Summer Chiropractic and Healthcare Marketing. Get Outside!

Posted on May 28, 2024 by Edward Petty

Edward Petty Sheldon Wasserman 4th July parade www.goaldriven.com

Eighty percent of success is showing up

Summer is a great time to promote your chiropractic and healthcare services. Winter hibernation is over, as is the enforced isolation from COVID, and people are out and about.

Communities are coming alive with farmer’s markets, bicycle riding clubs, coffee shop meetups, parades, art shows, and fairs of all kinds. You got yer Lions Club pancake breakfasts, church barbeques, donation drives, and 5-Ks.

Online social networking is fine, but it is extra powerful if backed up or done in conjunction with people and events locally in your community. In Real Life!

You can just show up and meet people. Let them meet you like an elected official when they run for office. (It is an election year!) You can also get a picture taken of the event and then use this in your internal promotions. That’s me in the photo above a few years back when I jumped into our local 4th of July parade and had my picture taken with our state representative, Sheldon Wasserman, M.D. (He told me his mom sees a chiropractor, and I didn’t care about what political party he was part of.)

You can get a list of upcoming community events from the Chamber of Commerce and schedule a screening, talk, or information booth, or volunteer your help in a charity drive. You can also just show up. Be neighborly.

There is often a run or walk as part of a donation program during the summer months where you and your staff can participate. We have seen offices proudly wear their office t-shirts and recruit many patients to do the same. Encourage and support your team members to participate on their own.

I’d assign a staff member or two to find events and opportunities to join. Make it a team activity.

You can power up all your activities by partnering with other local businesses.

And take your cards. As the old timers told me, the old school technique of practice building was “WOC – Whip out Card!” It’s physics: you put out energy and communication, and it will return to you.

When you are networking, you get to know people. Be interested in them and their interests. Then you can hand out your cards. You can also hand out coupons for a screening or workshop at your office.

As Woody Allen is to have said:

Eighty percent of success is showing up.

You can’t lose. It’s Summer. Get Outside. Enjoy the freedom!

And seize the day!

—————————————————-

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 book, The Goal Driven Business.

UPDATE: Change Healthcare Cyber Attack

Posted on May 21, 2024 by Lisa Barnett

Lisa recently had a phone conversation with United Healthcare for an update on the Change Healthcare Cyber Attack Update Regarding United Healthcare Payments & Remittances. UHC advises that they are close to a resolution on getting all of the clinic remittances available on the provider clearinghouses, and troubleshooting improper denials.

For general inquires regarding payments and posting, clinics can email client_assistance@optum.com

Be the Ripple in your Chiropractic and Healthcare Clinic

Posted on May 21, 2024 by Edward Petty

guitar player overlooking a city. One of the best chiropractic offices we have had the pleasure of working with has the subject of this email as its theme: “Be the ripple.”

Today’s newsletter comes out early so you can listen to music while you go to work, while you are at work, and after work.

Music is therapeutic and fun.

“Music has real health benefits. It boosts dopamine, lowers cortisol and it makes us feel great. Your brain is better on music. (Alex Doman. TEDx talk, CEO Advanced Brain Technologies)

The tune linked to below has artists from around the world playing together, from Playing for Change: Ripple.

LISTEN

“We never know how far-reaching something we may think, say, or do today will affect the lives of millions tomorrow.” (B.J. Palmer. Developer of Chiropractic)

Be the change, create the ripple, and seize the future!

Jimmy Buffet playing for change, ripple

An Inexpensive Method to Improve Chiropractic and Healthcare Patient Engagement

Posted on May 14, 2024 by Edward Petty

gray haired woman reading letter from chiropractor

How to Keep Table Talk Going

The new staff member said she could help with marketing by posting photos on Instagram and Facebook. The doctor said great!

I noticed a photo of a patient or the doctor with a short comment for a few weeks.

I usually had to search for the image. It often had a few likes or hearts. Maybe 5 at most. Then it stopped. The staff member had taken on other duties.

I had been asking the doctor to send regular email newsletters to his patients. He didn’t seem that interested, but we said we would help him put them together which would cost less than $100 per month.

He got us the content, and we put the newsletter together and sent it out. On the 1st day, over 500 people opened and looked at his newsletter. These weren’t strangers. These were patients who knew him, liked him, and trusted him. Most of them just hadn’t been in to see him for a while.

Linda, our manager and service coordinator, just conducted a quick survey with some of our clients. She found that the offices that consistently send out personal email newsletters have all had a positive impact on their practices. They have improved patient referrals, reactivations, and patient engagement.

Some of the responses included: “Increases volume.” “Patients refer.” “They love the recipes.” “[Patients] come into the office and comment that they saw a particular condition talked about in the newsletter that the office was not aware the doctor could help them with.” “Great response when promoting [a new service].”

Social media platforms are entertaining. They have to be because they are in the advertising business.

But unless you pay them for ads, your posts are shown at the whim of the platform. You have no control. Your readers are entertainment seekers and, even if they see your post, are often distracted by other posts and ads.

I have seen ad agencies use social media effectively to generate leads that become new patients. It can be pricey but worth it if done correctly. Done now and then, expert advertising on social media for a special offer for a limited time can work.

But if you do not regularly send personal newsletters to your patient base, you are wasting some of the goodwill you have generated over the years.

A CHIROPRACTIC AND HEALTHCARE PRACTICE IS A NETWORK OF RELATIONSHIPS

A practice is grown and sustained through communication and service to your network. The quality and quantity of your network, and how engaged it is with you, is your practice goodwill.

We are now in the age of Artificial Intelligence. Communications are manufactured. In other words, more and more communication is just plain fake.

But you are not fake, and neither is the easy dialogue you have with your patients. More than ever, people want authentic communication and relationships. Social media posts and ads just can’t compete with your short personal newsletters.

Here’s some tips on how to get your personal newsletter done fast:

SETUP

Email Coordinator. Assign a team member to help you with the newsletter. Give them 1 hour per week to do so.
Email service. Use an email service like Mail Chimp, Constant Contact, or others. They will assist with the setup. Have the assistant complete the setup and update it monthly.

CONTENT

Table talk. Think of a patient that you often see in your office. Imagine talking to them about a subject that you are currently thinking about. It could be headaches, low back pain, nutrition, posture, or really anything you’re feeling passionate about.
Now, write about 2-3 paragraphs as if you were writing a letter to them about your thoughts. (Link below.)
Recipe. People love these. Always introduce a recipe and personalize it. “This was my grandmother’s favorite rabbit stew.”
Success story. Introduce it: “Mildred did great.”
Promotion. Every few months include a special promotion.

You can certainly add other elements. But the most essential component is your original message. It is YOUR VOICE that keeps the conversation going.

Effective newsletters will improve patient retention and patient referrals and reactivate inactive patients.

Nurture and sustain the relationships in your practice.

And seize your future!

=====

Sample message from the doctor for the newsletter

“You know, when I was driving to work this morning I saw this fellow bent over with a walker walking down the sidewalk. I bet if I had seen him 10 to 20 years ago, he wouldn’t be in that condition.

It’s the whole idea of a hinge. If it isn’t used much, it will rust and get stuck. Your vertebrae are like hinges. You gotta keep them moving otherwise they will get stuck.

Exercise helps. So does stretching.

But now and then your hinges (vertebrae) can get stuck, and that’s when you wanna come on and see us.

Keep moving and stay unstuck, and have a great June.

Dr. Bob Marley”

Related articles for chiropractors and independent healthcare practices:

https://www.goaldriven.com/post/sample-patient-group-activities

https://www.goaldriven.com/post/part-2-of-the-best-known-marketing-secret

Call Your Mom

Posted on May 6, 2024 by Edward Petty

mom with little boy and girl eating breakfast

Women, in general, see healthcare providers including chiropractors, more than men do. (The ratio is about 60% women and 40% men.)*

This week, hand each person in your office a flower and ask them to give it to their mom, or a mom. And if they are a mother, give them two. You could make a deal with your local florist and in return, post a sign on the flower vase stating where the flowers came from. Always try to create alliances with local businesses!

And, call your mom. I know, not all of us can. So, thank the moms you do know.

They take care of us and our future.

Here’s to moms!

*https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/complementary-alternative-or-integrative-health-whats-in-a-name

Another post on moms! https://www.goaldriven.com/post/call-your-mom

2 Simple Tools for Marketing Success

Posted on April 30, 2024 by Edward Petty

calander and checklist

At least half of your marketing success lies in how it is organized and managed. Short-term advertising or special promotions can work. But like a sugar rush, they don’t last.

Good marketing is planned and consistent. Marketing by the latest bright idea, or what your school chum is doing in Kankakee, is, at best, a short-term fix. So, use these 2 tools, and over the next 6 months, your new patients and returning patients will improve.

Your Chiropractic Practice Marketing List

Make a list of all your successful marketing procedures and events. Organize it by daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. You could have 20 procedures or events, from calling the new patient after their first adjustment and treatment, visiting external referral sources, your monthly newsletter, and a reactivation campaign in October as part of National Spinal Health Month. You can even include smiling! 😊

Give this list to an assistant to manage. (Download a free sample below.)

Then, review it every month. Ask these questions and take action as needed:

Were these items completed?
How did they work?
How can they be improved?
Should we consider pausing one or adding another?

Your Healthcare Practice Marketing Calendar

While your Marketing List includes most of your recurring actions, the Marketing Calendar shows your future scheduled special events. This would include upcoming events such as workshops, a special promotion like a food drive donation, a paid advertising campaign, a patient appreciation, or a booth and march in the town parade.

This is your plan for the next 2-4 months. Update it at least monthly. Post it in a communal area for the entire team to view.

Why post it?

Remember- where is the marketing department? That’s right – THE ENTIRE OFFICE! So, everyone has a role in “selling health.” Everyone is in the marketing department.

Just do these two actions – review your list and complete the actions on it, and schedule your marketing events on a calendar and complete them – and your new patients and returning patients will improve.

Persistence and Discipline

While these tools are simple to use, your challenge will be to keep using them. This will require persistence and discipline. As I recall Harvey Mackay saying, “Knowing what to do is not the same as having the discipline to do it.”

Keep doing what works and schedule your success.

Seize your future,

Download a sample Marketing List of procedures and events. [Marketing List]

Ask Lisa: There’s Good News and There’s Bad News When It Comes To Insurance Networks

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Lisa Barnett

picture of a woman There’s an old joke in credentialing providers. “The good news is you’re now in-network! The Bad news? You’re now in-network.”

Should you be “in-network” with a payer group, or out? It’s a tough choice and not a one-size-fits-all. So what do you do? First, ignore consultants that insist you must be or must NOT be an in-network provider.

Next, determine which companies you are in network with and assess. Do you have a contract? What are your provider obligations? Are you getting reimbursed what the contract’s fee schedule says it will reimburse? Are you currently enrolled in Medicare, and are you a participating or non-participating provider. Are you also currently enrolled as a provider in your state’s Medicaid program?

Make sure you have a profile set up with the national Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH) universal provider database that the information is current, and re-attested quarterly. There is no charge to create and maintain your profile in this credentialing database.

Third, audit your patient demographic. Run a report in your practice management software. What percentage of your reimbursement is coming from insurance? What percentage is coming directly from patients? Which payers are you mainly seeing patients from? Are you finding that patients are requesting you be in network with a certain company? Who are the main employers in your area insured with? Are you enrolled as a provider with the Veteran’s Administration in your area?

Fourth, develop a spreadsheet called “Insurance Networks” to help you and your insurance department keep the information organized and up to date.

Once you have a grasp on the above, you’re ready to determine if you need to pursue network participation with additional companies. Treating this like a sales or business venture, you’ll want to have insurance companies coming to you and requesting you be in their network. Remember, it is to their benefit and their obligation to keep their paying policyholders happy. Patients should feel free to call their insurer requesting you be on their plan. Patients have done this, and outcomes have been successful. Why? Because the worst phone call an insurance company can receive is from an upset policyholder who can’t afford to see their favorite doctor who is helping them (that’s you!) because the doctor is not on the plan.

Additional items to consider prior to enrolling in a plan include:, What is the reimbursement rate? What percentage of the approved charges are taken out for contract discounts? Is there a fee to join? What are your provider obligations? Do they want you to participate in their workers compensation, PI programs? (In our experience, opting in to the WC and PI products means no steerage to you, and cut reimbursements). Are there pre-authorizations required prior to care? Is there a visit limit? What is the initial credentialing and re-credentialing process?

Now, you are on all the plans that are making your pocketbook and your patient happy. What do you need to do to maintain your in-network status? You will need to notify a payer with updated clinic information anytime there is a change in information you submitted at enrollment. This includes phone number change, address change, and adding a new provider to the office.

You will also need to ensure you track re-credentialing timeframes for each insurance company. Typically, the recredentialing process for commercial payers is every three years, but since your enrollments with each payer fall on different dates, your re-credentialing due dates will vary. Your Medicare re-credentialing is every five years. Re-validation with Medicaid programs is typically every three to five years, depending on your state’s standards. For example, it is every three years in WI and every five years in MI.

Many of the larger commercial payers such as Blue Cross, Humana, United Healthcare/Optum Physical Health, use CAQH to approve your re-credentialing. Those who do not will send a written communication via mail or email letting you know your recredentialing is coming due and will include the applications and instructions. Make sure to track these dates in your insurance spreadsheet.

We’ve just touched the surface of network plans and credentialing. PM&A can provide specialized and unique advice on making the choice of which networks to join, which to be out of network, and which to run away from!

Email me for assistance with how these processes work for your practice. You may reach me at lisa@pmaworks.com
Increasing your collections through better billing and documentation

Unexpected Successes in Practice

Posted on April 23, 2024 by Edward Petty

Why Your Chiropractic Patients and Practice Can Improve in Multiple Ways

If you continue to work on improvement, you will see results. That’s just physics — a reduction of Newton’s laws, which state that causes create effects.

And if you keep improving what you are doing to make the improvements, the results will be even better. That, too, is physics. (See pages 47 and 256 of the Goal Driven Business!)

However, the results may not always be what you expect, at least not at first.

For example, you start adjusting your patient for their lower back pain. When they started with you, they also had a limp. After several visits, they stopped limping, but their back pain, while better, was still annoying. In time, their back pain was relieved as they continued with their care.

But what about the fact that their limp is gone, their gate is excellent, and they can walk and even run more easily? Didn’t anyone notice?

I mentioned this to someone who coaches people on weight loss. She understood immediately what I said. She referred to it as Non-Scale Victories. NSV’s, she called it!

THE CAUSE OF NONLINEAR POSITIVE RESULTS IN PRACTICE

I have been following the graduates of our first Practice MBA program carefully. I am delighted with the results, but they were not entirely what I expected. I had expected and hoped that practice numbers would increase! Well, this has been happening, in fact, in some cases, Best Evers in years.

But other pleasant surprises have been showing up. For example, chiropractic doctors mention how their offices are calmer and friendlier than before. Another acupuncture office is successfully bringing on a second associate, and another is expanding its marketing reach in entirely new and innovative ways. Even old system problems that have been buried for years are arising and getting resolved.

These and other practice improvements were not directly addressed in our training. I have been consulting for over 30 years and have never seen results like this.

I was at first puzzled by what was happening. I think I finally figured it out. Here are three reasons:

The Hidden Ripple Effect. Imagine a pebble dropped into a calm pond. The initial splash is visible, but the ripples extend far beyond the point of impact.
Holistic Growth. Improvement is rarely isolated. Improving one component in a system improves other elements.
Consistent Weekly Improvement. This is the biggest reason. The function of management and leadership in a practice is powerful, even if only worked on for a few hours per week. This is what we did for over 3 months, both doctor, manager and the team.

Imagine what would happen if you stuck to your exercise program consistently for a year! Yes, you might lose weight, build muscle, and improve your agility. But can you imagine how it might also affect other areas of your life?

But, like exercise, practice improvement gets put off too often. We focus on urgent practice issues, but because improvement, while important, is NOT urgent, we can tend to put it off.

UNSEEN BENEFITS: THERE ARE MORE SUCCESSES IN PRACTICE THAN WE ACKNOWLEDGE

We also aren’t inclined to notice nonlinear beneficial outcomes.

Our Instinct is to Look for the Negative. The sympathetic nervous system that governs our fight or flight response has evolved over the millennium as a survival mechanism. We are looking for poisonous snakes on the road and other possible threats.
We Also Have Tunnel Vision. We tend to focus on just our specific goals. This is essential but limits our perspective. We miss peripheral benefits.

So, one of the lessons I have learned from our Practice MBA program is that if we continue to work ON improving our practice and ourselves, if we just keep at it, successes will occur – often in multiple areas. When they do, they should be recognized and appreciated.

Keep improving – your office, your patients, and yourself!

That’s our goal!

Do You Have a Chiropractic Practice or a Chiropractic Business

Posted on April 16, 2024 by Edward Petty

jet breaking through the clouds

Break through the barriers and have both.

You have a practice if you are a doctor or a provider of any service.

Sooner or later, many of you must also create and run a business that supports your practice. This is where practice owners struggle.

It seems simple enough, but there is a wide gulf between a practice and a business that supports a practice.

Difference Between a Chiropractic and Healthcare Practice and a Chiropractic and Healthcare Business.

Let’s look at some key differences:

Goals:

The goal of a practice is to provide professional services and deliver outcomes of that profession.
The goal of a business is profit.

Structure:

A practice is structured around and dependent upon the owner/provider.
A business is structured around and dependent upon systems, including goals, policies, and procedures.

Scalability:

Practices are generally harder to scale because they depend on the limited time and expertise of the providers.
Businesses can be scaled more easily by replicating systems and hiring added staff to meet growing demand.

Succession and Sale:

A practice’s value is closely tied to its owner and reputation, making it challenging to sell or pass on.
A business, if well-structured, can run independently of its founder and can be sold or transferred more readily.

I spent 8 years researching the chasm between the practice and business models. I discuss this in my book, The Goal Driven Business.

You need to have a practice, of course. I define a practice as: “A network of relationships that are developed and sustained through communication and service.”

And so long as you are operating at 60% or less of your full capacity as a provider, your business concerns are manageable. You have the time to adjust and treat your patients, chat with them, and go to Costco for supplies. You are essentially a part-time provider.

To operate at full capacity, you need to create a business structure.

Organizational Barrier to Practice Growth

But doing so is like going from propeller airplanes in the 1940s to jets that go faster than 767 miles per hour, which is the speed of sound. The conventional airplane’s dynamics falter and control is lost as the speed increases. Many pilots lost their lives as their planes crashed in an attempt to break the Sound Barrier.

Similarly, there is a structural barrier, an Organizational Barrier, that causes growing practices to hit and likewise crash or stall.

The ideal is to continue nurturing your practice while gradually building a business infrastructure that allows you to operate at full speed, increase your profit, and still provide excellent service and outcomes. And at some point, pass it on profitably.

Despite the onslaught of advertisers that brag about million-dollar business owners in health care, real money is made by building an enduring practice supported by a solid business structure.

Love your patients and team, and improve your service. Strengthen relationships. Then, if you want to grow, schedule time to work on implementing the structural components for a business vehicle that will take you to your goals.

Want help in doing this? Contact me any time. Link

And read The Goal Driven Business.

Seize your future,

Bravery in Your Chiropractic Office

Posted on March 19, 2024 by Edward Petty

bravery but funny goal driven Bravery is one of the themes of our practice manager training program.

Brave, Not Perfect is the title of an excellent book by Reshma Saujani, and also from her TED talk with the same title. She states that our culture influences girls to be perfect while boys can be wilder, take risks, and make more mistakes. She encourages women to be braver.

I think this can apply to us all.

Practice Manager Success Story

But this newsletter is about a success story. A story of bravery and integrity. It is also to boast about one of our managers who recently graduated from our Goal Driven Practice MBA program for chiropractic and healthcare offices and demonstrated these values.

As the practice manager, she also does the billing in this office. The chiropractic doctor had treated a patient who had suffered a motor vehicle accident. She submitted the bill to a 3rd party, reducing the what was owed slightly as the doctor agreed to discount some of the services.

The 3rd party company came back and said they could only pay 70% of the bill.

This was the manager’s response:

“Good morning,

“Thank you for letting us know.

“We provided 100% of the care that our patient needed; therefore, we require 100% payment of our services we provided. The original discounted offer of $X,XXX is no longer valid.

“We have decided to pursue the full amount plus interest, along with any court/attorney fees if we haven’t received payment in the full amount of $Y,YYY by March 7th.”

“Thank you,

[Signature]

“Manager of Chiropractic Health Clinic”

She received the full amount before March 7th.

Be Brave — with Integrity and Humor

Be nice, be fair, but first, be brave.

This can apply to scheduling patients at the front desk. It applies to reporting on the patient’s condition and treatment plan options. It applies to promotions and advertising. It can apply to training and coaching for you and your team.

It takes courage to become a doctor, to start a business, and even to work as a professional in an independent healthcare clinic. It takes even more to succeed at doing so.

But hey, it can be fun. And it helps to have some humor.

Our manager made a copy of the correspondence with the claims company with a copy of the check. She gave it as a surprise to her clinic director, who sent me a text with the image of what she gave him. On the copy of the email, she included a handwritten quote from the classic comedy movie Princess Bride:

“NEVER GO AGAINST A SICILIAN WHEN DEATH IS ON THE LINE.”

Stay Brave and Goal Driven — and Have Fun.

P.S. Our next management and leadership training program begins this summer. We have been retooling it and upgrading it. Only 7 students will be accepted. If you are interested, please get on the Wait List, and I will contact you soon with more information. Click here for Wait List for our next Practice MBA

—————————————————-

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 book for CEO and Office Managers by Edward W Petty.

The Goal Driven Business, By Edward Petty

Have You Mapped Your Patient’s Health Journey?

Posted on March 12, 2024 by Edward Petty

woman mapping out patient flow for chiropractic office

Improving Your Chiropractic Patient’s Experience

Advertising has peaked. We are awash in ads coming at us from every possible source. We are hit with anywhere from 4000 to 10,000 ads per day.* With AI and ultra-sophisticated forms of targeting, it’s almost totalitarian.

The new marketing is customer service or Service Marketing.

Advertising has its place, of course, if it is to the right market, with the right message, and the right offer. But with all ads, the low-hanging fruit gets picked quickly, and new ones are needed.

There are other avenues of marketing your chiropractic services, but the importance of world-class service and outcomes is more vital than ever.

You’ve seen the stats:

40% of customers began purchasing from a competitive brand because of its reputation for good customer service.
55% are willing to recommend a company due to outstanding service, more so than price.
85% would pay up to 25 percent more to ensure a superior customer service experience.*

Nothing is radically new about these numbers, but it helps to see them again.

And Service Marketing is not really new. But I believe it is and will be the dominant feature that distinguishes you from comparable providers. This is because content marketing has flooded the market. Therefore, call it service marketing or relationship marketing, turning each of your patients into raving fans who become salespeople for you is an intelligent marketing strategy.

But you must deliver the WOW!

CUSTOMER AND PATIENT JOURNEY MAPPING

Customer Journey Mapping is a relatively new term that has been hatched over the last 10 or 15 years in marketing. While the term is new, the concept is not.

Customer Journey Mapping is a procedure used to visualize and analyze customers’ end-to-end experience as they interact with, in this case, your practice.

It is essentially a flow chart.

It starts with a prospective patient’s first call to make an appointment. What do they see when they drive up to your office, walk through the door, and are greeted? It involves mapping out every encounter and even the likely emotion your patient experiences through Day 1, Day 2, Day 12, and so on.

And how far do you take your patient? Is it 8 visits and done? Do you take them through Acute Care, Corrective and Strengthening, to Supportive and Wellness? Do you have a map for your patients and do they know it? What are the milestones along the way? Are your patients excited about reaching them?

IMPROVING YOUR CHIROPRACTIC AND HEALTHCARE SERVICE

One of the exercises I covered in my book The Goal Driven Business, which has always been useful, is a complete Day 1 and Day 2 walk-through. It is rehearsing your flow chart or patient map.

Everyone watches while someone acts as a patient. I have often done this and acted as a patient. I will notice things that everyone has taken for granted — the old poster from 1989 still on the wall with the Muppets, a dead plant in the corner, a dead smile on the front desk, no explanation when I am dumped off on a therapy unit. Staff start noticing things as well. Redundancies show up, so do poor handoffs between the front desk and the doctor or from the doctor to patient accounts.

Zeroing in on how the phone is answered, an exam is done, or a report of findings is presented, you can find many small improvements that make a big difference on how your patients experience your office.

(Want me to set this up for you? Schedule a time and give me a call.)

Creating your patient’s experience is your most important marketing activity. Mapping it and practicing will help you create raving fans — that will generate even more fans.

Keep improving,

*The average American encounters around 6,000 to 10,000 ads or brand exposures per day. Source: “MIT Technology Review” article by Michael Schrage (Aug 7, 2017)

*Customer service stats. X: The Experience When Business Meets Design, by Brian Solis

—————————————————-

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 book for CEO and Office Managers by Edward W Petty.

The Goal Driven Business, By Edward Petty

The Flywheel Theory of Practice Marketing For Chiropractic Practice Marketing and Health Businesses

Posted on February 27, 2024 by Edward Petty

kids on merry-go-round

More marketing for less effort in your chiropractic practice

There is good marketing, better marketing, and best marketing.

There is only one kind of bad practice marketing.

That is … NO marketing.

Unfortunately, “no marketing” is too common. The typical scenario in many chiropractic and health offices is this: “Numbers are down. Let’s do some marketing.” After a great effort and expense is made, the numbers go up. Then what happens?

Everyone becomes so busy that there is no time for marketing, and marketing gets tossed aside like an old pair of worn socks.

This contributes to the Practice Roller Coaster. First, there is some marketing. Then there isn’t. Then there is, then there isn’t. Up and down.

Good marketing requires regular attention and action. Like making a cake or cooking a steak, you must pay attention and make adjustments. You can’t turn on the oven, then turn it off to watch your cable program, then turn on the oven again.

THE MERRY-GO-ROUND FLYWHEEL

Remember those merry-go-rounds on playgrounds? Everyone would get on, and one person would push. With the same amount of force applied consistently, the wheel’s speed would increase. Just using an even push, the wheel moved faster and faster until kids started screaming and falling off. Great fun!

What would have happened if the person pushed the wheel a few times and then let it stop? Then pushed it and got it going again. And then let it stop.

All the momentum that accumulated would disappear. Then, getting it going again would require more force. What a waste of energy! And how exhausting to start it up again!

Of course, once it is moving, it doesn’t take much to keep it going or even get it to move faster just by steadily applying force.

Effective chiropractic and practice marketing is just the same. The merry-go-round is like a flywheel. A flywheel is a “mechanical device designed to store angular kinetic energy in a rotating mass.” (Wikipedia) It is used in various engines and has several uses, but primarily, it keeps the momentum, or the energy, going.

Jim Collins refers to the Flywheel effect in his book, Good to Great. “Each turn of the flywheel builds upon work done earlier, compounding your investment of effort.”

HOW TO KEEP YOUR MARKETING FLYWHEEL GOING IN YOUR PRACTICE

Make a list. With your team, make a list of key marketing activities that you have done that have worked. Keep it simple.
Marketing assistant. Then, assign someone to keep track of these activities. They assume the role of marketing assistant. 1-2 hours per week. They essentially are project managers who ensure all marketing actions occur.
Keep to a schedule. The time allotted to do the marketing must be maintained and not get hijacked by “urgencies.” The temptation will be there. Whatever time is scheduled, don’t allow this position to collapse into other departments.
Monthly review and push. Every month, you can assess what actions seem to be working. Don’t be too eager to discontinue a procedure — some marketing takes time. Gradually, you can add more activities that are working. Keep pushing the flywheel!

We plan on offering a course on the Marketing Manager System for your marketing assistant later this year to help you achieve your practice goals.

GOOD TO GREAT – IN CHIROPRACTIC AND OTHER HEALTH PRACTICES

From Jim Collins: “Good to great comes about by a cumulative process—step by step, action by action, decision by decision, turn by turn of the flywheel—that adds up to sustained and spectacular results.”

Keeping the momentum going,

—————————————————-

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 book for CEO and Office Managers by Edward W Petty.

The Goal Driven Business, By Edward Petty

How to Add Extra Services to Your Chiropractic Healthcare Practice

Posted on February 6, 2024 by Edward Petty

two men discussing chiropractic therapy equipment

Avoiding Hidden Expenses in Scaling Your Practice

Do you want to improve your income and the quality and quantity of your services?

One strategy is to add a therapy machine — or another one — to your practice. You could also bring on another provider. This could add more services per visit and more visits per week, improving your income and the outcomes you get with patients.

Makes sense, right?

In theory, yes. In real life, not so much.

Properly implemented, more services from machines or providers can improve the quality and quantity of outcomes and improve the bottom line. However, the implementation must be done correctly. And often, it is not.

I have seen chiropractic clinics with the largest room in the office filled with therapy equipment that was rarely used. I have had heated discussions with doctors who would buy more equipment when they were not using what they had just purchased. And if the equipment is used, often there is insufficient staff or resources elsewhere: no one running the front desk department, marketing is sporadic, and patient treatment and financial plans are rarely or poorly done.

This gets even worse when hiring associate doctors. You have heard the stories, so I won’t elaborate. Group practices can work well, and we recommend them. In fact, I don’t know of one chiropractic management company with more combined experience working with associates than we have. Multiple-doctor clinics are one of our specialties. But they have to be done correctly, and they rarely are.

Let’s look at three principles to help you implement additional services correctly.

1. FOCUS AND IMPROVE YOUR CORE SERVICES

More therapy and more providers will not take the place of quality and well-organized services.

By expanding your services, you can dilute your unique selling proposition!

Starbucks did this back in 2006. They kept introducing new products, which devalued their primary brand. The baristas had difficulty keeping up with all the new products. They had to become fast-moving technicians rather than friendly conversationalists with the customers. Their statistics decreased until they simplified their services and focused on their core values and services. *

Before you add machines and providers, focus on your core services and improve those, which will also enhance your bottom line.

2. SIMPLICITY

More services can add more complexity. Richard Koch is one of the researchers I quoted in my book, Goal Driven Business. He says: “Because business is wasteful, and because complexity and waste feed on each other, a simple business will always be better than a complex business.”

A therapy unit, for example, even if it is “unattended,” requires supervision by the staff and you. And who will do it if it requires someone to apply the therapy? You can see the extra expense once you work out the details and the math.

Complexity can hide overhead. So, when adding more services, beware of adding complexity and keep the services as simple as possible.

3. LARGE BUT SIMPLE CHIROPRACTIC HEALTHCARE BUSINESS

A larger business provides more services and can generate more income. While Richard Koch recommends simplicity, he also supports growth:

“Because scale is normally valuable, for any given level of complexity, it is better to have a larger business. The large and simple business is the best.”*

Add more services to your practice, but keep these three points in mind:

Improve what you have. First, focus on and improve your skills and those of your team. Invest in your team and yourself. This will enhance your bottom line and your services. Your goals are expertise and mastery.
Keep it simple. Always work towards simplifying your procedures and your patient’s experience.
Scale. Add services and scale your business. But first, plan it out ahead of time, examine the extra time, effort, and costs involved, and manage it well. (You can have us help!)

Keep expanding — but keep improving first. And keep it simple.

References

*https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/starbucks-lessons-for-premium-brands

* The 80/20 Principle (Richard Koch)

—————————————————-

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

Optimizing Chiropractic Front Desk Procedures for Patient Retention

Posted on January 30, 2024 by Edward Petty

patient reception in chiropractic office

What kind of check-in and check-out procedures do you have?

How you do these procedures can make an enormous difference in your patient retention, referrals and office visits.

Your health care front desk needs to schedule patients and collect their payments, but when should they do this – when the patient checks in — or leaves?

If your chiropractic practice is insurance-centric, the front desk can become an extension of the insurance department. When this is the case, collections and scheduling are often done first.

I have seen this occur in many offices.

I recently visited a practice office where patient retention had been declining. I noticed that the patients came in, stopped off at the front desk, made payments, and were confirmed for the next appointment. Then, they waited to see the doctor. After their adjustment and treatment, they often zoomed out of the office, headed to their next destination with an occasional “bye” from the front desk.

I thought there were several weaknesses to this approach, but I wanted to see what other successful practices were doing. We asked other practice managers how they handled their check-ins and check-outs.

Chiropractic Manager Surveys

One manager from an established 2-doctor chiropractic office said:

“We have a check-in/check-out system but scheduling and payments are done together at check-out. This works better for our office flow. The patient walks in, heads right on back and grabs a table for their appt, unless they have an exam or something similar that we need to take them into a different room. Then when they check out, they schedule their next appt, or several future appts at once, and we collect payment if they owe anything.”

Another manager of an office with multiple doctors said they preferred to collect patients’ payments and update their scheduling when the patient checked out.

You give them the feel that their care is more important than the money.
The last thing they hear when they leave the office is ” we’ll see you on such and such a day at such and such a time”! “And by the way bring your kids in.”
What happens if their services are more or less than what you collected for??? Now you have to alter their charges.
If you have pre-scheduled them and they need additional or less services you are now going to have to change the scheduling.
#3-4 causes confusion and messy records.”

I think this only makes sense. Let’s zoom in:

The check-in. The front desk needs to be welcoming to your patients who endured challenges just to make it into your office that day. This is a win for everyone, and the initial greeting acknowledges the patient’s effort to make it in. Then, any and every barrier should be removed to get the patient back to see their doctor and provider on time.

The check-out. Here are a few vital transactions that can take place:

Validating the benefit of their recent adjustment and treatment. “So glad you made it in today for your care. Every visit helps and builds on the last one.”
Confirm their schedule, or schedule them for the next month, or longer.
Go over any payments that might be needed.
Quality control. Should the patient mention any doubts or concerns, the front desk can either direct the patient to the doctor for a fast consultation, or to Patient Accounts, if there is a finance concern, or note it to be addressed on their next visit.
Marketing. Encourage the patient to schedule an appointment for a family member or friend to come in for a no-charge consult or an upcoming event, such as a new patient lecture or special promotion.

Every office is different and you should always customize procedures to best suit your situation.

But, the following applies in all cases:

Your patients are your guests. You invited them.
Treat them as you would a friend visiting your home — with a warm welcome and then, when they leave, a thank you for coming and a sincere wish to see them again soon.

Keeping the goals in mind,

—————————————————-

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.

The Goal Driven Business, By Edward Petty

Build a Better Chiropractic and Healthcare Practice by Serving Kids

Posted on January 23, 2024 by Edward Petty

How and Why to Develop Your Chiropractic and Healthcare Pediatric Practice

Anyone who does anything to help a child in his life is a hero! – Fred Rogers

Last week I talked about the importance of caring for our children’s health.

Not only is it needed like never before, but the evidence is clear: chiropractic helps kids. For example, one study in 2019 of 2001 mothers showed that 82% reported definite improvement of their infants, and 95% reported feeling that the care was
cost-effective. *

The evidence is out there, and even more, so is the personal testimony of so many grateful parents.

But in addition, promoting better health for children in a chiropractic or independent healthcare practice can create positive effects on generating new patients and retaining existing ones.

Regardless of the demographics or niche of your practice, including care for kids can enhance your practice and attract new patients.

Here are some suggestions on how and why to do so:

1. Family-centered care. Emphasizing pediatric care creates a family-friendly image for your practice. Parents are more likely to choose a healthcare provider who can address the health needs of their entire family, including children.

2. Community engagement. Engaging with the local community through educational workshops, seminars, or events focused on children’s health can position your practice as a community leader. This involvement helps raise awareness about your services and can attract families seeking comprehensive healthcare.

3. Word of mouth referrals. Happy and satisfied parents are likely to recommend your practice to other families. Positive word-of-mouth referrals from parents who appreciate your focus on children’s health can improve new patient acquisition.

4. Specialized services for children. Offering specialized services or programs tailored for children’s health needs can set your practice apart. This could include services for issues such as:

o Posture

o Sports injuries

o Musculoskeletal development

o And other concerns, such as earaches, bedwetting and issues from toddler tumbles!

5. Educational Content. Share educational content on your website, social media, or through newsletters that focus on children’s health and wellness. Most people just don’t know how effective chiropractic can be for children. By providing valuable information, testimonials, and case studies, you position your practice as an authoritative source and can attract parents seeking reliable healthcare information for their children.

6. Collaborate with schools, daycares, and mother’s groups. Partnering with local schools, daycares, or community organizations to provide health screenings, workshops, or informational sessions for parents can create valuable connections and increase visibility in the community.

You might consider tying a kid’s promotion with a monthly observe or holiday. Each promotion could include a posture check or a free screening. For example:

February 7th is National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Provide a special screening for girls in sports, or a workshop from a local athletic coach and yourself.
March 17 is St Patrick’s Day. This is a great time to have a Leprechaun Appreciation Day. Bring the kids in for a screening and provide contests.
April is Foot Health Month. For those of you that provide orthotics, you can have a foot scan.
May. May is National Correct Posture Month. Offer posture screenings for the entire family.

There are many possibilities, and these are just a few. Work with your team and have your marketing assistant put together a plan for this spring.

And if you don’t have a marketing assistant or manager, you should! Please contact me and I can give you some ideas on how to develop this essential position.

Carpe Deum,

References:

*Maternal Report of Outcomes of Chiropractic Care for Infants: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0161475418301453

Pediatric and Prenatal Chiropractic Research
https://icpa4kids.com/research/

https://nationaltoday.com/national-girls-and-women-sports-day/

Let’s Hear It For Chiropractic and Kid’s!

Posted on January 15, 2024 by Edward Petty

Petty Michel and Goal Driven Donation to Wisconsin Chiropractic for Kids How to support the health of our children

“History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children.” Nelson Mandela*

Here in Wisconsin, the Chiropractic Society of Wisconsin, the primary chiropractic association, is sponsoring a Kid’s Day next week, which we are supporting.

Also, I am supporting it with donations from the sales of my book. Please consider contributing directly to the C.S.W. or buying my book (or 20 of them!).

If you look into it, how we treat our kids in the 2020s is probably worse than in decades past. The Styrofoam-like food, the toxins such as Glyphosate and Phthalates in our breakfast cereal, the nano plastics now in our blood, the sugar and seed oil, the escalation of Pharma drugs and shots, the social media, the list goes on and on.

Just look at the stats for health care in America, those that you can find. They are abysmal and getting worse. (I have links to some listed below.)

There are plenty of sources to learn about how we treat our kids, but as you can imagine, they are hard to find on regular internet searches. It’s a little like trying to find the truth about cigarettes or asbestos in the 1950s — you almost have to search out whistleblowers to find out what is truly going on. An e-book that was published in 2018 called The Sickest Generation, by Children’s Health Defense, is a good place to start. (Link below)

People in your community aren’t going to hear too much about this from the media or most corporate-paid doctors – though more independent physicians seem to be speaking out. This is why your work is so vital.

As a side note, promoting health care for kids can build your practice. Helping children get healthier is a great marketing and practice-building strategy.

But first and foremost, the primary reason to see kids is to help them stay healthy.

Chiropractic care can help young children with the bumps and tumbles they take as they grow. Young athletes especially benefit from adjustments. Other independent and naturally oriented health providers, such as those practicing acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine, and functional and integrative medical providers can also be of great help.

But beyond chiropractic adjustments, education and support for a healthy chiropractic lifestyle is fundamental. Educate the parents and help the kids.

Consider contributing to the C.S.W. Kids Day program.

Also, consider encouraging your state association to develop a kids’ program, and if they already have one, please contribute to that.

Ed Petty

Link to Chiropractic Society of Wisconsin: https://www.chiropracticsocietywi.org/chirokids-day

Link to The Sickest Generation published by Children’s Health Defense, https://childrenshealthdefense.org/ebook-sign-up/ebook-sign-up-the-sickest-generation/

From The Sickest Generation

American children have never been sicker. Over half (54%) are suffering from one or more chronic illnesses.

The “4-A” disorders—autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, asthma and allergies—have experienced meteoric growth, affecting children’s quality of life and contributing to premature mortality.

U.S. children are far more likely to die before their first birthday than infants in other wealthy countries and life expectancy is falling, driven largely by rising death rates in adolescents and younger adults. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in teens, half of whom are reported to have at least one mental, emotional or behavioral disorder.

The proportion of public school children using special education services is skyrocketing, with estimates ranging from 13% to 25% of school populations.

Mystifyingly, there is almost no outcry in medical, public health or government circles to find answers and solutions.

A Million-Dollar Chiropractic Healthcare Practice — and More in 24

Posted on January 9, 2024 by Edward Petty

When in doubt, paddle out!

We have been refining our Goal Driven System of practice development.

After our management training program completed with outstanding practice managers, it is clear to me that most offices can achieve 6 figures in income.

But why aim for a million dollar (or more) chiropractic practice? Good question!

Because you can. Because it is a challenge that you are worthy of.

Because, in the pursuit of this goal, you and your team will demonstrate your competence. And competence is an internal goal and a need we all want to demonstrate.

Behavioral Science in Practice Management

I cover the concept of Self-Determination Theory in my book, the Goal Driven Business. Much research has been done on what drives us and motivates us to achieve our goals. According to work done by Edward Deci and others, there are three motives we all have:

Autonomy (Independence and self-governing.)
Competence (Skill and effectiveness at getting something done.)
Relatedness (Being part of something bigger.)

These internal needs motivate us more than our motivations to receive external rewards or avoid punishments. Despite conventional “management” practices, external “incentives” only work in the short term. In fact, the promise of extra money and bonuses, like threats, can be detrimental to performance.

There is a right way to provide bonuses — we cover this on our Goal Driven Programs.

Competence in your Chiropractic Team

I want to focus on competence, though autonomy and relatedness are as powerful.

Here is a quote from one of Deci’s books:

“Decades ago, the personality psychologist Robert White wrote a compelling paper about “The Concept of Competence” in which he argued that people yearn so strongly to feel competent or effective in dealing with their environment that competence could be thought of as a fundamental human need.

“People, impelled by the need to feel competent, might engage in various activities simply to expand their own sense of accomplishment. “* (My emphasis.)

What does this mean?

We all want to demonstrate what we can do and even test the limits to see if we can do more. Look at children and the explorations and exploits they attempt. Think of your own crazy youth and all the dumb dares you accepted!

But we become domesticated as we enter adulthood. We censor our drives, curb our enthusiasms, and our purposes ebb.

But the intrinsic drive is still there – an ember that can be stoked.

Getting Stoked

Like the surfers say, the feeling of being stoked is exhilaration and joy. The feeling is worth the effort and losses.

Demonstrating your competence results in the Stoke. But you can’t demonstrate your competence or feel the Stoke if you don’t set big goals and then go for them. You enter a challenge, a contest that pits you and your team against the obstacles to your goals.

Paddling out to catch a wave, a surfer exerts tremendous effort. As they struggle to get out, they need to go through wave after wave crashing in on them until they are finally out far enough to wait to catch the right wave. Waiting, and then finally finding one that no one else is trying for, paddling hard to catch it, and often failing. And sometimes getting caught “inside,” with waves crashing down on them, pushing them into the depths or scraping on the coral reef.

But making that one ride as you smoothly glide over the ocean is a feeling that can last a lifetime.

Any adventurous activity is not for the money. It is to satisfy an internal need—the Stoke.

Improving Competence in Your Chiropractic Practice

Achieving big goals requires big motivation, and improving competence is one way to do so. Here are 6 approaches to improve your competence and that of your team to help you hit your super big goals this year:

Be a coach. Schedule in-office training, seminars, webinars, courses, advanced training, and books for yourself and your team
Feedback and support. Regular Coaching Reviews.
Recognize the wins. Acknowledge and celebrate employees’ achievements and contributions. Including your own!
Challenging goals. Set up tasks and projects that challenge you and your team. Let your team take ownership. Keep it fun.
Go for a million (or 5 million) dollar practice.
Get a coach. Suit up, commit, and be a player.

Remember, you are more than a doctor, provider, and support professional. You are also an entrepreneur and part of an entrepreneurial group.

You are an adventurer!

So set big goals and get out there. Go for the Stoke!

References:

Why We Do What We Do, Edward L Deci, Gagné, M., & Deci, E. L. (2005). Self-determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational behavior, 26(4), 331-362.

2024 – A Good Year to Be Braver in Healthcare, Chiropractic, Business, and Life

Posted on January 2, 2024 by Edward Petty

2024 – A Good Year to Be Braver in Healthcare, Chiropractic, Business, and Life

GoalDriven.com in 2024 for chiropractic healthcare Good Morning Lake Michigan! Jan 2, 2024

How to Be Braver

This is going to be a good year to be brave.

There are a couple of reasons:

First, there is — and will be — a lot happening in the world and the US. Whew! We got the wars, the elections, the economy, and the behind-the-scenes agitation sowing distrust and division. I don’t need to enumerate. But bravery will help us all.

Second though, it’s a great time to go for it and reach your goals. And why not?

Isn’t that what bravery is? Sticking to your goals, regardless.

Isn’t bravery about caring – caring about where you want to go — and why?

It’s the straight arrow commitment to our destinations — what we want for ourselves and those we care about.

There are many distractions thrown in our way and overcoming them is courageous. But really, it is just sticking to it.

We have our own odd fears, ideas, and biases that can preoccupy us and dampen our cheerful vigor. And there are the odd fears, ideas, and biases of people close to us that can slow us down. And these are kept in constant agitation by the reporting of the factual tragedies and horrors that go on daily. Good news doesn’t sell newspapers. Scandals, sensationalism, and fear-inducing headlines sell.

Our attention, and your patient’s, is manipulated. Look at this, but don’t look over here. Watch out for that person, politician, or virus, be careful, and shelter in place.

But we are not made for shelters. We are explorers and entrepreneurs. We are innovators and dreamers.

As an entrepreneur or working in an independent business, you get hit more than people who work as employees of corporate-controlled businesses. You ‘ll need to be braver than others.

But of course, you are.

Over the last couple of weeks, I had the chance to read through parts of two books. One, by Walter Issacson, on Elon Musk. Great author, he also wrote a biography on Steve Jobs, which I loved. Musk’s grandfather was a chiropractor in Canada, by the way, and his entire family were adventurers. Another book I gave to my granddaughters, and we reviewed in our MBA program, by Reshna Sanjani, called Brave, Not Perfect.

These books and the people in them reminded me that bravery, while not easy, is simply sticking to our goals.

I was also reminded that it’s very difficult to make it on your own.

It matters who you associate with. Loners do not achieve goals. We make our progress with the help of other people.

Don’t let the environment comprise your connection to truth, compassion, and your goals.

Be braver. Help others reach their goals, and don’t be too shy or proud to reach out for assistance.

We’re here – and want to help you achieve your goals. (Contact us about our new programs fore this year!)

It’s 2024. Let’s go!!

Ed Petty, Edward Petty, GoalDriven.com, chiropractic

Ed Petty — Let’s Go!

Goals for the Present

Posted on December 19, 2023 by Edward Petty

Goals for the Present

Goals are about the future.

But sometimes, they are about the present – and respecting the past.

December is one of those times. There’s a distinct vibration that moves in this time of year, subtle waves of friendliness that sparkle like Christmas tree lights. Almost an instinct — whether connected to a Sunday service before the 25th, a Jolly Old Saint Nick, the candles of Hanukkah, or the winter solstice, we feel a sense of fellowship during this time of year.

With the traditions of other cultures over the millennia, people have gathered with a Spirit of compassion and celebration. People even take time to pause in war.

One example was the Christmas Truce of 1914 during World War I, when soldiers from opposing trenches laid down their weapons and initiated an unofficial ceasefire. The truce began on Christmas Eve and continued into Christmas Day, with soldiers exchanging seasonal greetings, singing carols, and even venturing into no man’s land to fraternize with the enemy. Troops from both sides shared food, tobacco, and souvenirs and engaged in impromptu soccer games.

I think this speaks to our fundamental nature, that we are supportive and kind when unprovoked by the agitations of those who might profit from our conflicts.

As a practice and business goal for your chiropractic and healthcare office, I suggest that this week and next, focus on the present and appreciate the many accomplishments of the past year. Consider your blessings – your patients, profession, teammates, and family.

The Future Can Wait

For now, take time for some gratitude and have a cup of kindness and good cheer.

And play some Christmas jazz. Man!

Below is a link to some mellow Christmas Jazz – 4-hour playlist. Christmas Jazz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dbgx5ChU3ZM

Carpe Diem,

Are You Looking at All Your Statistics?

Posted on December 16, 2023 by Linda

As one year ends and another gets ready to launch, I look back at our clients’ numbers and see that, for the most part, everyone’s numbers went up.

And these are not new offices. Their increases were not because of a snazzy ad campaign or a motivational seminar. Their numbers increased because of their hard work, courage, sacrifices, and love. I am sure the same is true with you and your practice as well: because of the wonderful improvements your patients experience, as a byproduct, your numbers for this year also went up.

But maybe not. Maybe not this year.

Maybe your practice numbers did not go up?

Well, you may not be accounting for all of your positive outcomes. For example:

** Our goal with one office was not to increase their numbers, but just to keep them from going down the drain. The successful outcome was no bankruptcy! Positive numbers did not go up, but negative cash flow numbers did not occur.

** One business owner I worked with, whose numbers had gone up for a few years, but had recently dipped, was able to take a vacation for the first time ever. In fact, because of additional providers, was able to leave for a few weeks. Practice numbers did not go up, but vacation and personal statistics did!

** One practice owner saw her numbers go down. She had her third child and would have gone down further had it not been for the work we did on bringing on another provider who she deftly managed. Family numbers went up!

We do manage by the numbers as these are objective and because so much conventional management is done through emotion, bias, new but dumb ideas, or other weird standards.

But not all accomplishments show up on the standard practice scoreboard. You would need a different set of statistics and a different scoreboard for family, personal, and organizational outcomes.

• Maybe you spent time training in a new clinical technique.
• Maybe your staff spent extra time training and becoming more proficient.
• Maybe you were able to see more of your child’s activities.
• Perhaps you and your spouse finally went on that vacation.

Business building can be understood by the Law of the Farm (Also Law of the Harvest). As Steven Covey says:

“The only thing that endures over time is the ‘Law of the Farm.’ You must prepare the ground, plant the seed, cultivate, and water if you expect to reap the harvest.”

I like this analogy because it shows that so much is involved in producing what finally ends up in your grocery store.

Yes, you reap what you sow. But the sowing itself is an accomplishment that needs to be recognized and acknowledged. If you keep building and nurturing all aspects of your business, including your skills, your people, and your procedures, both in and out of the office, and stay aligned with your mission, your production numbers will improve.

You might take some time this month to look at all the gains you have made that might not show up on the bottom line.

Celebrate ALL your positive improvements in 2023, and prepare for a prosperous 2024.

Stay Goal Driven,