of our questions:

Is the deadline for reimbursement this October 2011? Or do we have until October 2012?
There is no deadline at this point. It is not a requirement and, even if it is, there will be an exemption for small offices (usually less than 10 FTEs).

Is there a checklist of things that need to be completed in order to be compliant? Do we need to have digital x-ray in order to be compliant?
Yes, there is a checklist. If you google CMS EHR Incentive you will find a couple on the CMS website (skip software vendor websites …). Digital x-ray is NOT a requirement.

Is it a tax credit or would we receive a reimbursement check? Will it just cover the EHR software or will it cover equipment upgrades/replacement as well?
Beginning May 2012, you would be possibly eligible for up to $18,000 per year in incentives paid as a check to each provider. The limit would be based on 75% of your prior year’s Medicare reimbursment. IF you are “an eligable provder” and you have demonstrated “meaningful use”.

How much should we expect to spend on this process? And how much will we get reimbursed? Is it a percentage or the exact amount? And is it a guarantee?
Great questions. EHR software for chiros ranges between $2.5 – $27k. Add to that the cost of conversion in your office (thousands) and the reduced efficiency (eg if the new program adds 2-3 minutes to each patient encounter). This is going to be a big process.

Dr. H  wants to know “what happens if we don’t become compliant?”.
Nothing. Yet …

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions.
No problem! Bottom line (if you haven’t picked up on this so far …): I am not a fan of any of the EHR programs currently out there. They either add too much time to each patient visit or they produce a SOAP note that would not pass an audit / records review. There is NO guarentee that Big Government is going to be mailing out $44k checks to each provider for doing something that will really not improve the heath care delivery system

Most of what you have seen are from companies marketing their products (seminars, EHR software, etc). There is NO mandatory deadline (yet) to convert to EHR and so far, I have not received confirmation from CMS that chiropractors will receive any money or incentives to convert to EHR. I do have a letter in to CMS to get an official word and will let you know. It does not make sense to me that CMS will give each chiropractor $44,000 to convert to EHRs when the CMS program is going broke. But I will let you know.

For questions about EHR, feel free to contact Dave at Dave@PMAworks.com

Procedures Follow From Principles

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Many times we work with chiropractic clinics that have offices procedures that just don’t work that well for them.

Sometimes, the procedures aren’t being applied all that professionally and we can help the doctor and staff improve the execution of these procedures.  But often the doctor is trying to implement an office procedure that, like a shoe on the wrong foot, doesn’t fit.

You should learn about different approaches to patient and practice management and marketing. Give these different procedures a go. But in the end, you have to find out what works best for you and your team.

What you want to look for are the principles behind the procedure. Work with the principle and then you can discover the procedure that best works for you. Then, you have to be come expert in it through determined practice.

Take a boxer: you’re trained to keep your arms and fists close to your head as a guard against your opponent’s strikes hitting you. Good procedure. Makes sense.  However, every boxer has their own unique physical make-up and has to work out, in the end, their own style of fighting.

For example, one fighter, Chuck Lidell, has won many fights and is a former light heavy weight champion. If you watch how he fights, he rarely covers his face and fights with his arms out and his head wide open.   This goes against common boxing procedures.

However, he does apply the basic principle: protect the head from blows. His procedure is to stay out of range from the opponent’s blows, requiring the opponent to move forward with his whole body to land a strike.

Some years ago, one seminar company was promoting the 4-5 day report of findings. It had its merits; however, few doctors that we saw could actually stick with it and make it work. The principle, however, was educating the patient continuously at each visit to help them understand the need for continued adjusting and care.  From this principle, many different and effective procedures can be worked out.

When procedures are not working in your office, you may be trying to pound a square peg into a round hole. Work with your coach to help you tailor the procedure effectively. Your coach can help you customize your procedures so that they work and work for you.

No two boxers fight the same and no two jazz pianists play exactly alike. But each follow key principles and apply them expertly in their own style to become the best.

Customize the procedures in your office to fit your style, just make sure the key principles are not bypassed. Work to learn the fundamentals behind each procedure. This will help you develop procedures that work for you.  Then, practice your procedures and maintain continuous attention to detail.  Continually work on improvement. This is how you become an expert and create a prosperous business.

How to get a steady stream of new patients from the internet!

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Webinar:  Tuesday, May 24th

Internet marketing works.  We are seeing great results from some offices… and not so much from others.

In this webinar, you will find out what is working and what isn’t – and you will learn how your office can get more new patients from the Internet.

You can no longer say that the Internet is not for you. It is.

You can’t dismiss it all and state that it is too technical and that “you aren’t into computers or tech things.”   You have an insurance department, don’t you? Well, the Internet is a LOT simpler than billing for Medicare, if you understand its basics.  And, you can delegate a lot of the detail work to maintaining it, like you do with your insurance work. But neglecting your Internet marketing is perilous.  You have to get on top of it now or be left behind.

When prospective patients search for a chiropractor, they may get directed to a physical therapist when they should be finding you and your web site first.  It all depends on how well you set up and maintain your Internet presence.

Rather than our usual teleclass, this program will be a training webinar. It is free for all of our active clients. (If you are not a PM&A client,  there is a small fee.)  You will need a computer with speakers. Or, you can just call in and hear the audio portion of the program only.

Dr. Jamie Phillips of Bloczone Marketing, a company that focuses on helping chiropractors to acquire new patients via internet marketing, will be discussing what is working in Internet marketing for chiropractors today.

Then, she will zero in on and teach you one of the eight main ways to get new patients from the Internet that is working now.

Dr. Phillips will be explaining the secrets of how to optimize your Google listing (which also applies to Yahoo and Bing) so your website can start showing up on the first page of Google.

This webinar is good for the doctor, marketing coordinator, and especially for your internet marketing assistant.

Our webinar is on Tuesday, May 24th, at 12:30 Central Time. If you are an active client, there is no charge.  Please register here and we will send you the special invitation and link by email.  Register us for the  webinar!

If you are not an active client, you can register here. There is a small fee for this ($40) which will be donated to Oklahaven foundation Doctors with a Heart Program.