Tag Archives: ed petty

Our Shallow World – and What Your Chiropractic (Acupuncture, Dental, Medical) Patients Really Want

Posted on by
Reply

We live in a shallow and superficial culture. It is fast talking, faster messaging, with abbreviated emotions and texts.

No one seems to really care, or takes the time to care.

Communication has become digitized and synthesized. We forward messages from some people we know, and from many we don’t, to people we know, and to many we don’t. We are addicted to our smart phones and “phub” each other. (Phub: The practice of ignoring one’s companion or companions in order to pay attention to one’s phone or other mobile device. Google.)

We buy things from “clouds” that seem to know what we want, as if they had been eavesdropping on all our personal affairs.

The Age of Artificial Intelligence that cares more for us than people who “friend” us is growing faster and faster.

Yet, somehow, shallow works. It is practical. It is fast and efficient. When I ask you “how are you?” I really don’t have the time to hear about how your kids did at their Christmas play, or how you like your new socks. I have my own deadlines and have to go.

We are caught up in minimal viable encounters. They are functional, but they provide the only the minimum amount of care. Any less, and there wouldn’t be any service at all. They are “duct tape” solutions.

This is our life now. The fast, the short, the immediate.

For all its practical aspects, this is the first goal in any business exchange. We must provide the outcomes and services that are initially wanted by our patients. This is a “drive through” consumer culture that moves quickly for things that are wanted. In return, business is trained to provide the minimum quickly, efficiently, and yet is still valuable.

But just because our society is shallow, does not mean that your patient is.

This may be the culture in which they have adapted, but privately, your new patient might not have been satisfied with the services they have been receiving from others. And as the expert and professional, you know that it is likely that they have been short-changed on their care.

No doubt, your patient wants relief – now. But if you want to know the truth, they probably want more than just a quick-fix.

Your patient is looking for someone who genuinely cares. They are hoping to find someone who listens, empathizes, and someone they can trust to help them get what they really want.

What do they really want?

Ask them:

What is most important to you about your health?

Then, find out why.

This is a broad and open ended question. It takes the both of you through the quick-fix drive-through to get to, finally, what they really want.

If I have a painful tooth, I would see a dentist to at least treat it enough so that it wasn’t causing me discomfort. But if the dentist asked me what I really considered important about my dental health, I might say that I would like cavity free teeth that never caused me pain. I would like all my teeth and gums to be healthy and look good until I am at least 105.

The dentist would then repeat back to me what I said that was most important about my dental health so that we could agree that this was my goal — something I wanted. With this disclosed and agreed upon, we could now dig into my history and perform the exam to see what was going on that was causing the symptoms.

Once all this was done, he would explain to me not only what was causing my pain, but what I needed to do, in the long term to get my mouth 100%, which we already agreed upon I wanted.

I definitely don’t want or need a hard sell for something I am not sure I need.

But if you find out what I really want and let me know that you can deliver, you won’t have to sell me. I am already motivated.

Confrontational Anxiety

Confrontational anxiety is that stress you, and your patient, can feel when discussing the length and expense of your recommended treatment plan. But it melts away and evaporates if you work towards what the patient really wants.

There are many different approaches designed to help get the patient to agree to a more complete treatment plan, including scripted words or phrases for the doctor and staff to say. Ultimately, the patient must trust you. They will have to understand what is causing the symptoms, what it will take to get better, and the benefits to be had. In the end, you will want to work out your own procedure. (Give us a call, we can help!)

Realize that your new and prospective patient is just barely trusting you, as it is. They would like to trust you more. They hope for more than just a “pop and pray” (“…and hope that they pay”) treatment and adjustment from you. What they usually offer you, or present to you as a new patient, is a symptom that may have deeper causes. Their condition is probably not new. They likely have had it, or some aspect of it, for some time. Only when it becomes more acute do they come to see you.

The analogy of the iceberg is useful.

Your patient wants relief, but also wants everything in life that the pain hampered or prevented. This might include less recurring episodes of pain, the ability to resume their hobbies and sports, improved performance in life activities, stronger immune function, better balance, increased knowledge to improve their health, more happiness, better weight management, and more energy. You can and should make a list of at least 10 benefits that come from a patient completing their treatment plan.

I buy a new car not to just have a better ride, but to feel that I have a better life. I pay for a cleaning service because I want a cleaner house, but deep down, I really do so because I want a happier wife.

Patients are too often short-changed because of a culture that is fast and shallow. You don’t have to be – and you can give your patients complete and thorough care. This is what they want – once they understand their condition and what you can provide. And, once they trust you.

Be interested in your patient and go deep to find out about their health, their history, and what they really want. Then, educate them on how the both of you, working together, can best help them get what they really want — and what you want and can deliver.

Ed Petty© Edward W. Petty, From the upcoming book: “Three Goals: A New Practice and Business Building Methodology That Is Simpler, Faster, And More Effective and Fun than What You Are Doing Now.” By Edward Petty, due to be published sometime before the singularity. © 2017

 

Comments?:

[contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

Chiropractic Spring Marketing

Posted on by
Reply
chiropractic marketing with petty michel
(Free sample marketing planner below.)

Practice marketing may not be entirely what you think it is.

 

If you are having challenges with your “marketing,” or you just want to generate more new patients, you need to consider something.

There are many good and great marketing activities you can do. (You can go to our website under “Free Resources” and find buckets of marketing. And, for those of you who are active members, there are mountains of even more marketing programs for you on our Member’s site.)

There are many paid programs you can purchase that explain different methods of generating more new patients. You have seen them, perhaps purchased them: DVD’s on dinner talks, workshops on how to present to businesses, Facebook and print advertising programs, and automated newsletters and Facebook posts.

These all can be useful in generating new patients, but the results often fall short from what the few successful doctors who promote the programs claim. This is usually because there were two major components missing in the marketing.

When doctors return from marketing programs, I like to ask them what they thought of the material.

“Yes, I liked it. It was good info. Learned a lot.”

“Great.” I say. “So, who is going do it?”

“Well, Susan can do it.”

“Oh really, when? She has a backlog in insurance and is working overtime trying to work with your sketchy notes as it is.”

“Hmm, well, we’ll hire someone.”

“Great. Who is going to train them? You?”

Not trying to be a jerk, but part of any good consultant’s job is to provoke analysis!

Besides the marketing event or procedure, there are two other critical elements to practice marketing that have to be included for the promotion to work. These are not always taken into account.

This was the basis of the Marketing Manager System I wrote and published some 17 years ago.

Most companies, as Simon Sinek talks about in his TED talk*, boast about what they do, or how they do it. It is all about them. Look at us!

But the better companies talk about WHY they do what they do, and they do it for YOU. They do it for your kids, grand kids, community, and the betterment of the world.

This is practice marketing. It is personal. You tell people why the heck you do what you do — and you say all this with genuine care and confidence – in your own VOICE. You do this in your newsletter, in your talks and in your ads. The best marketers do this – often naturally.

  1. So, the first missing component that must be included with your marketing is motivation. Marketing must have a mission and it has to be embraced by everyone on your team.
  2. The second missing component is organization. The events and procedures must be assigned to different people with enough time for implementation.

Complete practice marketing then, has three major components:

  1. Motivation. Why. Make sure you and your team WANT more new patients. Get that accomplished first. That may take a while. An office staff and doctor who are backlogged with their paper work, already working full time and more, who also may have a few inter-office unexpressed grievances, confusions, or doubts about your service or you… no matter how many programs you sign up for, nothing will work.
  2. Organize. Then, work out who will be doing what. Spread the marketing around to everyone and put someone in charge just to coordinate.
  3. Marketing Procedures and Events. With the above 2 components in place, you are now more likely to “rock” your marketing efforts more successfully.

Increase the WHY, increase the CAPACITY, then yes, please — lots of marketing activities.

Let the party begin!!

Ed Petty

Spring Marketing Planner- (DOC) Sample Marketing Planner for Spring

*TED Talk link: www.pmaworks.com/observations/2011/02/10/leadership-in-chiropractic-the-golden-circle/

Medicare in Your Chiropractic Office: Is Your Documentation In Order?

Posted on by
Reply
Lisa J. Barnett

Lisa J. Barnett

Have you ever thought you could be both a great documenter and repeatedly educate your patients on their innate intelligence . . . if you only had the time? Keep reading on how to both bulletproof your documentation for a potential audit and maintain the energy of our profession’s principles.

Let’s help build your ammunition.

First . . . did you know that the US Health and Human Services advised Medicare to target chiropractors to curb questionable and inappropriate payments, projected at $280,000,000? Seriously! And clinics are, as I write this, being audited. How do I know? Because we’re receiving phone calls and emails asking, “What do I do? I received a letter from Medicare.” As a result, I’m traveling around to help chiropractic offices prepare.

To insure yourself and what you’ve worked hard for, make sure your documentation (that is, every single note in the patient’s file/your EHR software) is citing the following information:

  • History Obtained at Initial Visit:
    • Symptom(s) causing patient to seek care
    • Family history if relevant
    • Past health history (general health, prior illness, injuries, hospitalizations, surgeries, current medications)
    • Mechanism of trauma
    • Quality and character of symptoms/problem
    • Onset, duration, intensity, frequency, location, radiation of symptoms
    • Aggravating or relieving factors
    • Prior interventions, treatments, medications, secondary complaints
  • Initial Visit or New Onset
    • History (as stated above)
    • Description of the present illness:
      • Mechanism of trauma (how did it happen?) For example, getting out of bed, twisting, gardening.
      • Quality and character of symptoms/problem
      • Onset, duration, intensity, frequency, location, radiation of symptoms
      • Aggravating or relieving factors,
      • Prior interventions, treatments, medications, secondary complaints
      • Symptoms causing patient to seek care. Symptom(s) must be related to the level of the subluxation documented.
    • Evaluation of spine/nervous system through physical examination.
      • PART: pain and tenderness, asymmetry/misalignment, range of motion abnormality, tissue, tone changes
    • Diagnosis: Primary diagnosis must be a subluxation, including the level or identified descriptive term of location, i.e., condition of the spinal joint involved, direction of position assumed by the named bone.
    • Treatment plan, to include the following:
      • Recommended level of care (duration and frequency of visits), specific goals, objective measures to evaluate treatment effectiveness, date of the initial treatment.
      • Though not a documentation requirement, this is where you will educate the patient face to face, as to their subluxation and what will happen if they don’t get it corrected, as well as educate them on their innate intelligence.
  • Subsequent Visits:
    • Review of chief complaint, changes since last visit, systems review if relevant
    • Physical Exam
      • Exam – area of spine involved in diagnosis
      • Assessment of change in patient condition since last visit
      • Evaluation of treatment effectiveness.
      • Though not a documentation requirement, this is a perfect time to re-educate the patient on chiropractic principles.
      • Documentation of the presence or absence of a subluxation
      • PART: pain and tenderness, asymmetry/misalignment, range of motion abnormality, tissue, tone changes
    • Documentation of treatment given on day of visit (technique(s) used and areas adjusted)
    • Progress or lack thereof, related to goals and treatment plan (is the patient meeting goals?)

Let me be clear: The above documentation requirements are not PM&A’s. They are Medicare’s.

Other Tips:

  • Your subjective findings in initial visits/new onsets should tell a story about what happened, how it happened, and when it happened.
  • The Visual Analog Scale (VAS) is not sufficient documentation as your sole objective tool. Use additional tools to measure objectives findings.
  • See below for a typical VAS:

VAS-Lisa

  • You should self-audit your documentation on a regular basis.

In closing, get out there, do what you do best to attract and help anyone with a spine, and follow the above documentation requirements to armor yourself in the event of an audit by Medicare and other payers. Need help staying relaxed and focused, and getting paid? Give us a call. That’s why we’re here.

Sincerely in Chiropractic,
Lisa

Lisa is now providing a no charge initial consultation regarding your Medicare documentation. You can contact at (920) 334-4561 or by email at Lisa (at) @ pmaworks.com

More information on Lisa[LINK]

Download a printable copy of this newsletter [June newsletter]

Download a customizable copy of the Checklist: [Medicare Documentation ChecklistDOC]

Print Checklist (PDF)[Medicare Documentation Checklist-PDF]

 

Extreme Chiropractic Practice DevelopMENT! California Jam®, 2016

Posted on by
Reply

Go Cal Jam

I am standing on a beach by the partially ice-covered Lake Michigan, sometimes referred to as part of  the “Third Coast.”   It is a good day!

Once a year I send out a promotion for the wildest and most unique chiropractic seminar I have seen in 30 years.

“Out-of-the-box” is a cliché that doesn’t really do Cal Jam justice.  Like extreme sports, Cal Jam pushes the boundaries of what is customary and conventional.

But isn’t that chiropractic?  Isn’t that you?

Chiropractic is unique (and wild) because it has purpose and soul.

Purpose and Soul, plus plenty of… Rock and Roll.

At Cal Jam!

Hope to see you there!

Date: March 18-20, 2016

Link to site: California Jam: www.CaliforniaJam.com

Your Most Important Set of Chiropractic Office Procedures

Posted on by
Reply

An Introduction to the Practice Development Process of Continuous Improvement

A key difference between a successful and profitable chiropractic business and a roller coaster type practice can be traced back to procedures and systems.

Many practice problems occur because procedures are not established, consistently followed, and regularly improved.   This has been the secret to franchising. Starbucks may offer new products and services now and then, but for the most part, they follow their checklists and manuals of successful procedures.  The local New Age coffee shop down on the corner with the unemployed guitar player usually lasts for about a year before the owner’s savings and inspiration dry up, along with the last cup of coffee.

chiropractic practice playbook

Of all the categories of systems in your office, what would you say would be the most important?

☐Patient Accounts (Billing/Collections) Systems
☐Marketing Systems
☐Front Desk Systems
☐Therapy and Clinical Support Systems
☐ Doctor Systems
☐ Business Systems (Payroll, Financial Planning, Taxes,)
☐ Leadership
☐Office, Practice Management Systems

My guess is that you usually keep most billing procedures in place as… obviously, you need to be paid.  And, you will usually keep most front desk procedures in place. These deal with patients and patients are obviously in the office, or not. And you, of course, follow your clinical procedures.

Your marketing procedures come and go, at least they do in most offices. They are just not consistent. This is why I put together the Marketing Manager System in 2000. The biggest error in most offices with their marketing is that it simply isn’t done consistently.

But the most important category of systems is not so obvious. These are the management procedures and systems.  Why are these most important? Because they keep all the other procedures in place and are continually being improved upon.

Why do you think CEO’s are paid so much money? Because they are in charge of the management of a business and are able to increase its bottom line by the millions.  They have procedures that they follow and insist that others do as well. These procedures all add up to systems.

Over the years, Petty Michel and Associates has been very successful at increasing the revenues of practices. One of the reasons is that we implement what we call the Practice Development Process. It is a monthly system of management that gradually works to objectively improve the business, repetitively over and over.  It integrates into your current systems and does not take that much extra time.  But in the end, it saves you a great deal of time, extra work, and lost revenue.

To learn more about the 3Goals Practice Development Process: 3Goals PDP

The 3Goals Practice Development Process for Chiropractic Success

Posted on by
Reply

Four steps to continuously develop and improve your practice

The Practice Development Process is a simple, yet powerful practice building system that can help take you and your business to its full potential of a systematized, team driven and profitable business.

Practice Development Process icon

It transforms your practice. Month by month, it helps move your practice to a more profitable service oriented business that runs at near full capacity – with less ups and downs that demand your time and extra work.

It is based upon the idea of constant improvement.   

The principle of constant improvement in management science has been a major factor in the success of large manufacturing corporations around the world. The success of the Japanese automobile manufacturing rests heavily on a process of constant improvement called Kaizen (kai = change, zen = good).    Motorola developed its own program called “Six Sigma”, a process of continuous improvement.

Kaizen

We have adapted these processes to be applied in practice management and call it the 3Goals Practice Development Process (PDP).

The Practice Development Process has four steps:

  1. Access
  2. Plan
  3. Supervise
  4. Document

Integrate This Process As Part Of Your Team Meetings. The first two steps, Assess and Plan, are usually done before or during the first staff meeting of the month. Supervision goes on during the month to ensure that the plan gets completed. At the end of the month, successful procedures are documented in a practice playbook for future training and assessments.

Your Consultant and Coach. This process is best done with your practice and business coach.  Each month, the two of you should work through step 1 and 2. During the month, your coach may also be able to help with the implementation of the plan.

THE 4 STEPS OF THE PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS:
1.  Assess and Review.  At the end of the month, look over the statistics and note what areas improved and what areas didn’t. Then check what was actually done, or not done in each area. Use your departmental checklists from your Practice Playbook if you have started this.assess and review

Many business owners still manage without looking at objective indicators. They manage by emotions, mistakes, fear, “bright ideas”and  other flighty factors that ultimately hold a clinic back, or often just burn it out.

Effective clinic managers, like an athletic team coaches, base their actions first on actual outcomes and performance monitors. These are your daily, weekly, and monthly practice statistics. PM&A has developed a specialized form of review which is called Practice Analytics System which we display on our client’s personal Practice Dashboard’s.

This assessment also includes reviewing checklists of the key procedures and whether or not key duties were done.

  2 Plan. Work out the key areas you want to work on in the next month. Pick just one or two areas that will make the biggest difference and make a list of a few action steps that will help improve the area in your office you have targeted. Get the actions assigned with a date on when they should be done.

game plan

 

3 Supervise.  Regularly monitor the implementation of the action steps with yourself, your team, and your consultant. Provide help where needed to get them done.

4  Systematize. You do not want to keep inventing the wheel, so at the end of each month, document any procedure that worked well.

List all successful activities for each department and “lock them in” as standard operating procedures. Keep what works, throw out what doesn’t. Start with just a checklist of key procedures. Later, you can write or videotape a description of each procedure. It is from this that you will do your training and “coaching reviews.” Use your playbook often: refer to it and practice.

playbook

 

Gradually, you should have your own system of practice management and patient management and have it outlined simply in your Practice Playbook. For example, the “Smith Chiropractic System of Patient Management.”

 

IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE
Week 1. First Week of the Month: Do Steps 1 & 2 – Assess and Plan
Week 2. Supervise. Coordinate upcoming activities. Study and Train. (Optional: Separate Marketing Meeting)
Week 3. Supervise. Coordinate upcoming activities. Study and Train.
Week 4. Supervise. Coordinate on upcoming activities. Celebrate and party for a great month! Add to Practice Playbook.

 

REPETITION
Do The Practice Development Process Every Month.
The success of this process derives much of its power from a simple principle from Aristotle.

aristotle

“We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

This often referenced quote is from a series of lectures he was to have given at the Greek Lyceum on ethics (300 B.C.).   We could say, then, that continuing to do the Practice Development Assessment, and all of your procedures and systems, is ethical and leads to excellence. The contrary would also be true.

 

GOALS AND CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT
It is important to keep in mind WHY we are doing the PDP each month.

It is assumed we all want to improve, that improvement  is possible, and that we have higher purposes and goals.  Our patients do. That is why they see us and  we help them improve and get closer to their goals at each visit.

By consistently working the 3 Goals  Practice Development Process each month you, the practice, and each team member will also get closer to the higher goals each of you share.

goals sun

Kaizen: Constant Practice Improvement – From Wooden to Deming

Posted on by
Reply

What improvements do you need to make in your practice for 2016?

Managing your practice is similar to managing a sports team in many ways. There are goals, rules, plays (procedures,) skill development, strategies, winning and losing. There is also coaching and training.

The teams that win the most constantly work to improve. But the improvements often focus on just the refinement of the basics.

One chiropractor I worked with told me stories about his experiences with John Wooden. Coach Wooden was a very successful basketball coach who coached the UCLA basketball team to 10 national championships over a 12-year period.

Here is what Coach Wooden has said:

“When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur…. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made. Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. 

Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens – and when it happens, it lasts.”

 

In Japan they have something called Kaizen. This means continuous improvement. Part of this was developed by another Midwesterner (Wooden was from Indiana), Edwards Deming (Iowa).

Kaizen

The Deming Cycle is a process of continuous improvement that helped grow the Japanese car industry in the 60’s to what it is today. For a long time, Detroit auto companies weren’t that interested in what Deming had to say – and, of course, we can see how that turned out for them!

Constant improvement takes discipline. Those of you who had to practice a musical instrument or an athletic skill in school remember the daily routine. Improving the little things can get boring and when a colleague calls with excitement about this new seminar or gadget or website, many doctors are off to the chase the “shiny things.”

Innovation needs to happen, certainly. But the real successful businesses and teams continually work to master what they already do.

Mastering the basics is always the key to success. Deliberate practice, study and good coaching. And this takes discipline and… a certain degree of humility to admit you can personally improve.

But since you are not a full time coach and mostly work IN the practice, you have to schedule specific times to work ON the practice. But what do you work on? ICD 11? (Yes… it IS on the horizon!) More E.H.R?

Well, maybe, but these are not the areas that will significantly improve your business over the long run and take it to the next level.

To help you uncover what should be improved, you can use our updated Practice Progress Grid. You can go over it with your team and plot where you were, where you are now… and then where you want to be next year! (Link is below.)

This can help reveal what organizational and engineering steps you need to build a better business machine for 2016.

In most cases, the improvements don’t have to be major. They just have to be continuously refined. But some areas that are holding you back from your goals can be hidden or overlooked.

If you want to dig deeper, we also have our Practice Development Assessment(PDA). It takes more time to complete but gives you a more complete analysis. (The link is below.)

The world is changing faster and faster. You have to constantly improve to keep up, let alone, to stay ahead. And if you don’t… well, your patients will be going to those offices that are.

From all of us at PM&A, we look forward to your continued improvements and to helping you get closer to your goals in the New Year.

Ed Petty

Link to Practice Progress Grid
Link to Practice Development Assessment (No charge for first 15 users, $25 thereafter.)

How to Create a Wondrous Practice Life

Posted on by
Reply

FORTY ONE YEARS AGO, around this time of year (August 7), a twenty four year old managed to sneak up to the twin tours of the World Trade Center, shoot a cable to the other side, get it rigged up tight, and walk across it to the other side. Actually, he made 8 passes, performed dances and entertained an audience a 1/4 of a mile below. He finally came in when it started to rain.

He was arrested, but the the charges were later dismissed if he performed for children in Central Park, which he did.

I recently had the opportunity to listen to Philippe Petit (on August 7, 2015), now 65 years old. He gave a stirring presentation in San Francisco to chiropractic health professionals at the Wave, a seminar put on by Life West Chiropractic College.

Philippe was born in 1949 and still very active. He considers himself, among all things, an artist. But he also juggles, climbs rocks, fights bulls, fences, builds structures with 18th century tools and considers himself an accomplished equestrian.

He explained that he learned early in life to follow his passion and his intuition. But his creativity seemed to be overlooked or given little importance when he was young and so he felt that it must be illegal.

In his book Creativity, Philippe writes: “The creator must be an outlaw. Not a criminal outlaw, but rather a poet who cultivates intellectual rebellion.”

In his talk to us on August 7th, he offered some tips, or precepts that he thought might help us as they have helped him in his life.

He began by talking about his passion to pursue his goals. But right next to that, he emphasized the importance of tenacity. This was a word that included determination, discipline, preparation, and training to do what was needed to be done to achieve those goals about which you are passionate.

He exhibited this nearly a half a century ago as he pursued his goal to walk from one 1,300 foot tall building to another on just a wire. He started planning the walk when he was only 17 living in Paris. The Towers were not yet built. Certainly, the walk itself took immense focus at the time. But it lasted only less than an hour. The real work was in the planning and preparation and training. This took tenacity.

He stressed to listen to your intuition. When you have a question or a problem, listen to your gut and an answer, sooner or later, will visit you. But you do have to listen.

He emphasized simplicity in all that you do, but still be elegant. And don’t be afraid to make mistakes. This is how we learn and move forward. All this, of course, takes courage.

You have to believe in yourself. (Or as Dr. Jimmy Parker used to say, you have to have “FCB – Faith, Confidence and Belief.”) In your role of doctor, provider, and as a professional team member, you have to have faith in yourself and in the services you provide.

In our 3 Goals System of Practice Development, the Third Goal includes your greater purposes. These go beyond financial demands (Goal 1), which are necessary, or profession and business competence (Goal 2), which should be sought. But above it all are your Greater Purposes, your highest values — professionally and personally, that we really seek and that make life worth living.

We learn at an early age to quell our passions and creativity and to fall in line with convention. Obey and comply. And, to some extent, this is necessary for a society and a business to function. But in the bargain, we often lose our spirit. Our creative aspirations, our sense of fellowship with each other, and the outrage at the wrongs that we see — these gradually lose their importance. Our greater purposes become blunted — or even forgotten.

Certainly, this has happened to many people in your community as they “report in,” zombie like to the local drug store for “health care”, especially if it is promoting “free flu shots.” (Average drug prescriptions per person in 1993 was 7.1 In 2014 it was 12.2 And watch out for anyone over 50 where the average prescriptions used are 19, and over for those over 65 – 27. That’s right – 27 prescription medications per person. Average!2)

It is important to keep your greater purposes in sight and to respect them enough to keep them alive. They can and should be integrated into your professional life as you do not work in a factory assembly line as your parents or grandparents may have, or as those who produce your cool t-shirts and running shoes do now. For example, if you like children, have pictures of kids on your walls and have a special “Kids Day.” If you like running, put up pictures of runners and get your patients to join more running clubs. If you want to help the homeless kids in your town, promote a donation program for the local shelter.

Back at the seminar: I noticed that some of the presentations were held in ballrooms that had special, but temporary names. For example, there was the “The Reggie Gold” ballroom, the “Frank Sovinsky” ballroom, and the “Lloyd Latch” ballroom.

In the mid 1980’s, I worked for several years directly for and with Dr. Lloyd Latch. Though he didn’t promote it much, I am sure that he did have the largest chiropractic clinic in the world. While his personal production was high, the total office saw over 2,000 visits per week. The key was that he had created a wonderful team of doctors adjusting patients in 28 adjusting rooms and supported by a dedicate team of professionals.

And what was a key to his success? Over and over I heard Dr. Latch tell his doctors, and others who would visit, that success was “an inside job.”

I think this is exactly what Mr. Petit was getting at.

Success doesn’t come from the latest marketing procedure… it comes from deep inside. It comes from your heart, your passion, your imagination, and the tenacity to work and train daily.

Mr. Pettit says that there are –
“qualities inside all of us, that we are rarely encouraged to recognize
but that are essential to make our dreams come true, to plan, to construct a wondrous life.”3

IMG_1390 copy

Successful people learn from others, but ultimately take their own counsel.

As Philippe wrote:
“Observation was my conduit for knowledge, intuition my source of power.”3

So, follow your greater purposes and integrate them into your professional and work life. Allow your team members to also pursue their greater purposes – and you will see your practice become more creative, productive and wondrous.

Carpe Diem (seize the day),
Ed
———————–

  1. Generation Rx How Prescription Drugs Are Altering American Lives, Minds, and Bodies by Greg Critser (https://danmurphydc.com/Critser.pdf) , also http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/retail-rx-drugs-per-capita.
  2. www.imshealth.com/deployedfiles/imshealth/Global/Content/Corporate/IMS%20Health%20Institute/Reports/US_Use_of_Meds_2013/Percent_population_prescriptions_per_capita.pdf
  3. Creativity, the Perfect Crime. Philippe Petit

Chiropractic Marketing and a Staff Member Conspiracy

Posted on by
Reply

This is a tale of a staff member conspiracy.

It is about a hidden and quiet plan by scheming staff members.

The planning took place towards the end of 2014 in a chiropractic office next to a river.  By a lake. But that is not important.

Quietly, Ann and Betty met to discuss how they were going to fix the … situation. (I changed the names, but the rest is true.)

Dr. JM is an excellent and respected doctor who has a loyal following of patients. But as much as he wanted more new patients — as he was only generating about 6 per month — he just could not bring himself to do much marketing. And this is in spite of the excellent advice and support of his faithful and expert coach and consultant (moi).

But secretly, the two ladies hatched their own private strategy. And it worked.

More new patients started to come in. In fact, on my last visit to their office, they had three new patients come in, more than they usually see in a week.

What exactly did these enterprising chiropractic assistants do? Hmmm?

Maybe you could do the same?

Yes, you can and here is what they did:

Betty, the office manager, and Ann, the front desk coordinator, got together and worked up a procedure for generating patient reviews on Google.

The office manager wrote up a procedure for patients on how to post a review on Google.  Ann, who calls most of the patients “honey” and says that they are all “her” patients, can be very forward and, well, controlling.  She would simply get the agreement of key patients to make a review. She then gave them the procedure that was on a slip of paper and told them to go forth and spread the word.

In time, with her friendly but insistent nudging, they would. And now, their doctor has over twenty great reviews spread out over many months. The new patient increase is coming from people calling in off of the Internet.

Everybody is a reviewer.

People buy on the Internet from reviews.  This is like word-of-mouth of old, only now it is a 4 or 5 star review.  In fact, Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, uses reviews as their primary marketing tool. Once you buy something from them online, you are continually asked to post a review about what you thought.

I recently posted a review for something I purchased and found out that I have a “review rank” of 16,678,570. (But at least I earned 1 “helpful vote”, so that is nice.)

There are now many web sites that a consumer can go to review you.

Everyone is a reviewer. It is the new currency used to buy and sell products and services.

Get reviewed.

To help you, we have provided links on our blog for the following:

  1. Article for staff on how to generate web reviews. (PDF)
  2. Procedure sheet for patients on how to make a review on Google. (PDF)
  3. Procedure sheet for patients on how to make a review on Facebook. (PDF)
  4. A patient log for the staff to follow up on patients who have agreed to post a review. (PDF)

If you are an active client, you can go to our members site and download the same files as customizable WORD files. Get Reviewed info on PMAmembers.com

Start your own conspiracy to help share the successes of your services. But… get reviewed and watch the new patients come in.

Health Independence and Freedom – For Chiropractors and Your Patients

Posted on by
Reply

Here in the good Ol’ USA, we are about to celebrate Independence Day, the date we commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence and declared our freedom from the yoke of the British Empire.

I think for those of us in health care this day bears special significance.  In fact, I think of the chiropractic profession in particular.

Chiropractic has remained independent for 120 years. It has been fought by monopolist trade organizations, suppressed, and slandered, but it still stays outside of the clutches of Eli Lilly, Merck, or Monsanto.

To Chiropractors and those who work in the profession: You are brave, tough, and independent. You are living the American Way. You are a gritty bunch for sure and have maintained your integrity for putting care before profits.

The challenge you have is not only to remain free, but to help your patients and community also be free and independent.

Your patients are at the receiving end of billions and billions of dollars that are spent to manipulate them to purchase products that are known to be unhealthy.  Through pervasive and clever marketing and massive efforts to influence government, Americans have become over fed, over medicated, and under nourished.  Obesity rates have tripled (11% in 1960’s, 37% 2010)1, drug consumption has soared (average 7 per person in 1993 to 12.2 per person in 2014).2 Vaccination recommendations for our children from our government has increased from 64 in the 1950’s to over 1000 in 2013 (69 doses of 16 vaccines between day of birth and age 18).3

And the results?  American’s health rates compared to other countries are abysmal. We are the worst or close to it in many categories. 4    Yet this is not what is advertised, so it would be shock for most Americans to hear that in the competition with other countries for the best health care, that they are losers.

The true American Way5 was and is to question authority, seek the truth and to stand up for justice.

But the truth can be obscured and the path of least resistance is easier, and it can seem more acceptable to simply follow convention and herd mentality.  But the facts are there – provided by whistle blowers, mothers, and researchers, and we all need to look at the facts, do our research, and continue to educate ourselves and stay vigilant.

We can’t forget our patients… they too need to learn how their health choices have been manipulated, how they have been deceived, and what they should do to truly improve their health.

There is a price to pay for freedom. It takes work and is not always easy, but — it is the American thing to do.   Stay brave, stay alert, and continue to help your patients achieve better health.

Happy Independence Day from Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, USA

References.

  1. Obesity.
    http://seekingalpha.com/article/2419425-2-healthcare-stocks-that-appear-to-trade-below-fair-value-estimates
  2. Drug Usage.
    Generation Rx How Prescription Drugs Are Altering American Lives, Minds, and Bodies by Greg Critser (https://danmurphydc.com/Critser.pdf) , also http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/retail-rx-drugs-per-capita. www.imshealth.com/deployedfiles/imshealth/Global/Content/Corporate/IMS%20Health%20Institute/Reports/US_Use_of_Meds_2013/Percent_population_prescriptions_per_capita.pdf
  3. Vaccinations.
    http://www.nvic.org/CMSTemplates/NVIC/pdf/49-Doses-PosterB.pdf
  4. Rating American Health Care.
    http://www.nvic.org/CMSTemplates/NVIC/pdf/49-Doses-PosterB.pdf
    http://www.oecd.org/unitedstates/Briefing-Note-UNITED-STATES-2014.pdf
  5. The American Way.
    “The American Way of life is individualistic, dynamic, and pragmatic.” (Wikipedia: The American Way)

Cal Jam Chiropractic Conference, 2015, Costa Mesa, California

Posted on by
Reply
Different people. Run to new opportunities
(Spring Equinox, Northern Hemisphere – 2015)

Cal Jam is not like your father’s seminar.
It is a celebration of health and chiropractic.
It is a music festival.
It is a science briefing.
It is a par-tay!

It goes beyond simple sayings about positive mental attitudes and marketing tactics of many seminars.  While these things can be useful, there is a bigger picture of which the chiropractor stands as a leader. There is a bigger purpose.

Cal Jam is about the revolution…one that must happen and is, in fact, happening.

There is an assault on our health: our bodies, our environment, and perhaps our minds and even our souls. Are we to submit to the dictates of corporate pharmaceutical medicine, be fed from factory farms and frankencows, beholding to monopolies that own franken-seeds and food – and perhaps soon our water?  Is our health owned and controlled by the corporate state?

There is a small but growing band of independent minded health oriented and highly educated people that are becoming radicalized around the threat of a totalitarian state held in place through our food and water supply, and “health” care.

Is this extreme?

Perhaps, but there are many more MDs, scientists, and very educated mothers who believe this to be the case and are taking action than are reported in the corporate owned media. Just to look at the soaring statistics of organic food consumption over the last ten years – this must indicate something about a concern over the toxins in our food supply.

This goes beyond politics and race. These are just soap operas designed to keep us bickering amongst ourselves as the real maneuvers take place.

For those of you in the health profession, the choice is yours to make: play along… or do not go quietly into this smack zoned pen we are being herded into. One holistic MD I talked to recently told me that most MDs were lemmings.

I chose and have stayed in this profession, not because I am a chiropractor, because I am not. I consider myself, at my best, someone who has helped the helpers provide true health. But I have done so in part as an act of defiance against those who would profit on the bad health of others.  I have my personal story, as do you. But on my better days I am in the fight along with you.

Chiropractors have always been revolutionaries. Reggie Gold, Jim Sigafoose, Sid Williams, Chester Wilk… the list goes on and on, to B.J and D.D. Palmer. Used to be you weren’t an experienced D.C. until you spent your time in jail for “practicing without a license.” It actually goes down the ages… the fight against tyranny.

Cal Jam is not necessarily better than other chiropractic health conferences, but I’d say that it is the most revolutionary… and fun.

Hope to see you there.

Ed

Link to CAL JAM

Was Darwin Wrong? Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted on by
Reply

Was Darwin wrong? Let’s find out.

BUT FIRST CONSIDER THIS  WARNING:

You and your staff may have an uninspected cultural bias that is toxic to you and your office and is negatively affecting your best efforts.  This could be happening right now as you read this!

 How could this be?

Well, ingrained in our culture is the idea that to survive, we must compete and overcome others.  It is a win-lose world: either I win and you lose, or you win and I lose.

This idea had much support with the work of Charles Darwin.  Darwin’s perspective of evolution included the concept of survival of the fittest with a sort of “dog eat dog” theme.

However, recent studies suggest this is not entirely the case.

“When biologists look closely at nature they cannot help but notice cooperative partnerships that do not comfortably fit with the competitive struggle that is central to Darwinanin evolution.” (Darwin’s Blind Spot: Evolution Beyond Natural Selection, Frank Ryan)

This theory of cooperation in evolution was actually put forth 50 years before Darwin, by a Frenchman by the name of Jean-Baptiste de Lamarack (1744 – 1829), who established evolution as a scientific fact.

According to Bruce Lipton, “Not only did Lamarck present his theory fifty years before Darwin, he offered a much less harsh theory of the mechanisms of evolution. Lamarck’s theory suggested that evolution was based upon an “instructive,” cooperative interaction among organisms and their environment that enables life forms to survive and evolve in a dynamic world. (Biology of Belief, page 11)

But Lamarck’s ideas, which also included what is now called epigenetics, were cast aside and rejected until recently. So, instead of seeing that organisms in nature evolve symbiotically and cooperatively, Darwin saw that: “living organisms are perpetually embroiled in a struggle for existence. For Darwin, struggle and violence are not only a part of animal (human) nature but the principal “forces” behind evolution advancement.  Darwin wrote of an inevitable “struggle for life” and that evolution was driven by “the war of nature, from famine and death.” (Bruce Lipton, PhD, Biology of Belief) [my emphasis]

The idea of “survival of the fittest”, obviously, is not very cooperative. In an office, it can create brooding jealously, competitive back stabbing, fear and defensiveness, and make us objectify our patients as “cases” and statistics. It can create at a division between us and our patients — between each other.

I got to thinking about all of this as another Valentine’s Day approached. As it turns out, Valentine’s Day is observed all around the world and has been around for hundreds of years, even as early as 300 AD. And, it wasn’t always about romantic love. One legend has it that:

“… in order “to remind these men of their vows and God’s love, Saint Valentine is said to have cut hearts from parchment”, giving them to these soldiers and persecuted Christians, a possible origin of the widespread use of hearts on St. Valentine’s Day.” (From Wikipedia)

The Greeks had 4 different types of love:

  • Agape =Charity, or the love of Man for God or vice versa.
  • Eros = We all know this – romantic, intimate love.
  • Philia = Love between friends or family.
  • Storge = love of parents for children (Wikipedia)

Valentine’s Day is about love. Romantic love, sure but also about charity, generosity, compassion, caring – all kinds of love. And this takes us back to the notion that love, or a type of love, has been the basis for survival of all species on this planet – including mankind. Survival of life forms requires mutual support on some level – survival is cooperative and caring.

In many offices I have noticed a degree of an adversarial undercurrent. You can almost feel a sub-sub culture of “dog eat dog.”   You have experienced this, I am sure.  For example, if the mood is wrong, the phones don’t ring. Right?  When there is a high degree of compassion and care and good will for each other and for the patients, the phones start ringing.

To some degree , Darwin’s “war of nature” may be embedded in the culture of your office. Darwin was right about many things, but life evolved through cooperation and caring – not through war.

Look: Your patients want to survive better. Just find out what their goals are and help them get there.  They will need some education and coaching, sure – you have had thousands of hours of what they are just now hearing.  But care for them and do your very best to help them get to their health goals.

Your doctor wants to practice and live better – find out what she wants and help her get there. You may have to ask lots of questions and train and read and struggle at it for a while, but keep at it and you can make a big difference. In turn, this will help your patients do better – and of course, you do better as well.

And doctor, your team members want to do better and also have better lives – find out how you can help them do so – and do so.

As I mature, I truly see that this planet is getting smaller and that we are all in this adventure together, for better or worse.  Hopefully, for the better.  But there are no guarantees. If we are to get it better, it all comes down to what we can do here and now to help each other MORE than we have been.

The world can be a struggle, but we all have evolved because of cooperation, caring for each other, and love.  If we continue to do so, we can continue to evolve in our practice’s and business, and in our lives.

And have no doubt, Petty, Michel and Associates are in the mix as well. We love your patients, team members and you, and want to do all we can to help you survive and thrive.

Here are our best wishes to you that everyday – is Saint Valentine’s Day!

#  #  #

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (From the New Testament, Corinthians 13:4-8, “love” is elsewhere replaced by the word “charity.”)

10 Practice Development Strategies for Chiropractors in 2015

Posted on by
2

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

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

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

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

Here is a shorter version:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ed Petty

 

Swiss Army Knife of Chiropractic Practice Development

Posted on by
Reply

Ever see a one of those Swiss Army Knives?

I have one. It shows up now and then in one of my drawers.  I always forget how many applications it has and I am always surprised when I keep pulling out more.

Well, there is a particular practice building tool that works like a Swiss Army Knife for your office.Swiss army knife isolated

It is inexpensive, almost free, yet this one tool serves many purposes more effectively than most anything else you can do in your office.

You could call it the Swiss Army Knife of Practice Development.

Once you, and your team, and especially your patients watch Bought, you will understand the power of the Swiss Army Knife of Practice Development.

This one tool can be your most effective marketing procedure. It can be your best therapeutic modality or ancillary service. It can also serve as your best tool to boost team productivity.

But like with my Swiss Army Knife, it can easily get taken for granted and NOT USED.

I can guarantee that IF you energetically use the Swiss Army Knife of Practice Development, your patients will stay with you longer, they will get healthier, your team will be more productive, you will generate more patients, and, yes, you’ll see your collections increase.

What is the Swiss Army Knife of Practice Development?

Education.

Education brings about an increase of awareness and results in a motivation to make a change. It does this for your patients in terms of improving their health, in motivating them to get others to use your services, and in helping to make your team even more purposeful.

You know chiropractic and what it does for people. Each day, miracles occur. It gets almost routine. You know how chiropractic works and you know why it works. Your patients do not. And most of your staff only have a general, and perhaps forgotten understanding.

By educating your patients you are fortifying them with knowledge that makes them aware of the power of your services and the importance of continuing care. It counteracts the propaganda they receive in the form of hundreds of ad impressions we all receive each day for drugs and bad food. It increases their awareness and will motivate them to not only continue with their care, but to benefit more from it.

This will, in turn, encourage them to bring in their family and friends to see you. They may even encourage you to speak to their work place or organizations.

Education can motivate your staff. I have seen numbers go up 25% quickly once the rest of the team was educated more on chiropractic and natural health care.

Lastly, education motivates you.

Education is your least expensive modality or ancillary service, it is the most cost effective marketing tool you have, and costs nothing to educate your staff.

Here are some sample actions to take to improve your educational activities.

  1. Look at your office as an educational facility even more than a care facility. You increase people’s knowledge so that they can take more responsibilty for their health, and for those they care about.
  2. Spend a hour or more each week studying. Read, listen to audios, go to seminars, have lunch with a colleague. Call your coach!
  3. Watch a movie with your staff such as Bought, Doctored, Food Inc., and then have a discussion period afterwards.
  4. Staff Meetings. Go over a case history or two.
  5. Patient Care Class.
  6. Start a Lending Library and position your office as an educational facility.  Even  if you lose a few books or DVD’s each month, it is worth it as your patients will see that you are serious about health and health education. Give each staff member a bonus for a book report presentation at a staff meeting.

There are many ways to educate yourself, your team, and your patients.  Done right, education turns into enlightenment and this will produce a greater return than many other activities you do.

Like a Swiss Army knife, health education serves many purposes. But also like a Swiss Army knife, it has to be kept out, used, not hidden away in the back of a drawer or on a bookcase.

The Most Cost Effective Tool You Have to Build Your Chiropractic Practice and Help Your Patients – and you probably are barely using it!

Posted on by
Reply

what if I told you copy

 Forget about the roller tables, stretching bands, balance boards, traction devises, taping, decompression, protein powder, vibrating platforms, laser, lipo body sculpting, ultrasound, stim, tens, supplements, orthotics, etc.

Any or all of these may or may not be appropriate for your practice, but they should not be your first choice in providing a modality or ancillary service to your patients.

Think about this: what could you do for your patients, in addition to your adjustments, that would help them improve their health the most?

EDUCATE THEM

The more the patient knows about how chiropractic works – and how your services help them – the more motivated they will be in following through with their health care plan.

People don’t know about subluxations just like they really didn’t know about asbestos or cigarettes. It was a while ago but advertising was rampant on television and in print promoting cigarettes. MD’s were often used to legitimize the use of cigarettes.

Today, your patients are also being inundated with propaganda about food, drugs, and basic lifestyle choices that are not healthy, let alone not true. They are told that drugs are safe solutions for headaches, back pain, and other ailments when in many cases they are found to be poisonous. (Vioxx, Accutane, Cylert, Darvon & Darvocet, for example.) Nearly all the food they eat has various toxins, from aspartame in diet food to herbicides that linger (glyphosate, used in “Roundup” and sprayed on your kid’s schools playgrounds).

Educated patients are better equipped to keep to their treatment program and continue improving their health. Isn’t this what you want?

This is your #1 ancillary service.

#1 Marketing Tool
Educated patients are more motivated to refer those they know to you and to help you set up external events. They can become your ambassadors, field representatives and sales force. They know that someone with headaches, low back pain, or other odd symptoms may be helped by chiropractic and your services. They may be able to refer them directly, or you can help them by providing special workshops, special events, and opportunities for external programs at their place of work.

#1 Team Management Tool
All of this also applies to each of your team members as well.

We are all “numbed down” by a conventional lifestyle and a culture that is greatly manufactured by just a few large industries such as Big Pharma and Big Food that use media and government to achieve its ends.

And, frankly, we tend to take what we do for granted. Imagine a patient who had a headache for years and after your care is now pain free and can get a full night’s sleep and her relationships with her family have improved., etc.  Amazing, right?  But for us, pretty routine. We can end up being more concerned about billing her secondary or supplement insurance or keeping her scheduling than in just celebrating with her.

Almost anything you know about health care will be “new news” to your patients and probably many of your staff. Plus, we all tend to forget what we once knew.

What is the big difference with you from when you started chiropractic college and after you graduated (Besides debt) . THE difference was and is that you were motivated. And you were motivated because… you were educated and even more, you were enlightened. You were able to see things in people’s health conditions that you never saw before. And with all this understanding, you were now more motivated.

But in time, awareness can dim and so can motivation. New patients start dropping off, treatment plans get shorter, and the quality of staff performance erodes. The solution is to keep educating patients and team members so that they stay awake and motivated.

In other words, WAKE THE FLOCK UP!

Patient and staff education provide the best ROI of any activity you have. Modalities and extra services have many overlooked costs such as staff time to account and bill for the therapies, extra staff to apply the services, someone to take inventory of the products and to sell them, etc. Patient education is pretty much a no cost proposition. How much does a care class cost? Watching “Doctored” or “Food Inc. ” or “Bought” with your staff and then discussing it afterwards (that is very important), it is much cheaper than flying to Las Vegas.

And if you do it often and effectively, you will be able to afford that next seminar in Hawaii.

As the doctor, you are the CEO, the Chief Evangelizing Officer. I first heard this term from Guy Kawasaki, who was called this when he worked for Apple when the Macintosh was first launched in the early 80’s. Macintosh was trying to win over users from IBM computers to the Apple Macintosh.

You are creating converts to a chiropractic and natural health lifestyle.

Remember that education, both staff, patients, and your own education as well should cover not only what your services do, and how they do it, but WHY you provide these services. In fact, your emotional connection to the reason you do your services communicates the strongest.

WHAT TO DO
1. First, keep yourself aware and amazed at the innate healing power of the body and the great affects your services provide. Provide an hour or two of study for yourself each week. Just like you work IN your office, you have to work ON your office – and that includes yourself.

2.  Let yourself get emotional about what the FLOCK is going on!  Don’t be “correct”, well heeled and a good little domesticated “provider.” It is natural that you become somewhat “riled up” about the injustice that your patients and their family and friends experience in receiving “health care” or at the misinformation “fed” to people about healthy living.

3. Educate your team. Watch a movie with them and then have a discussion period afterwards. (The discussion is very important as it helps get everyone engaged in the process.)

4. Staff Meetings. Go over a case history or two.

5. Patient Care Class. There are many different names for this, but all patients get better, faster, and stay healthier longer if they know more about chiropractic and health. Make it a part of their treatment plan and bribe them with food!

6. Start a Lending Library and position your office as an educational facility.  Even  if you lose a few books or DVD’s each month, it is worth it as your patients will see that you are serious about health and health education. Give each staff member a bonus for a book report presentation at a staff meeting.

There are many ways to educate yourself, your team, and your patients.  Done right, education turns into enlightenment and this will produce a greater return than many other activities you do.

# # #

Marketing Plans for Your Chiropractic Office This Fall

Posted on by
Reply

As we move from the summer months into fall, I thought that it might be helpful to preview some marketing ideas for the rest of the year.

Below is a link to several articles on our web site referencing marketing procedures and programs for the autumn and the early winter months.

Marketing is basically physics: for energy to come in, energy has to go out.

Ideally the energy is well directed and of a high quality, but mainly, it has to get out.  Quantity first, then gradually, improve the quality.

But everything is done twice: first in your mind and then in the world. First comes the meta-physics, then comes the physics

This is why the most important and first step starts with you – your faith, confidence, and belief in what you are doing and especially, why you are doing it.

Organizational system failures or personal situations can often get in the way that distract us and cause us to lose sight of our purpose or of the great results we have achieved for others in the past.

And, there will always be the negative few that seem to outweigh the positive many.

Sometimes we focus on the “barking dogs” that come out to chase us for a while rather than concentrating on the fire we are racing towards to put out.

Marketing is about communication. It is an “outflow” that sooner or later, directly or indirectly, generates an “inflow.”  It is your creative voice that is either filled with mission and purpose, or is forced and desperate. Stymied by failures or disappointments, our “voice” can recede to a whimper or a mumble.

But the fear that can grip us is mostly an invention because too often, we take things too seriously.

The fact is, as Ben and Rosa Zander point out in their book, The Art of Possibility, most of life is just “invented.”  I listened to Ben Zander, the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, give an inspirational presentation at the chiropractic seminar called the WAVE in San Francisco in August.

He advised that when we slip and make a mistake, we should just throw out our arms, lean back slightly and exuberantly and say: “Fascinating.”   We just can’t take things too seriously and instead we should move on passionately expressing ourselves. Not bad advice from a maestro whose goal is to get musicians to play better.

You could also go out to a field or park and just yell: “I am the greatest and the world loves me and wants to come to my office.”

Don’t be surprised if the universe cooperates.

Marketing your services, like helping people get better, should be enjoyable. It should be fun. You should be smiling and laughing.

And you know, as the song goes:

♪ When you’re smiling, ♫When you’re smiling,♪
♫The whole world smiles with you,♫
♫When you’re laughing, ♫When you’re laughing,♪
♪The sun comes shining through,♫
♫Wishing you plenty of smiles and all the best,♪

Ed

Click Link for more Marketing Articles

Here is a great rendition of the song by Frank Sinatra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=351l62Yx0oI

Fall Marketing for Chiropractic Offices

Posted on by
Reply

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fall Chiropractic Marketing
Internal promotions and External Community Events

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

Sample Poster for Spinal Health Awareness (PDF)

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

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

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

Sage on the Stage or Guide from the Side: Chiropractic Seminars vs. Coaching – Which is Better?

Posted on by
Reply

They both can be expensive, so what service gives the greatest “bang for the buck?”

I go to seminars. I like them. In fact, I hope to see some of you at the WAVE, sponsored by Life West  in San Francisco this weekend (8/1/2014).   (If you are going please contact me by calling the office number below and it will forward to my phone. It would be great to say “hi” in person!)

Seminars provide a good opportunity to get away. B.J. Palmer talks about this, of course, in his Rule Number #9. (1)

Also, by disengaging from your work, you can better re-engage in it when you get back. The science of this is discussed in a book called: The Power of Full Engagement.

Plus, networking. Nothing like meeting new people and hearing how and what they are doing and trading fish stories – even if they are often embellished.  (“Don’t tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly, don’t tell them where they know the fish.” Attributed to Mark Twain.)

And, they can be entertaining.

Plus, you can learn things. Learning new things that work and unlearning things that don’t work is probably the MOST important skill you can have. And it is getting more important every day. Our world is changing SO fast that in order to keep up, you have to really spend time and money learning.

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” ― Alvin Toffler

However, there are drawbacks.

Seminars: the Sage on the Stage

First, there is the expense of the seminar.  Actually, by comparison, most chiropractic seminars are dirt cheap compared to other seminars that run into the thousands. The expense is in the travel. The hidden expenses add up considerably, especially if you take your staff, which you should now and then.

Then, there is the actual content – the information being imparted.  Much of it is motivational and that is nice.  However, the seminar speaker does not know you. He hasn’t been to your office, your home, talked with your staff or know your family. He hasn’t read your town’s newspaper or seen your patients.  He doesn’t know your situation.  He teaches you a procedure that sounds good in theory and may have even worked in his office 15 years ago, for a while.  He may be entertaining, or coercive.  But, often only 10% of what is taught at a seminar is applicable to you and your office.  And of that, very little gets implemented, and in two months, less than 5% of the seminar may be in operation at your office.   The following is an example that shows how much useful information gets reduced down to actual implementation in most offices.

Actual Value of Seminar (approximate percentages)

  • Motivational (can sometimes be excellent, but is very temporary.)
  • Percent of information verifiably valid:  70%
  • Percent of information comprehensible, heard, or understood: Of the 70%, one half is comprehended, heard, or understood, leaving 35%)
  • Percent of information applicable to your particular city, staff, patient base, your style and personality, etc.: Of that 35%, perhaps 15% isn’t applicable, leaving you with 20%.
  • Percent of information that can be implemented in your office: Of the remaining 20%, perhaps only half can get applied, leaving 10%.
  • Percent of information that gets applied:  In two weeks time, only 5% gets applied.
  • Percent of information that stays in application: After two months, only 1-5% percent of the original information is still applied.
  • If you had spent $2,000 on a seminar program, using the rough example above, you would have wasted all but 5%, or $1,900.

This example is a little harsh, I‘ll admit, but I wanted to make a point. But you know what? Even this small percent may still be worth attending the seminar.

Coaching – The Guide from the Side

Our company grew because doctors did not or could not adequately apply what they heard at the seminars.  Starting out many years ago, I remember seeing doctor’s shelves full of binders, VHS cassettes, and manuals that were barely touched since they were brought home from the seminar.

So, back in the late 1980’s, we came up with our niche and our identity, encapsulated in our tag line:

When Seminars Aren’t Enough sm

Good coaching, helps you and helps your team discover what systems work best for you, and then helps you make them better – over and over until your TEAM becomes expert.

A good coach, like a competent doctor, has the experience to quickly identify what needs to be worked on that can bring about the quickest improvements.  This is what we do.  We have become skilled at spotting the key leverage points (3) in an office and have developed new and effective methods to make the changes necessary for faster improvements.

But, we do this as your guide. We don’t impose a particular patient system into your office.  You are unique and what works for a doctor in Nebraska may not work for the same one in San Diego.  We help you discover what works best for you and help your team get better at supporting you.

A good coach trains, advises, nudges, listens, counsels, teaches, and when possible, even does some of the work.  And is this effective? You sure as hell bet it is! We have been doing this for nearly 30 years and those doctors that have worked with us know this to be true.

But the real reason for coaching is economics: bottom line, baby! Return on Invest. ROI.  Studies show a pay back of 5 to 7 times on your investment. We have certainly seen this occur. (3)

Like chiropractic, good care doesn’t cost, IT PAYS. Health IS wealth.  The same applies to education – and in particular – coaching. It doesn’t cost – it pays.

Seminars? Yes. Coaching? Hell yes!  But books and webinars and mentors as well.  A weekend of reading a book is a great investment.

In the end, you have to constantly study and learn to stay in the game. Success is, now more than ever, dependent upon constant never ending improvement.  You have to do this just to keep up, let alone to get ahead.

And if you don’t – well, your community and patients will be seeking a healthcare office that is.

References
(1)    Rule #9:  Every man owes it to himself, his people and his service to go away about every so often. The more detail he has, the oftener he should go. The more worries, the more he needs to go. The bigger his work, the longer his vacation should be. – B.J. Palmer    https://pmaworks.com/observations/2008/08/18/getting-away-rule-9/

(2)    Leverage Points  http://www.donellameadows.org/wp-content/userfiles/Leverage_Points.pdf , also: Eli Goldratt, The Goal

(3)    BUSINESS IMPACT STUDIES

  • Research conducted by MetrixGlobal on coaching at a Fortune 500 company showed that coaching produced a 529% return on investment and significant intangible benefits to the business. Including the financial benefits from employee retention boosted the overall ROI to 788%.
  • A landmark study commissioned by Right Management Consultants found a return-on-investment of dollars spent on executive coaching of nearly 600%. Executives engaged in coaching reported increases in productivity, improvement in relationships with direct reports and colleagues and greater job satisfaction.
  • According to a study by the Manchester Consulting Group, organizational benefits from executive coaching include:

Improved Relationships 77%
Improved Teamwork 67%
Improved Job Satisfaction 61%
Improved Productivity 53%

  • An International Personnel Management Association survey found that productivity increased by 88 percent when coaching was combined with training (compared to a 22 percent increase with training alone).
  • Studies completed by the American Society for Training and Development showed a ROI of 5 times the cost of coaching.

BUSINESS PRESS EXCERPTS

  “Many of the world’s most admired corporations, from GE to Goldman Sachs, invest in coaching. Annual spending on coaching in the United States in estimated at roughly $1 billion.”   Harvard Business Review

  “Coaches are not for the meek. They’re for people who value unambiguous feedback. All coaches have one thing in common. It’s that they are ruthlessly results-oriented.”          Fast Company Magazine

  “Business coaching is attracting America’s top CEO’s because, put simply, business coaching works. In fact, when asked for a conservative estimate of monetary payoff from the coaching they got….managers described an average return of more than $100,000 or about six times what coaching had cost their companies.”                                   Fortune Magazine

   “[A Coach] is part advisor, part sounding board, part cheerleader, part manager and part strategist.”    The Business Journal

   “Between 25 percent and 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies use executive coaches.”      The Hay Group International

  “Once used to bolster troubled staffers, coaching now is part of the standard leadership development training for elite executives and talented up-and-comers at IBM, Motorola, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and Hewlett Packard. These companies are discreetly giving their best prospects what star athletes have long had: a trusted adviser to help reach their goals.”                     CNN.com

  “In a 2004 survey by Right Management consultants, 86% of companies said they used coaching to sharpen skills of individuals who have been identified as future organizational leaders.”         Harvard Management Update

  “A coach may be the guardian angel you need to rev up your career.”          Money Magazine

http://transverseleadership.com/roi.html