Don’t Let Old Acquaintances Be Forgotten in Your Chiropractic Practice

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Strengthen Your Network in December

“Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends.”*

Three weeks till Christmas!

Yikes! Let’s make the most out of this month before we get into the fast lane of the New Year.

Take this month to connect and reconnect: patients, referral sources, team members and stakeholders, family friends – those dear to us. Share some good tidings and joy. Here are some ideas:

1. Keep the show on the road. While ensuring that everyone has time off, try to keep the lights on, the tables warm, and the greetings friendly all month. Anytime you close for a period of time, you can lose momentum. If you are closed for a few days, PACK the days you are open with visits! Remember:

Health Never Takes a Holiday!!

2. Thank You’s to referral sources. Plan to get out and thank all your external referral sources. Show your appreciation: cards, cookies, and guest passes for intro services! Keep your network active. Remember:

“Your chiropractic healthcare practice is a network of relationships created and sustained through communication and service.”**

 

3. Thank You’s to your patients. Show extra appreciation to your patients. It takes some courage and effort to venture out to see you for care. They are taking responsibility for their health, even though they may not follow all your recommendations. Have an appreciation party, send out greeting cards, give away poinsettias to families, or offer eggnog and treats from a local independent store with the store’s promotional sign.

4. Your Team. Look at your Profit and Loss for the year. If you have any extra dough, privately reward individual team members with a bonus. If the cupboard is empty, let your team know, but give them something. And THANK THEM!

5. Your Family. Don’t forget your family! Heavens! They deserve something for putting up with you this year! (lol)

6. The Spirit! Lastly, be filled with the Spirit of the season. You can watch It’s a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart. Again!

The New Year will come at us fast… so take this time to absorb all the merriment, comfort, and joy you can so you’ll start fresh and filled with renewed energy in January.

So consider the actions above and Don’t Be Forgotten!

Should old acquaintance be forgot – and never brought to mind?

Should old acquaintance be forgot – and old lang syne?

With friendship,

Ed and all of us at PM&A

*from the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life
** from the book, The Goal Driven Business

—————————————————-

If your practice building efforts aren’t taking you to your goals,
there are reasons — many of which are hidden from you.

Find out what they are and how to sail to your next level by getting and implementing my new book, The Goal Driven Business.

goal driven business building methodology

The Goal Driven Business By Edward Petty

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Who Do You Work For in Your Chiropractic Healthcare Office?

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Patients come second.

As a doctor, you work for your patients.

As a business owner, you work for the business end of the practice.

Both of these roles have different outcomes. As the doctor, your outcome is healthy and very happy patients. As a business owner, you want to see a profit.

When you begin your practice, you do so as a business owner and doctor. Any management or leadership you do is done from these roles. I call this an Entrepreneurial or Personality-Driven Practice. This is workable until you reach about 50% of your full capacity as a provider.

Beyond about 50% capacity, the practice needs focused leadership and management. It is time for you as the owner to step into the role of Clinic Director if you want your enterprise to continue to grow.

The outcome of the Clinic Director is not the same as that of doctor or business owner. In simple terms, the outcome is a well-run organization that provides excellent service at a profit.

So, who does the Clinic Director work for?

The staff! The employees. This is called servant leadership and management.

This is a major shift in mindset for most highly driven entrepreneurial business owners. But it can be done, and if done correctly, there is no limit to practice growth, prosperity, and independence.

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

Customers Come Second, Employees Come First

Year after year, Southwest Airlines ranks at the top for customer service and profitability over other airlines. And for good reason. They are excellently managed and led!

Their goals, purpose, and values are well-defined. They are a Goal Driven Business.

In their book about Southwest, authors Keven and Jackie Freiberg reveal that Southwest believes that the love and support they show their employees will be passed on to their customers. Servant leadership is a central theme.

Chapter 18 of their book caught my attention: Customers Come Second — But Still Get Great Service. In it, they say at Southwest, “Treat your employees with care and concern if that is the way you want them to treat each other and your customers.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW TO IMPROVE SERVICE AND INCOME IN YOUR CHIROPRACTIC HEALTHCARE PRACTICE

I use Southwest as an example, but there are many others.

In a smaller service company like a chiropractic or dental business, the doctor doesn’t have much time to be the Clinic Director or senior manager, isn’t paid (at least directly) for being one, and isn’t trained in management. Also, more than likely, doesn’t want to be a manager or leader. But what if there was a simple method to be an effective Clinic Director?

Well, there is. It is covered in my book, the Goal Driven Business, and is gone over in detail in our Practice MBA training program. In 2024, I will post more information on this subject and the Fast Flow CEO Method, as I am 100% certain that this is the stumbling block behind all stumbling blocks that keep practices from achieving greatness.

You can do this now:

  1. Define and communicate your goals and procedures. These need to be reviewed, in one form or another, by everyone weekly.
  2. Clinic Director. Set time aside as the senior coach of your team to develop your people professionally, and as you can, personally.

If you put your team first, they will put the patient first.

This is, when all is said and done, the Golden Rule.

Or perhaps… we could also call it the Goal Driven Rule!

Seize the Future,

Ed

*Nuts – Southwest Airlines, Keven and Jackie Freiberg

—————————————————-

If your practice building efforts aren’t taking you to your goals,
there are reasons — many of which are hidden from you.

Find out what they are and how to sail to your next level by getting and implementing my new book, The Goal Driven Business.

goal driven business building methodology

The Goal Driven Business By Edward Petty

goal driven business buy now button

Chiropractic Healthcare Patient Scheduling During the Holidays

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Health Doesn’t Take a Holiday

[scheduling tools below]

Is this December going to be better than the one last year?

If so, you want to make sure that the momentum of your patient’s care does not slow down. You want to keep them on their healthcare programs these last few weeks of 2023 and into 2024.

It is a festive time of year for family, friends, and Auld Lang Syne.

But through it all, health does not take a holiday.

Your patients still brush their teeth, take showers, and sleep. They should also stick to their treatment program, their exercise program and stay on track to better health. You and your team can help them do this.

TWO GIFTS FOR YOUR CHIROPRACTIC HEALTHCARE PRACTICE

As a subscriber, I have two gifts for you that can assist you in helping your patients stick to their schedules. (Links to access them are below.)

  • A tent poster that says: Health Never Takes a Holiday. Download it and print copies for the front desk or other areas to remind patients that…Health Never Takes a Holiday.

  • A scheduling calendar for December. Linda designed a scheduling calendar for our clients.

She says:
“The goal is to keep your patients as close to their treatment plan as possible during the hustle and bustle of the holidays! I have used monthly calendars in the past and, believe me, they help with patients keeping their schedules.

“The link will take you to a sheet with 4 monthly calendars per sheet for December – a calendar for each patient to keep track of their schedules.

  1. Download and save the file to your computer.
  2. Customize your name on each section of the calendar.
  3. Print out the sheet and cut it into fours. Have a stack available at the front desk.
  4. Schedule the patient in your system.
  5. Write in the times of their appointment on the day that you are scheduling them and give it to the patient.”

We all can use support and help to keep to our goals. As long as you are friendly and have the patient’s health in mind, they’ll appreciate your scheduling efforts.

In fact, it shows you care!

Enjoy the Season – encourage your patients to do the same. Just lock in everyone’s schedule and help them keep it.

Seize better health throughout the Season!

Ed

Downloads:

—————————————————-

If your practice building efforts aren’t taking you to your goals,
there are reasons — many of which are hidden from you.

Find out what they are and how to sail to your next level by getting and implementing my new book, The Goal Driven Business.

goal driven business building methodology

The Goal Driven Business By Edward Petty

goal driven business buy now button

 

Don’t Turn Your Staff or Yourself into Bots in Your Chiropractic Healthcare Practice

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Goals First, Then Procedures in Your Chiropractic Healthcare Practice

I asked the office manager if I could review some of the staff’s job checklists.

I had observed a staff member training another on how to use a therapy device on patients. Their attention was on the equipment, how to position the patient and where to place the electrodes.

So, I looked with interest at the job description and checklists about placing patients on therapy. The therapy checklist listed all the procedures – what wire went where, what position the patient was to sit in, etc. But something was missing.

The goal, the outcome, of the checklist was not defined.

There was no mention anywhere about the purpose of the therapy, what it does, why to use it. And worse, there was nothing about the patient as a person. The checklist did not say how to introduce the patient to the procedures – and how to educate them on what it does. It might as well have been instructions on how to hook up jumper cables, wire a sump pump, or fill out tax forms.

I went over this with the practice manager and later was told that the staff were now spending more time with the patients explaining therapy procedures.

GREEN AND CLEAN

There’s a deeper principle here. Steven Covey has a great video on getting his son to take care of the lawn over the summer.

Rather than giving him procedures on what to do, he pointed to the neighbor’s lawn and had him notice that it was green and also clean. He then pointed to their lawn, which was becoming brown and littered. He told his son that all he had to do was keep their lawn Green and Clean. He didn’t care how he did it. He might want to use a hose and sprinkler or use buckets. The specific procedures were up to him. But the goal was –green and clean.

It is an entertaining story on video — the link is below on our blog. The son finally got the idea and worked out how best to take care of the lawn.

GOALS FIRST, THEN PROCEDURES IN YOUR CHIROPRACTIC HEALTHCARE PRACTICE

Checklists are useful for training, agreeing on who does what, and preventing key procedures from being overlooked. Please use them. We’ve used them for 30 years. (If you need help please contact us!)

But they should always begin with the goal, the outcome of the sum of the procedures. What do these series of procedures produce – and what is their mission?

If you just focus on procedures, you and your team might as well be algorithms, computerized, and repetitive functions that occur electronically. Like an Internet robot or bot! By omitting goals first, you may minimize the innate creativity and power of everyone, including yourself.

On the other hand, if you challenge yourself and your team to define the WHY for each major and even minor procedure:

  • The procedures will be better applied.
  • You and your staff can find ways to improve the procedures.
  • You will be touching upon and rekindling the innate creative force we all have.
  • Your work will be more meaningful…

…and more fun.

Seize the Future

Ed

Green and Clean Video

—————————————————-

If your practice building efforts aren’t taking you to your goals,
there are reasons — many of which are hidden from you.

Find out what they are and how to sail to your next level by getting and implementing my new book, The Goal Driven Business.

goal driven business building methodology
 

The Goal Driven Business By Edward Petty

goal driven business buy now button
 
 
 
 
 

Where Are the Leverage Points in Your Chiropractic Healthcare Practice?

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Find them, invest in them, and see your practice improve.

One of the aspects of practice development that you become familiar with after 30 or so years in the field is the concept of Leverage Points. Once you can spot them and work out methods to take advantage of them, your practice significantly improves.

According to Donella H. Meadows, Ph.D., leverage points “Are places within a complex system (a corporation, an economy, a living body, a city, an ecosystem) where a small shift in one thing can produce big changes in everything.” *

using leverage in chiropractic healthcare management

HIGHER LEVEL LEVERAGE POINTS IN YOUR PRACTICE

Ms. Meadows lists 12 levels of increasing effectiveness where leverage might be found. The top levels that can make the most significant changes are:

  • Goals
  • The mindset from which the business arises from
  • The power to transcend assumptions and accept new goals and values.

This is the Above Down Inside Out shift that can ignite the Innate power in a practice.

I have seen this when the clinic owner or team member becomes extraordinarily inspired and motivated, filled with a sense of mission. I also have noticed this in offices that shift from an entrepreneurial practice that is entirely dependent upon the owner to a systematized and goal-driven business.

TANGIBLE LEVERAGE POINTS

Adding a scribe or clinical assistant can be a practical example of utilizing a leverage point in a more tangible application. This might allow you to see an extra 10 patients a week and provide better service with less stress. In the end, you would have a positive Return on Investment for what you paid for the extra help.

Another example might be a situation where your front desk can’t keep up with check-ins, check-outs, call-ins, questions, data entry, cash collections, marketing reminders, and just being friendly. By adding the right person at the front desk, even a part-time during prime time in the afternoons, your volume might surge. (I have seen this.)

For a marketing example, you might be next door to a gym that sees hundreds of people each month. You could leverage your location with just a little effort to create a very beneficial relationship for their business and yours.

There are many examples of finding areas of your practice where the return will be positive when given more support.

LEVERAGING PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

In my experience, the number one leverage point is management.

As a practice grows, the admin tasks multiply exponentially. These start to fill up the doctor’s time, and eventually, growth hits a plateau.

By adding someone to take care of office administration or clarifying the duties of someone currently in that role, you can better concentrate on service, production, and leadership.

As a result, revenue increases and stress decreases. Proper training for the manager is essential and, unfortunately, usually absent.

As an aside, we are solving this now through our Practice MBA program. We are just a little more than ½ way through the training, and I am both impressed by their work and proud to be helping them become Goal Driven Managers.

But leverage points could be anywhere. Even between your ears! (haha!)

Look for where you might find a log jam or an untapped resource. Invest some time in supporting that area and see if that doesn’t make a big difference in practice.

You have untapped power in your business just waiting to be leveraged.

Ed

*Reference https://donellameadows.org/a-visual-approach-to-leverage-points/

—————————————————-

If your practice building efforts aren’t taking you to your goals,
there are reasons — many of which are hidden from you.

Find out what they are and how to sail to your next level by getting and implementing my new book, The Goal Driven Business.

goal driven business building methodology

The Goal Driven Business By Edward Petty

goal driven business buy now button
 
 

How to End on a Win Each Day in Your Chiropractic and Healthcare Practice

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LOST KEY

Remember that time you were leaving for work in the morning and just as you were about to leave, you couldn’t find your keys? (It might have been your wallet, purse, or important papers.) As you tried to quell your rising panic, you thought – what if I am late? What about the patients? What if I have to call a cab, a Lyft or Uber? All the alternative scenarios and plans start weighing on you. Worried, distraught, you get ready to call the office when…there they are! Your keys, papers, the vital components to your daily life and you make a joyous reunion. And you are on your way.

That was a big win.

Five minutes later, you have forgotten the entire dramatic event. As if it never occurred.

FORGOTTEN DISCOMFORT AFTER FINDING RELIEF WITH CHIROPRACTIC CARE

Many patients who have had pains or discomforts for years, after finally experiencing relief thanks to your chiropractic care, take it almost for granted after a day or so. Even though it was a big win.

You, too, begin to experience the daily Miracles as Usual as commonplace. You and your team become accustomed to them.

And worse, we can let the “negative few outweigh the positive many.”

OVERLOOKING THE POSITIVE MANY

Our minds are wired, especially business owners, to be alert for dangers, threats, and failures. And because of this, we overlook the accomplishments, the successes, and the wins we all have.

They happen every day. We get work DONE… when we might have just let it slide. We take the extra time and make the extra effort, even as no one notices. We make it happen.

In an otherwise cold and frightening world, we help others through our actions — and even by our positive presence.

And the world reinforces the negative. Sensation drives all media. It “click baits” us, like emergency flagmen calling our attention to the as-yet-unseen car wrecks ahead of us.

But amidst the world’s chaos, the dramas of our patients, and the struggles of our own lives, we are here to help, and to whatever large or small degree we do, that is a win. We contributed something good into the world that day.

But our wins are easily overlooked. First, by ourselves, and second, by others.

LET THE POSITIVE WIN

So… don’t let this happen. You can change this! Change it in your practice and change it at home.

And if you do, you will create a more healing atmosphere in your practice and love in your life. Your day will end better, and your next new day will start fresh with greater cheer.

  1. At the office, after the day is done, ask the staff to tell you about at least one success they had! Listen. Applaud or cheer or hug. Hurrah! Tell them about an accomplishment you had!
  2. And when you get home, and get a moment with your spouse or kids, ask them to tell you about a win they experienced.

You are doing good work. You are helping people. So are others with whom you work and live.

Recognize and celebrate this, and at the end of each day, simply ask each person with whom you work to tell you and the others their win or wins and cheer for them. Let them do the same for you.

You deserve It – and so do they.

End on a win.

Ed

PS I was reminded of this at the recent Chiropractic Society of Wisconsin conference in Wisconsin. One very successful doctor with whom I had the privilege of talking to mentioned that at the end of the day, he would meet with his team and acknowledge a win each of them had. I too, years ago, had done this with a team I had worked with, but as the world turns, I’ve let this very successful procedure drop aside.

—————————————————-

If your practice building efforts aren’t taking you to your goals,
there are reasons — many of which are hidden from you.

Find out what they are and how to sail to your next level by getting and implementing my new book, The Goal Driven Business.

goal driven business building methodology

The Goal Driven Business By Edward Petty

goal driven business buy now button

End of Year Preparation for Your Chiropractic and Healthcare Practice

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From the front to the back of your practice

As farmers know, you must plan ahead and then work your plan. That is part of the Law of the Farm we discussed last week.

This is a short and fast reminder of some activities to consider as we enter into the last two months of the year:

  • Marketing – The front end of your practice. Keep it hopin’!

  • Business — The back end of your practice. Organize for the future.

MARKETING YOUR CHIROPRACTIC PRACTICE

With good scheduling and planning, there is no reason for disappointment in production for November and December. To help keep the atmosphere thankful, cheerful, and productive, here are a few promotional ideas:

Thanksgiving (U.S.A.) Turkey giveaways have been popular with many practices. The basic idea is to refer a friend and enter a drawing for a free turkey.

Thank-a-Veteran Day. Veterans Day – November 11. Special promotions, including free or discounted services or donations to local veterans’ organizations.

Donation Drives. Holiday time always brings an increased demand for helping those less fortunate. Within your office, you can set up a collection area for donation programs in your area.

Girl’s Night Out. This is a shopping/gift exchange that can take place in your office that builds community and helps generate referrals.

Poinsettia Give Away. Give away free poinsettias, one per family. Include cards with a gift certificate for family members or friends for your services.

Your External Referral Network. Deliver a fruit basket or other present personally during December with a card of thanks and mention how you are looking forward to another year working together for better health. Your External Referral Network would include any person or organization that referred a new patient to you, where you gave a lecture or screening, or in any way directly contributed to your office.

Patient Appreciation. Have a party. Your patients are part of your practice and health community. They are a select group of like-minded health seekers. Bring them together, recognize their efforts to improve their health in 2023 and 2024, and encourage them to help others do the same. Everyone gets Guest Passes to hand out to family and friends when they leave. (I still love the Flying Elvis’ coming in for a big patient appreciation party one office used to have!)

CHIROPRACTIC HEALTHCARE BUSINESS

Once you get your marketing plan worked out and in gear, take time to review the business situation of your chiropractic or healthcare practice. These behind-the-scenes details are important but not always urgent! They are pretty obvious – this is just a reminder!

Accountant. You will want to meet with your accountant to review your financial statements, including your balance sheet and profit and loss. There have been changes to retirement laws, so check with them about how they may affect you. Review your tax situation and explore strategies to minimize it. Ensure that all tax-related documents and filings are up to date.

Legal and Licensing. Check the status of licenses and permits and renew them as needed. Consult with your attorney to review contracts and legal obligations.

Employee benefits. Consider benefit reviews as well as bonuses.

Payors. You’ll want to review your insurance contracts and dump any that don’t bring a good return.

Fees. Take a look at your fees and make any adjustments that are needed.

Compliance. This can be delegated, but ensure that you at least minimally meet basic HIPAA and OSHA standards. You can check with your local state association for recommendations for these and any other requirements.

Budget Planning. Work out a general budget for next year that incorporates all the findings from your financial review and business goals.

This is not a complete list, of course.

Preparation is working on your business, not just in it, but it is just as essential.

Let’s end the year prosperous and secure for the future.

Ed

—————————————————-

If your practice building efforts aren’t taking you to your goals,
there are reasons — many of which are hidden from you.

Find out what they are and how to sail to your next level by getting and implementing my new book, The Goal Driven Business.

goal driven business building methodology

The Goal Driven Business By Edward Petty

goal driven business buy now button
 
 
 
 
 

How to Grow a Chiropractic and Health Business

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How to grow a chiropractic business

I was recently invited to my son’s wife’s family’s apple butter cookout. Yep, that’s right, cooking apples over an open fire. It’s a tradition.

It is also apple harvest season up here in the northern Midwest. You got yur Honey Crisps, Honeygolds, Snowsweet, Fuki, Jonathans and others. Lots o’ apples!

Harvest time.

I bring this up because, well, it applies to your office. Here’s how:

THE LAW OF THE FARM

There is a metaphor called the “Law of the Farm” or the “Law of the Harvest.” Stephen Covey refers to this in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. (I include a link to a short video below)

The concept comes from the observation that apples come from farmers farming. An apple orchard requires tender, loving care over the entire year from growers who plan and carry out disciplined regular work to ensure a bountiful harvest.

Aside from occasional droughts or freezes, if your harvest is poor, it is not because of the “apple spirits,” or that maybe you had a bad childhood. It is because one or more of the necessary preparatory actions needed to produce the apples were not done.

There are no shortcuts. Getting angry with the apple trees does not help.

YOUR CHIROPRACTIC AND HEALTHCARE PRACTICE IS LIKE A FARM

The Law of the Farm, or the Law of the Harvest can be applied to your practice in the following ways:

  1. Long-Term Planning. Just as a farmer plans their crops well in advance, a business should set clear goals and strategies for the future. This includes defining your mission, the key values of your team that determine its culture, the outcomes, and production goals.
  2. Investment and Resources. Just as a farmer invests in seeds, land, and equipment, you must invest in your resources wisely. First and most important, invest in your people, including yourself: training, coaching, and hiring. Marketing, in one form or another, is always a necessity. Updating software and equipment, occasionally, or the décor of your office is also an investment.
  3. Consistency and Diligence. Sticking to what works is vital. This is why I recommend job checklists as part of the Goal Driven System. It takes discipline to keep doing what works, but consistency brings about confidence in your patients and your team. Daily tasks and routines are like tending to crops regularly.
  4. Patience and Adaptation. Just as a farmer must wait for crops to grow and adapt to changing weather conditions, chiropractic practice owners must be patient and adaptable. Success may not come immediately, and you will face unforeseen challenges. Being able to adjust strategies and remain patient when unexpected failures occur is critical.

Looking at your practice as something you need to grow to produce excellent outcomes is a useful exercise.

Patience can be tough to master as a business owner when you have invested everything on the line. But if you have done your preparation, as all farmers must do, most of your concerns are for naught.

The Law of the Farm is a principle from which you can draw many associations to your practice. As an exercise, you might discuss this with your team: How can we apply the Law of the Farm to our practice and improve our service?

APPLES DO NOT COME FROM THE GROCERY STORE

Similarly, happy patients, completing their chiropractic or healthcare treatment program, being relieved of pain, healthier, and referring others do not come from the new well-advertised social media ad campaign. All the shiny new ads and promotions don’t make up for the Law of the Farm.

There are no shortcuts.

You reap what you sow — and nurture and take care of.

We are all farmers!

Ed

PS I also discuss this in The Goal Driven Business, #15 Goal Driven Principles, page 262 Be a Farmer: Grow Your Business and Your Customers

Watch this short video about the Law of the Harvest.

https://resources.franklincovey.com/mkt-7hv1/law-of-the-harvest-2

How Gratitude Can Improve Chiropractic and Healthcare Practice Performance

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Be a Good Finder

One business owner (a dentist this time, not a chiropractor) I worked with years ago seemed to always be in a bad mood.

He was quiet and basically ignored his staff. His opinion was that he paid them to work, they should work hard, and that was it. But his office wasn’t doing well, so he called me in. I made several visits to his office, each time simply working to improve empathetic communication with his team. I coached him on listening to each staff member and to simply acknowledge them for their contributions.

A few months later, we saw his practice grow. Numbers were headed up!

I remember this because he was always complaining to me that I wasn’t doing anything for his office! His constant criticisms and lack of appreciation were the real problem, but he didn’t see it. While I was countering his abusive lack of gratitude for the support he was receiving from his staff, I tried to coach him on his issue.

Apparently, he was a good dentist, but to his strife and possible forever struggles, he was both a poor clinic director and student.

==================================================================

Employee Performance

So, I just want to mention and remind us all how important it is to be grateful and express gratitude.

When gratitude is expressed to others, many benefits occur. A simple “thank you” goes a long way in improving the morale and ultimate performance of others. Of course, it must be genuine. Counterfeit praise is easily seen through and can do more harm than good.

According to Tom Rath, co-author of How Full Is Your Bucket, “Gallup polling has revealed that 99 out of 100 people say they want a more positive environment at work, and 9 out of 10 say they’re more productive when they’re around positive people.”

He points to research that shows when a work team has more than three positive interactions with managers for every one negative interaction, it is significantly more likely to be productive. The point is not to keep managers from correcting or reprimanding but just to express more praise.

==================================================================

Gratitude is Good Health Care

“The practice of gratitude can have dramatic and lasting effects in a person’s life,” says Robert A. Emmons, professor of psychology at UC Davis [my alma mater!] and a leading scientific expert on the science of gratitude.

“It can lower blood pressure, improve immune function and facilitate more efficient sleep. Gratitude reduces lifetime risk for depression, anxiety and substance abuse disorders, and is a key resiliency factor in the prevention of suicide.” **

According to UC Davis Medical Center, “Gratitude is associated with higher levels of good cholesterol (HDL), lower levels of bad cholesterol (LDL), and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure, both at rest and in the face of stress. It also has been linked with higher levels of heart rate variability, a marker of cardiac coherence, or a state of harmony in the nervous system and heart rate that is equated with less stress and mental clarity.

“Gratitude also lowers levels of creatinine, an indicator of the kidney’s ability to filter waste from the bloodstream, and lowers levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of cardiac inflammation and heart disease.”**

==================================================================

Be a Good Finder

You don’t have to have a PhD to understand that people respond well when they are noticed for something they did well.

So, this newsletter is just a reminder.

And I know that some of you, chiropractors, acupuncturists, dentists, vets, Vitalistic or not, have experienced the phenomenon of quantum entanglement with your patients – or even with your team. Being a “good finder,” creating positive relationships, and thinking positive thoughts about others — if genuine — often do bring positive effects. I have seen it, and I am sure you have too.

So, be a Good Finder…

…and More Good will find you.

Ed

https://health.ucdavis.edu/medicalcenter/features/2015-2016/11/20151125_gratitude.html

 

He Fired the Office Manager in His Chiropractic Office

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Goal Driven to learn practice management. ww.goaldriven.com

Should have been educated and not terminated.

This newsletter is a reprint of an article I wrote a few years ago. I was reminded of it as I am working with a number of offices on a Practice MBA program – which is going very well, by the way!

= = =

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

Her primary role was 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 they understood the situation and would let me know if they needed any help. I was pretty sure they didn’t know what their roles were or how to execute them. I suggested working with them longer, 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 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 it: the chiropractic doctor is ultimately the marketing director. As the Chief Executive Officer for the business, marketing is a key component of their job. But since he is also so busy as a doctor, he must 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 other staff: someone for external events and screenings, someone for the internet, etc.

But behind it all, it is the office manager’s role to ensure everything runs smoothly.

No one should have been fired.

Instead, they all should have been trained on marketing and management.

= = =

In your practice, marketing is your job.

And yours. And yours. It’s also yours! In fact, the marketing department is the entire office. Peter Drucker, considered the forefather of management theory, said (my italics):

“Marketing is so basic that it cannot be considered a separate function within the business, on a par with others such as manufacturing or personnel. Marketing requires separate work, and a distinct group of activities. But it is, first, a central dimension of the entire business. It is the whole business seen from the point of view of its final result, that is, from the customer’s point of view. Concern and responsibility for marketing must, therefore, permeate all areas of the enterprise. Management:Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices (p68)

One of the tenets we are discussing in our management training is the idea of ownership. That is, everyone on the team is a stakeholder, and at no point is anyone not directly connected to all outcomes of the office.

We are training managers to be Goal Driven, and how to create Goal Driven teams that take ownership of the outcomes. And along the way, we are also training the doctors as clinic directors! (That’s the hard part! Lol)

So, no one is getting fired on our watch.

Educate.
Don’t Terminate.

And seize your goals.

Ed

P.S Our next management, leadership, and marketing training starts in February 2024. Limited enrollment. Let me know if you are interested and or want to get on the waiting list.

More New Chiropractic and Healthcare Patients Through Positioning

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Joe Montana and chiropractic

Positioning is a marketing term that refers to how your services are perceived in the minds of customers or potential customers.

For example, you get two different concepts when you think of a Timex $40 wristwatch and a $10,000 Rolex. In selling these products, advertising deliberately tries to position each in your mind so that they are different but appealing.

The fact is, they do about the same thing. But, positioning them can make each more appealing to different groups of people. In marketing Timex watches, for example, they might show busy people working or athletic people with a tagline that says: “takes a licking and keeps on ticking.” On the other hand, Rolex offers images of elegance or authoritative men in suits. Both of these appeal to different groups of people with different wants.

HOW CAN POSITIONING GENERATE MORE NEW PATIENTS FOR YOUR OFFICE?

Let’s start with the position chiropractic has in most people’s minds. According to a Gallup Poll in 2015, 60% of Americans think chiropractic is effective for neck and back pain. Only 11% disagree. The rest don’t know or are neutral.

That means that, in consumers’ minds, you guys generally have the position of treating neck and back pain. Here is one approach to using this:

NATIONAL PROGRAM – Spinal Health Month

You can position your services with a national health campaign. This is what Big Pharma did with the COVID jabs, and what they do with flu shots. It’s manufactured marketing, of course, and promoted authoritatively as part of a national program.

You can do the same! (An application of guerrilla marketing!)

And remember, your stats are better than Big Pharma’s and corporate medicine! (You should probably ensure that your patients know this.) While respecting the good work of individual MDs and certain medical clinics and organizations, which there now seems to be more of after COVID (E.G. FLCCC), keep in mind that the U.S. medical system comes in LAST compared to other industrial countries.(link below)

The American Chiropractic Association promotes what they call National Chiropractic and Health Month in October. Also, Congress recognizes October as National Spine Health Awareness Month. And although a bunch of MDs also promote this, you could use it. I recall when the ACA, and maybe the ICA, promoted October as National Spinal Health Month.

I don’t think it really matters. You can promote your own National Spinal Health and Fitness Month and position your services next to this campaign. We have done this over the years very successfully. Figure that your campaign is more helpful and therefore more legit than those promoted by the drug industry and its lackeys and mercenaries.

There are dozens of approaches to this. I’d be happy to spend a few minutes with you to give you some ideas that have worked. You could:

  1. Send out reactivation letters. “It’s Spinal Check-up Time!” and offer a free screening, discount massages, or just healthy cupcakes.

  2. Put a banner in your office; “October is National Spinal Health Month — Schedule your family for a Health Check-up.” Print up a poster and fliers and encourage your staff to have patients bring in those they care about for a check-up.

  3. Send out an email promotion for this important national event.

ATHLETES

How about another example, maybe for November?

Despite the little medical emphasis on the importance of exercise, people are finding out on their own how vital physical activity is to maintain their health. To some degree, more people are becoming amateur athletes.

Go with this!

Position your services as designed to improve athletic performance. Stay in the Game Longer! Position your services next to famous athletes who testify how chiropractic was essential in achieving their accomplishments in sports. (Link to some chiropractic athletes below.) Promote the fact that all U.S. professional football teams have chiropractors. In fact, you can look up your team’s chiropractor. (link below.)

You could call the team’s D.C. and possibly get a quote or meet with them for a photo opportunity. You could meet with the local high school coach, promote this, and arrange screenings for their players.

By positioning your services next to successful high-performing athletes, the audience can easily make the association that your services must improve physical and functional performance.

So those are a couple of ideas for using positioning to generate more new patients, reactivate former patients, and keep the ones you have.

You’re the coach. Get the team in for care!

Seize the WIN!

Ed

Pro football chiropractors.

U.S. Health system ranks last.

Athlete quotes on chiropractic

Some promotional ideas for October:

Gallup poll on chiropractic favorability.

—————————————————-

If your practice building efforts aren’t taking you to your goals,

there are reasons — many of which are hidden from you.

Find out what they are and how to sail to your next level by getting and implementing my new book, The Goal Driven Business.

goal driven business building methodology

The Goal Driven Business By Edward Petty

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Five Patient Wants In Healthcare and Chiropractic

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Based upon surveys, patients want the following from their doctors and health providers (References below):

  1. Quality of care: Patients prioritize high-quality care from their doctors and health providers. This includes accurate diagnoses, effective treatments, and positive outcomes.
  2. Communication: Patients value clear and effective communication with their doctors and health providers. They want their concerns to be heard, and they want to be well-informed about their treatment options.
  3. Empathy and compassion: Patients appreciate doctors and health providers who show empathy and compassion towards their needs and emotions. They want to feel understood and supported throughout their healthcare journey.
  4. Timeliness: Patients desire timely access to healthcare services, including appointments, test results, and treatment plans. They value minimal wait times and efficient care delivery.
  5. Patient-centered approach: Patients want their doctors and health providers to involve them in decision-making processes and consider their preferences and values. They appreciate personalized care that respects their individual needs.

What would happen to your chiropractic or healthcare practice if you and your team committed to a 12-month Patient Service Program to improve how your office meets these five Wants? You could give each category 20 points and have everyone give each one a grade from 1 to 20. The consensus might end up with a grade of 80 points, or 70, or 92 when all 5 are added together.

Then, over the next 12 months, everyone could work together each month on each category by refining the procedures and improving service skills. You could schedule in-office team training and individual training through seminars, webinars, and even books.

Guess what would happen to the patient referrals, patient retention, and goodwill as things improved? What would happen to staff morale as their competence increased each month and they saw that patients became happier by working on improving service?

SYMPTOMATIC VERSUS STRENGTH BUILDING MANAGEMENT IN CHIROPRACTIC AND HEALTHCARE

Symptomatic management focuses, as it sometimes must, on the urgent necessitates that immediately increase income. But chasing symptoms, putting out one fire after another, is a trap we can all fall into. You stay busy. There are challenges that you overcome. So, it may seem that you are moving forward. But the months and then years go by, and you look around and are still doing what you were doing years ago. Nothing has changed.

Excellent management addresses urgent concerns but also carves out time to strengthen the skills and procedures of the service team. It builds for the future. And it does so by training, coaching, analyzing and steadily improving each of the 5 service categories, the 5 Wants. Over the long run, this gives patients what they want, and everyone wins.

Help your patients get what they want.

Carpe Futurum (Seize the Future!)

References: Patients’ preferences. PubMed , HCAHPS: Patients’ Perspectives of Care Survey

—————————————————-

If your practice building efforts aren’t taking you to your goals,

there are reasons — many of which are hidden from you.

Find out what they are and how to sail to your next level by getting and implementing my new book, The Goal Driven Business.

 
goal driven business building methodology

The Goal Driven Business By Edward Petty

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Guerrilla Marketing for Chiropractic and Health Offices

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MARKETING is everything you do to promote your business, from the moment you conceive of it to the point at which customers buy your product or service and begin to patronize your business on a regular basis. The key words to remember are everything and regular basis. (Jay Levinson)

I remember when I bought the book Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Levinson.

I was familiar with the term Guerrilla Warfare, which was often used to describe the tactics used against the U.S. in the Vietnam War. The idea is that small groups of warriors (Guerra – war, illa – little) can oppose and successfully beat large groups of warriors.

When applied to marketing, especially chiropractic and health practices, the concept is that smaller and entrepreneurial businesses can use inexpensive tactics effectively to compete successfully in markets dominated by large corporations with big marketing budgets.

I embrace and enjoy the concept when used in healthcare marketing.

For example, showing up at a county fair and signing up 80 new patients that a hospital might have won over! For the WIN! (We’ve done that and more, by the way!!)

With a small budget, using Guerrilla Marketing, hundreds of inexpensive marketing approaches can work.

But Levinson makes a vital point in his book that I think is overlooked. And this results in poor marketing.

“Consistency equates with familiarity. Familiarity equates with confidence. And confidence equates with sales.

“Provided that your products or services are of sufficient quality, confidence in yourself and your offering will attract buyers more than any other attribute. More than quality. More than selection. More than price. More than service. Confidence will be your ally.

“And consistent marketing will breed confidence.”

Here is a secret to consistency: assign someone the responsibility of marketing coordinator. As a project manager, their goal is to ensure all the marketing procedures continue. That they are consistent.

This was a fundamental element to the Marketing Manager System I wrote in 2000.

I will be covering this, by the way, on our new Management, Marketing, and Leadership course starting next week. (We have a full class for now. Our next program begins in February 2024. Let us know if you want to be on the waiting list.)

But the details are also in my book, The Goal Driven Business.

Management is not as exciting as a new marketing method, or as thrilling as an energetic motivational seminar. But managing your marketing to continue consistently produces sustained results long after the “Killer Ad” wears out or the emotional high from last weekend’s seminar dims.

Here are 8 of the 10 marketing “truths” from Guerrilla marketing. Link to the full ten below.

“TRUTHS YOU MUST NEVER FORGET”

From the book Guerrilla Marketing

1. The market is constantly changing. When you stop advertising, you miss evolving opportunities and stop being part of the process. You are not on the bus. You are not in the game.

2. People forget fast. Remember, they’re bombarded with tons of messages (an estimated 2700) daily.

3. Your competition isn’t quitting. People will spend money to make purchases, and if you don’t make them aware that you are selling something, they’ll spend their money elsewhere.

4. Marketing strengthens your identity. When you quit marketing, you shortchange your reputation, reliability, and the confidence people have in you. The bond of communication is too precious to break capriciously.

5. Marketing is essential to survival and growth. With very few exceptions, people won’t know you’re there if you don’t get the word out.

6. Marketing enables you to hold on to your old customers. Many enterprises survive on repeat and referral business. Old customers are the key to both. When old customers don’t hear from you or about you, they tend to forget you.

7. Marketing maintains morale. Your own morale is improved when you see your marketing at work, and especially when you see that it does, indeed, work. Your employees’ morale is similarly uplifted.

8. Marketing gives you an advantage over competitors who have ceased marketing.

Seize your goals by continuing marketing. Never stop.

Ed

Download the Ten Truths: Ten Truths Levinson Guerrilla Marketing

—————————————————-

If your practice building efforts aren’t taking you to your goals,

there are reasons — many of which are hidden from you.

Find out what they are and how to sail to your next level by getting and implementing my new book, The Goal Driven Business.

goal driven business building methodology

The Goal Driven Business By Edward Petty

goal driven business buy now button

Planning Your Chiropractic Marketing for the 4th Quarter in 2023

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Planning GoalDriven.com chiropractic marketing

Happy September!

Well, here we are … the start of September and four more months left to the year.

Now what?

Plan Your Chiropractic Marketing – Marketing Your Chiropractic Plan

So just a suggestion: before we all get too caught up in this new month and the weeks get away from us with all the daily duties, I suggest you set some time aside, and you and your gang plan what you can do to end the year on your best note. Set some goals that are realistic with some fun rewards.

Key is marketing, of course. There are oodles of different approaches and procedures and actives that you can do that work.

Pick a few that have worked in the past. If they are recurring, put them on a list and ensure they are done routinely.

If they are special, done now and then, get them scheduled and post them on a calendar so that everyone can see them.

Your number 1 marketing activity will always be your vibe – and your Table Talk with your patients and with your team.

Inform While You Perform Chiropractic Services

I hardily recommend newsletters as these help to keep the conversation and Table Talk going. You don’t own social media platforms, but you do your email.

Social media has worked now and then for short-term advertising. But if you have been in practice for a few years, you should have quite a base of patients from whom you can nurture and keep them coming in for care. They know you and trust you and should come back. They will if you keep informing them of all the extraordinary successes (and fun!) your other active patients are having. They also have family, friends, and work associates they can refer.

Motivation drives it all, so tap into the wisdom of your tribe. They know what works, and even if they don’t, let them run with an idea, and if they are enthused about it, it might work.

Lastly, plan to win, but don’t get too serious. You and your team are helping people – and how can that not be rewarding? Don’t let the minor fractures in communications that occur on a busy day get in the way of the joy of working with teammates to get others better.

Here is a list of special promotions that have worked for fall.

Seize the next 4 months with love and gusto!

Ed

—————————————————-

If your practice building efforts aren’t taking you to your goals,

there are reasons — many of which are hidden from you.

Find out what they are and how to sail to your next level by getting and implementing my new book, The Goal Driven Business.

goal driven business building methodology
 

The Goal Driven Business By Edward Petty

goal driven business buy now button
 
 

Improving Chiropractic Patient Follow Through

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The outcomes you produce as a doctor depend upon the patient following through with their care plan.

There are many procedures to help the patient follow through. But they all stem from the mission and goals of the office and the agreements made between the patient and the doctor on the initial visits.

  • Office Mission and Goals: Help people become healthier and function better.
  • Patient Goals and Plan to Achieve Them. These are discovered and defined with the doctor, and a plan is agreed upon to achieve them.

Everything in your office is based upon these goals and this plan. All staff interactions with the patient can be considered “standing orders” from the doctor derived from the agreement made with the patient. The authority to schedule patients, work out finances, and apply therapies are all based upon what the doctor has ordered based on the above goals.

Goalineering: Aligning Chiropractic Procedures with Patient Goals

Every few months, you can review the sequence of actions the patient experiences from their initial visit to completing their treatment plan. Look at all the points that influence patient commitment to their care plan. Look at what is done, what is said, and how it can be improved and better aligned with the patient’s goals.

This is engineering your procedures with your goals – or GOALINEERING!

For example:

  1. Diagnostic procedures. (Consultation and history – be thorough; don’t be superficial. Exam, imaging) Goal: Discover what the patient wants and needs.
  2. Report of Findings procedures. (Causes of issues. Plans: consequences of no plan, mini-plan, and thorough plan. Agreement or not to care plan.) Goal: Work out the best care plan and secure the patient’s agreement to achieve it.
  3. Post-Report of Findings procedures. (Financial agreement, scheduling agreement, agreements to office policies with a staff member who is an assistant coach!) Goal: Work out all administrative details with the patient on their care plan so they can focus on their health goals without distractions or confusion.
  4. Front Desk follow-up procedures. (Aggressively friendly and a demon on control as an assistant coach! Front Desk RULES the Roost!) Goal: Keep the patient on track to achieving their goals.
  5. Daily visit procedures. (Give encouragement and reaffirm goals.) Goal: Keep the patient motivated to achieve their goals.
  6. Progress exam/reports. (Show progress, give encouragement, and reaffirming goals.) Goal: Keep the patient motivated to achieve their goals.
  7. Other: (Rewards, e.g., t-shirt after 12 visits. Patient education class and patient successes.) Goal: Keep the patient motivated to achieve their goals.

Review these activities, practice the procedures, and refine them as needed. Also, document what you say and do and keep your notes for later review and training.

Do this, and you will improve patient retention and outcomes and follow through.

Ed

Back to School Month

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chiropractic back to school, goal driven

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
(Attributed to Nelson Mandela)*

September is almost here, and soon the schools will be busy.

Since doctor means teacher, why not go all in on education and teaching this month?

BACK TO SCHOOL FOR THE KIDS

Support your teachers and the kids they teach.

This September, you can align your office with a local school and support other teachers and their students.

There are many approaches to this. You can call or visit a school and tell them you would like, along with your staff and patients, to make a contribution of some kind to a specific department or activity. These could be new uniforms for the marching band, art supplies, or supplies for the kids in need, like calculators, notebooks, and book bags.

You can also get the kids in for a back-to-school check-up and include a short workshop on backpack safety.

Whatever your plan is, promote it in your e-newsletter, on posters and handouts, and your social medial platforms.

You can also offer a special discount to teachers.

Staff often have great ideas and love to work on special projects like this. Get them involved!

While these types of promotions are not designed to generate boatloads of new patients, they can be fun, generate goodwill, and establish your business as a trusted community member. All of this supports your other marketing activities.

BACK TO SCHOOL FOR THE ADULTS

Because staff and doctor education is important, but not urgent, it is typically put on the back burner. This is true with many things, including patient care, where we focus too much on pain relief and not enough on correction, strengthening, and wellness.

Your Patients

As health professionals, you know that healthcare information in the marketplace borders on criminal. Corporations that produce soft drinks don’t warn about the harmful effects of high fructose corn syrup, “food” companies about the dangers of linoleic oil in cooking oil, or corporations that sell farm and lawn products about the toxins from weed and insect killers.

The benefits of chiropractic and non-corporate health care certainly aren’t promoted, and we have seen what happens to the M.D. s that speak out against the well-funded medical narrative.

Inform While You Perform, and in doing so, you help your patients become healthier and position your practice as a genuine HEALTH practice. Be a rebel, and educate your patients on health: corrective care, strengthening, care, nutrition, diet, exercise, and all the basics of good health that can’t be patented!

You and Your Team

The fall seminars are coming up! State conventions often have teachers that actually teach practical information! Schedule yourself for a weekend this fall… and take your staff.

Fall State Conventions. Staff education is more important than you might realize. First, they learn some valuable concepts and procedures. But beyond the obvious, investing in their education shows you recognize their value. They are an integral part of practice success and patient outcomes and are worthy of the investment. They also see that they are part of a larger profession – that there are others besides you and their practice mates that have similar jobs, challenges, and rewards.

Chirofest. Besides your local state conventions, a shoutout to Chirofest out in Vancouver WA. Dr. Paul Reed does a great job, and nothing compares to the Oregon coast, two hours from Vancouver.

Goal Driven Management and Leadership Training. Our own Practice Management and Leadership Training starts September 18th. We are limiting enrollment to just 7 offices for our Founder’s Round and we still have a couple of spots open. There is absolutely no training like this anywhere. Let me know if you are interested. It’s an amazing deal — but only if you want to improve your income and create an even more dynamic practice manager!

Seize September,

Ed

More info:

Goal Driven Management and Leadership Training

ChiroFest seminar

Your state association

The Goal Driven Business book by Ed Petty

*Nelson Mandela quote: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Madison Park High School, Boston, 23 June 1990; reported in various forms

Chiropractors and Other Doctors: Do You Placate Your Patients?

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Goal Driven to tell the truth. Chiropractic, business management

Faith, Confidence and Belief

It is an oversimplification to say that chiropractors, and other doctors, who remain true to their principles and goals are less stressed and more productive.

And make more money.

But I’ve seen it.

You need Faith, Confidence and Belief (FCB!) in yourself, in your knowledge and skills, and what your office can do for people. (I learned about FCB from Dr. James Parker at a Parker seminar years ago.)

With these qualities, you can tell the truth and be honest. And stick to your guns.

A naturopathic and chiropractic doctor I follow on a social media site said this:

“If someone was poisoning themselves slowly with their lifestyle habits, you bet I let them know. Isn’t that what doctors are supposed to do? Truth be told, most everyone already knew. People aren’t stupid, just in denial.

“Last time I checked it’s our job to tell them the facts. Not placate them or worry about hurting their feelings with said facts…Because that’s what most doctors are doing. They beat around the bush so as to not offend.

“Of course, I was always professional and kind, but I still called a spade a spade.

“The word doctor means teacher, not enabler.”

CASE ACCEPTANCE AND FOLLOW-THROUGH FOR YOUR CHIROPRACTIC PATIENTS

From a marketing perspective, people buy from those they trust. And they trust people who have certainty.

If you equivocate – dodge the facts – your patient will see that you are unsure what the heck you are talking about. They will be less likely to commit to a care program or follow through.

On the other hand, if you apply your knowledge and skill with certainty and confidence when you look at their case, explain it to them, and recommend a treatment plan that is best suited for them, their chances of commitment and follow-through are very high.

WHAT GETS IN THE WAY OF YOUR TRUTH

One of the benefits of seminars is that your convictions can become rekindled. You are reminded of your truth.

But after a week or so, back at your office, the fire of your passion begins to dim. And rather than gliding through your day, it starts to feel like you are plodding through mud.

What gets in the way of your pure-hearted and stalwart convictions about health and your principles and purposes?

And what is it that slows you down?

ADMIN. Administration. Everything that is NOT patient-related. The organization and running of the support machinery of your practice start to pull you into its noise, worries, corrections, and sometimes drama.

Policies, procedures, and people do not all move smoothly and cooperate conveniently or get implemented as excellently as you hope. And this can be a major distraction.

Practice management can get messy!

This is why organizational structure and management are so very essential. Maybe not when you are a wild entrepreneur just starting out. But as your business grows, administrative details flood in – and clog up the works. More than most doctors realize!

AN ORGANIZER FOR YOUR CHIROPRACTIC ADMINISTRATION

The solution is to take time to work ON your business.

Then, assign someone to be your MANAGER to help you improve the organization and take care of the admin.

They will need training and you’ll need to work with them.

And to be direct, and not to beat around the bush, if you don’t do this, you will be forever stunted in your practice growth and work-life balance. And you will lose money.

But with an organizer, someone who is managing your practice administration, you will be less distracted and more grounded in your truth to help your patients get and stay on the best track for their health. And, your practice will be more profitable.

Our high-level training for your manager (and you) begin September 18. For more info below.

Keep to your truth,

Ed

Advanced Practice Manager Training, Beginning September 18.
Find out about it here.

MUSIC You made it this far, so enjoy some music – as a tribute to Robbie Robertson – The Weight – Playing for Change.

 

How is Your Chiropractic Head Game?

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chiropractic goal driven to strike out batters.

The Hidden Game of Practice Success
‘Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical’ – Yogi Berra

Hello Sports Fans!

For my 13-year grandson’s birthday, I bought him a book on sports: Ninety Percent Mental: An All-Star Turned Mental Skills Coach Reveals the Hidden Game of Baseball by Bob Tewsksbury.

I haven’t finished reading the book, but I know the subject – how the mind affects performance. I figure any tips I can give to my grandkids, the better chance they will have.

And I figure this also applies to myself, and perhaps to you.

In my book, The Goal Driven Business, I cover the 5 Engines to practice success. These are:

  1. Clinical outcomes and service
  2. Leadership
  3. Management
  4. Marketing
  5. Personal Power

No matter how competent you are as a chiropractic doctor, healthcare provider, or business owner, how inspiring you are as a leader, how consistent and enterprising you are as a manager, or intelligent as a marketer… if you don’t have the positive energy to make things happen, your practice will falter.

Personal Power is the “Hidden Game” of practice success.

The first chiropractor Dave and I worked with had multiple doctors and together saw over 2,000 visits per week. (I still have the stats!) A recurring theme he would tell his associates was that practice success was an “inside job.” This meant success was dependent upon their mental attitude.

But one’s mental attitude is dependent upon something much deeper. You can always “fake it till you make it,” which might sometimes be necessary. But it is not authentic.

What is authentic is your happiness. Happiness underlies your mental attitude. Your Personal Power comes out when you are happier.

So, how do you become happier?

Using Your Signature Strengths In Your Chiropractic and Healthcare Practice

One method that has been proven to improve a person’s happiness is to focus on your strengths – what you are good at – and less on what you are not so good at.

Martin Seligman, Ph.D., is a strong proponent of Positive Psychology. In his book Authentic Happiness, he discusses common virtues that all people in all cultures have agreed upon over time. These virtues can be translated into specific Character Strengths. Each of these strengths has 3-5 subcategories for a total of 24-Character Strengths.

We all have a different set of more dominant strengths, which Seligman calls our Signature Strengths. For example, one person may be strong in humor, gratitude, and fairness, while another person’s Signature Strengths could be creativity, curiosity, and gratitude.

“I do not believe that you should devote overly much effort to correct your weaknesses. Rather, I believe that the highest success in living and the deepest emotional satisfaction comes from building and using your signature strengths.”

I cover this in practical detail in my book, The Goal Driven Business, and it is part of our upcoming Management and Leadership Training course, our 11-week intensive training especially for practice managers beginning on Sept. 18.

We all have our confusions and apprehensions — our mental monkeys that get in the way of our happiness and limit our Personal Power. You see this in your patients and staff, and I am sure you notice it now and then in yourself.

But a legitimate goal is to be happy, and in so doing, you can unleash your power and win at the “Hidden Game” of practice success.

By focusing on what you do best, and allowing your team to pick up all the rest, you can go a long way at winning the “Hidden Game” of practice development.

Having your team pick up “all the rest” requires good management. So I recommend you consider our Management and Leadership training for your manager this Sept.

Stay strong in your strengths,

Ed

You can take a survey and discover your Signature Strengths at
www.viacharacter.org

For more information about our Management and Leadership Training. www.GoalDriven.com/mba

Image: Wikipedia

The Biggest Factor in your Chiropractic or Heath Practice’s success?

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You might say it is clinical expertise. Or motivation? Or marketing Or …philosophy.

After visiting chiropractic offices nationwide for over 30 years, I can tell you that none of these factors are the most fundamental. Important, yes. But sooner or later, they all get derailed and sidetracked because of one factor — management.

HOW GROWTH TRAPS YOU AS A CHIROPRACTIC AND PRACTICE OWNER

Growth creates its own barrier. As you see more patients and your visit volume grows, so does your administrative and marketing duties. In fact, they grow about twice as fast. But for the most part, they aren’t noticed as you are busy with patient care. After a while, tasks backlog and pile up, staff get confused, and the floor cares in and down goes your practice.

As you grow, you run into a mostly invisible organizational barrier. This creates a big dilemma: How can you be at your best as a caring, empathetic doctor focusing on delivering the highest quality outcomes possible to your trusting patients — while at the same time managing a growing business.

You can’t.

You need a trained, Goal Driven manager to take care of the practice administration for you.

IT’S THE MANAGER!

But you don’t have to take it from me.

Michael Gerber pointed this out in his famous book, The E-Myth, in the 1980s.

And recently, after analyzing hundreds of businesses and thousands of business people, Gallup scientifically came up with the following conclusion:

“Based on our largest global study of the Future of Work, Gallup finds that the quality of managers and team leaders is the single biggest factor in your organization’s long-term success.”

A PRACTICAL MBA FOR YOUR PRACTICE MANAGER AND YOU

There are no intensive training programs for practice managers in the chiropractic profession. There sometimes are some short classes at seminars on various “management” subjects, but nothing formal or comprehensive. And nothing for doctors to be trained as CEO’s, though some chiropractic colleges offer two-year MBA programs for $20,000 or more.

Over the last year, we have been building a training program for practice managers.

The program is primarily for managers, but doctors will also receive training as Clinic Directors. It is an 11-week program with 30 short classes taught in live webinars over 11 weeks. It includes round table discussions with the managers, weekly homework for the manager graded by me, a private manager’s club, and many other innovative teaching procedures.

The outcome is a Goal Driven practice manager and practice Clinic Director who knows how to move their practice forward to achieve its fullest potential and comfortably stay there.

Over the next several weeks, I will post articles and videos on practice management and leadership for you and your practice manager in addition to the usual Tuesday emails.

If you are interested in this program, just reply to this email, and we will contact you.

I am only accepting a maximum of 7 offices as this is the first Founder’s Round for charter members. So don’t wait if you are interested. The class is filling, and once we are full, that’s all I can take.

MANAGEMENT SUPPORTS EVERYTHING IN A CHIROPRACTIC AND HEALTHCARE PRACTICE

You can attend seminars and learn new adjusting techniques, buy new therapy equipment, and purchase all the advertising you can. But when the rubber meets the road, you need people and systems to support you. Who will train and coach your team, write up and practice new procedures, and handle the growing administrative responsibilities?

If you have a trained manager and you have been trained in our new Fast Flow CEO Method, the admin tasks will be managed proactively and responsibly.

And you know what? Managers want to be trained. They want to improve and be more valuable to the practice.

WHEN YOU NEED A PRACTICE MANAGER AND WHEN YOU DON’T

If you are operating comfortably at 40-50% of your full capacity, you have the time to be the practice manager yourself. If you want.

But if you are growing, operating at 80% or more of you full capacity, or if you have a large practice, with multiple doctors, providers, or ancillary services, you are losing revenue if you do not have a trained Goal Driven practice manager taking care of practice administration.

MANAGEMENT TIP FOR THE WEEK.

Do what you do best.

And delegate all the rest.

Ed

The Best Leadership for Your Chiropractic and Healthcare Practice

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Improving productivity through greater engagement.

I try to base all my practice and business recommendations on observations I have had and also on the research from those of others.

Dave Michel and I have an advantage: we are not doctors and therefore are not biased on any particular type of clinical practice. We are managers and not doctors, so we don’t advise that you do it “our way.” We look for what works and what is best for the patient, the practice, and the owner.

After viewing hundreds of practices, I distilled down the essential elements of what we saw that were most effective and least effective. I then integrated research from other business scientists and laid out a simple growth and practice development plan that was not based on any one doctor’s personality.

Jim Collins is one researcher whose information we incorporated into our work, Eliyahu Goldratt, Stephen Covey, and scores of others, including Michael Gerber.

MICHAEL GERBER

Gerber’s book, The E-Myth, states that, from his experience as a business consultant, people who start a business have three roles: the entrepreneur, the technician, and the manager. By his definition, the technician would be the doctor or health care provider who would also have the role of business owner or entrepreneur.

Most doctors focus on being doctors and making a living as business owners or entrepreneurs.

The manager role is short-changed. It is a difficult role to fulfill as who has time to manage and see a full load of patients. You are paid for providing service… not for managing. Right?

In a practice, the “manager” is really the CEO, or Clinic Director — whatever term you care to use.

This role breaks down into three major functions, all supporting the delivery of clinical services and generating income for the practice and business. These three functions are:

  • Leadership
  • Management
  • Marketing

A good portion of these functions can be delegated using the Goal Driven System, as discussed in the book, The Goal Driven Business.

I want to zero in on leadership.

LEADERSHIP

Gallup states that it has done extraordinarily comprehensive and long-term studies on leadership. They report, “The most effective leaders rally a broad group of people toward an organization’s goals, mission and objectives. They lead. People follow.”

In their studies, they have found that people need or seek the following from their leaders:

          • Trust
          • Compassion
          • Stability
          • Hope

This is what your team wants from you as their employer and Clinic Director.

One of the biggest challenges in all offices is a support team that loses its motivation and is no longer engaged. If you can develop these 4 feelings in your team, their motivation and production will improve.

The big challenge, which is not usually resolved in most practices, is how to be an effective leader and take care of a full caseload of patients.

MANAGEMENT

This is where the function of management comes into play.

The function of management is THE lever, THE Leverage Point (Principle 13 in The Goal Driven Business), that allows leadership to function and a practice to reach its full potential.

I will reveal new information about this next week, but for now, consider the 4 needs employees seek from you as their employer. Write them down on a piece of paper and consider them your goals in your role of Clinic Director.

Seize the Future through Trust, Compassion, Stability, and Hope.

Till next week,

Ed

Strengths Based Leadership – Gallup, 2008
E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber