Tag Archives: patient education

Improving Chiropractic Patient Follow Through

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

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

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

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

Goalineering: Aligning Chiropractic Procedures with Patient Goals

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

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

For example:

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

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

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

Ed

The Mental Immune System

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mental health, immune system, goaldriven.com

A healthy body has a well-functioning system to protect it or make it physically immune from disease. I am sure you have seen this occur with your patients as you adjust and treat them.

But there is no doubt that the mind also affects the body. In your practice, could you improve your patient’s mental immune system? Of course, and already do. I am sure you bolster your patient’s mental immune system even though you or your team may not have looked at it this way. Providing your patients with genuine positive feedback and showing them gratitude for their regular visits can go a long way in enhancing their mental well-being.

A mental immunity system would help individuals be protected, or immune, from negative influences or circumstances in the environment. This would be the ability to “roll with the punches” and keep one’s stress level low despite potentially stressful situations. You can’t be expected to help your patients achieve this in all areas of life, but you can help them with this regarding their health.

Your patients and clients are under a constant deluge of frightening and drug-related messages that can be demoralizing and lead them to less than optimum health choices. There is not much incentive for large corporations to promote exercise, eat organic food, take vitamins, and encourage people to be nice to their neighbors. Instead, there is more money in promoting drugs and fast food, and beer. It took a long time and great expense to stop cigarette advertising, but pharmaceutical advertising has now taken its place.

So, it is for this reason I recommend positive health advertising to your patients regularly. The more they know and understand how to maintain their physical health, the better prepared they will be to critically interpret the corporate advertising of products masquerading as “healthy.”

Here are some methods to improve your patient’s mental immune system regarding health:

  • Extraordinary customer service. Through empathic communication, get to know your patients so that they know you care about them and can trust you. You are in their corner and have their “back.”
  • Positive reinforcement. Genuinely recognize their good efforts to improve their health and any positive responses to your program of care.
  • Table Talk. Listen to their stories and provide quick positive educational tips about health related to their story.
  • Educational themes. Pick an educational them each week and have literature for patients.
  • Patient successes. You can include notable case successes with your education themes each week or each month. Spread the good news!
  • Lending Library. Stock your book shelves with books on subjects you would like your patients to read. Encourage your patients and staff to study. (See a sample list of books we selected a few years ago over at pmaworks.com.)
  • Workshops. These can be done virtually or in person.
  • Newsletters. These can be electronic as well as hard copies by snail mail. They help “keep the conversation going.”

You are the positive lighthouse of health in a storm of gloom and unhealthy corporate products. You can improve the physical immune system of your patients by also improving their mental immune system regarding health.

Ed

the goal driven business by edward petty

buy the goal driven business by edward petty

Image from: Kellogg, Yevgenia Nayberg

Fight the Nocebo Effect

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Knowledge is your lighthouse.

I am sure that all of you are trying to stay up with unfolding events regarding the virus and the governmental recommendations – and enforcement — to deal with it.

We are, as well.

I am sending this email out to encourage you to watch an informative video by Del Bigtree, who reviews the facts and numbers of the virus pandemic. It is a bit long, so I am sending this out this weekend in case you have more time to watch it.

I have also included an article by Bruce Lipton. Dr. Lipton is a cellular biologist who taught medical students at the University of WI medical college and often speaks at chiropractic seminars.

Plus, an article that states 99% of those who died from the virus had other illnesses.

(Links below.)

We must watch out for the GENERALITY of the virus. For example: “COVID-19 could kill us all!” “Who says?” “They do.” “Who is “they.””  “The authorities.”  “Who are the authorities?” “Those who are in charge.” You have to break it down and be as logical as you can.

I recommend that you review these sources, add to it what you are learning, and using your best judgment, continue educating your team members and patients/members/clients! 

Be the lighthouse in your community.

Education and knowledge displace fear and uncertainty.

Let’s eradicate what Dr. Lipton calls the “nocebo” effect — the opposite of a placebo.

And let’s continue our fight to help people get healthier!

Keep educating,

Ed

By the way, no one is saying you must close your office.  Even in California where San Francisco has a “Shelter in Place” or strict quarantine.  For example, the California Chiropractic Board of Examiners, on their website,  states:

  1. Should My Practice Remain Open?
    The Board does not have authority to close businesses or practices solely as a result of COVID-19.

YOUR SERVICES ARE VITAL!

The Exec. Director of the Kansas Chiropractic Association, in a letter to their state Governor (March 20, 2020), stated:

“We understand that with the severity of the current pandemic hospital emergency rooms may soon be filled with patients complaining of pulmonary symptoms. We offer our services in diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal complaints presenting to emergency rooms. Many Doctors of Chiropractic have arranged to be a referral point for their local emergency rooms on these conditions.

“We are prepared to see these patients in our offices that are already taking every precaution available to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.”

 

REFERENCES

Del Bigtree   Coronavirus Quarantine  March 19

Bruce Lipton Cornonvrus 2019-Covid-19 UPDATE

Bloomberg News March 18, 2020   99% of those who Died From Virus Had Other Illness, Italy Says

Children’s Health Resources

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Happy Health ChildThe following are some sources of information regarding the health crisis affecting our children.

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The Children’s Health Defense is a powerful organization that is on the front lines in fighting corporate propaganda promoting harmful drugs for kids. They have many lawyers, including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., working on exposing false information and corruption regarding children’s health.eBook Sign-Up—The Sickest Generation
Free eBook: The Sickest Generation: The Facts Behind the Children’s Health Crisis and Why It Needs to End Children are the key to a successful future and a prosperous nation, yet American children have never been sicker with a vast array of chronic illnesses. (Also available in Spanish.)

The Pharmaceutical Industry’s Front Men
By the Children’s Health Defense Team

The Medical Journals’ Sell-Out—Getting Paid to Play
By the Children’s Health Defense Team

Science Library
This database contains hundreds of peer-reviewed, published articles on environmental contaminants that are implicated in the rise of the childhood epidemics we are currently experiencing in the U.S. and other industrialized nations.

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Pathways is a long-standing publication with health articles that is free to members of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association. Its website has links to many articles, a few of which are below:

Pathways to Family Wellness

Are We Making Our Children Sick?
http://pathwaystofamilywellness.org/Nutrition/are-we-making-our-children-sick.html

Natural Immunity
http://pathwaystofamilywellness.org/Informed-Choice/natural-immunity.html

Ear Infections in Kids: Natural Remedies to Ease Ear Pain and Enhance Function
http://pathwaystofamilywellness.org/Holistic-Healthcare/ear-infections-in-kids-natural-remedies-to-ease-ear-pain-and-enhance-function.html

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There are many books on children’s health, and it is fascinating to search to find them. Commit to buying at least one per month, reading it, reporting on it to a team meeting, and placing it in your Lending Library. Have your team members do the same! Here are three:

Books

A Compromised Generation: The Epidemic of Chronic Illness in America’s Children Paperback – September 16, 2010 by Beth Lambert

The Vaccine-Friendly Plan: Dr. Paul’s Safe and Effective Approach to Immunity and Health-from Pregnancy Through Your Child’s Teen Years Paperback – August 23, 2016 Paul Thomas M.D.

How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor: One of America’s Leading Pediatricians Puts Parents Back in Control of Their Children’s Health Mass Market Paperback – May 12, 1987
by Robert S. Mendelsohn MD

November and December Marketing — and Your Higher Purpose

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Petty Michel Associates Practice Promotions

November and December are special times for patient marketing, whether you are promoting to prospective patients, active, or inactive patients.

Usually, we have found that internal marketing is better during this time of year as you don’t need to compete with commercial businesses as they slug it out in an advertising frenzy. You can prepare now and schedule your external promotions and community services for January and February. Of course, if you see an excellent opportunity for external marketing now, take it. But the primary focus should be internal for these two months.

November and December are “cozy” months. In North America — we have Thanksgiving. This is a time we give thanks for all our blessings and gifts and family and friends. It is a time when people feel grateful. Christmas is also a time of good cheer and giving, as is Hanukkah and other holidays.

And, for some of you, it is also the season of the yearly hunt — when you bring home the ring tail pheasants, the turkeys, and “da ‘tirty point buck.” (Wisconsin-ese for “the 30-point buck.”)

Your promotions should align with the spirit of the season to be most effective. Donation drives are often held. There are many churches and associations in your town that need help as they prepare to assist the less fortunate.

“Toys for Tots”, “Food for Families”, or “Coats for Kids”, are many popular promotions by local media stations. I don’t doubt that they are helpful, but I do sometimes question their sincerity.

Of course, you want more customers, that is the nature of business. But you must lead with your mission statement first.

Any promotions should stem from your higher purposes.

The Higher Purpose Company
In The High Purpose Company, (Arena, 2007) Christina Arena reports on her team’s study of 75 companies’ efforts at Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

She shows how corporations, by doing good, by providing better conditions for employees, more sustainable sourcing of raw materials, and contributing to beneficial causes in their communities, generate more income.

“The central findings of my research can be distilled in the following way: superficiality fails whereas authenticity prevails. Companies that falsely approach corporate responsibility as a form of marketing, public relations, or even philanthropy don’t produce the most meaningful results. In fact, they often waste their money and create additional liabilities. Conversely, companies that truly approach the practice of corporate responsibility as a fully integrated business strategy, wisely investing in profitable solutions to meet unmet social and environmental needs and problems find their performance greatly enhanced.”

According to the Harvard Business Review, business spent more than $15 billion in 2016 on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs. (Davidson, July 7, 2016) And according to, Linda Novick O’Keefe, founder of Common Threads, “that number is rising as businesses see signs that investments in CSR improve company performance, talent recruitment and retention. (O’Keefe, 2016) “Giving in Numbers”, a study published by the CECP that analyzes giving and corporate societal engagement trends, revealed companies that increased giving by at least 10 percent between 2013 and 2015 actually experienced upticks in revenue and pre-tax profit, while all other companies saw a decrease in both.”

Your “WHY?”
Marketing must be honest, and it has to tell why you are doing the marketing. As Simon Sinek reminds us:

“Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. By WHY I mean your purpose, cause or belief – WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care?

People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.

All organizations start with WHY, but only the great ones keep their WHY clear year after year.” (Sinek, 2009)

I recommend finding charities or causes in your community that your patients care about. That you care about. Then, go talk to the head of the charity yourself – get involved – personally. Emotionally.

One office paid their staff for one hour for every two hours they went out of the office and worked on a community project.

And it doesn’t have to be charities. A Kid’s Day with “Saturday with Santa” can be a ball. One office holds a patient appreciation party with their patients each December with a Christmas Elvis impersonator singing Christmas carols. The one I attended was packed, and a little wild. But everyone talks about it for the rest of the year.

Your patients, and your neighbors, want what you want – a better and healthier community. Communicate that in all your promotions and you’ll get better results, and have more fun.

And, many thanks for you do from all of us at PM&A!

Ed

A list of sample promotions on our web site – see reference below.

References

Arena, C. (2007). The High Purpose Company. Harper Collins.

Davidson, R. H. (July 7, 2016). CEO Materialism and Corporate Social Responsibility.        Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation. Retrieved from https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2016/07/07/ceo-materialism-and-corporate-social-responsibility/

O’Keefe, L. N. (2016, Decembr 15). CSR Grows in 2016 as Companies Embrace                Employees’ Values. Huffington Post – The Blog. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-novick-okeefe/csr-grows-in-2016-as-comp_b_13657368.html

Sample Promotions. Chiropractic Practice Marketing Ideas For 2016. Retrieved from   www.pmaworks.com: http://pmaworks.com/observations/2016/09/20/chiropractic-practice-marketing-ideas-for-fall-2016/

Sinek, S. (2009, September). Simon Sinek How Great Leaders Inspire Action. Retrieved    from TED Ideas Worth Spreading:  https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action

Swiss Army Knife of Chiropractic Practice Development

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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!

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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.

# # #

Chiropractic Practice Management, Marketing, and Leadership Recorded Training Webinars

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This is a list of our practice development recorded webinars.

Each is a recording of a slide show driven lecture, each filled with an abundance of practice information derived from in the field work – and plenty of slides!

Currently, you have to be active on a PM&A program. By this summer, these will be available on and individual basis for a small fee.

 Chiropractic CEO Webinars

 Creating your Dream Team Summary and VideoA virtual “live” interview with the doctor and staff of a true chiropractic dream team. Find out what they do to achieve high numbers, profit, and fun.

 The Fast Flow Practice CEO  -55 minutes webinar video and summary.
One of the biggest challenges in running and growing your business is the time it takes you away from seeing patients and from your family.  We have solved this with what we call the Fast Flow Practice CEO System.   A new system derived from old principles.
Management by the Numbers: 44 minutes – Summary and Video
Management is a subject that has techniques to help you go from where you are to where you want to be.  Management By the Numbers (MBN)  can be faster and more accurate than other forms of management, and help build staff morale and make it more self directed.

Capacity Constraints : 33 minutes – Summary and Video
Do you work hard but you just don’t get as far as you should? The reason may be that you are running into unseen bottlenecks that are choking off your production and suffocating your growth. This is the subject of Capacity Constraints.

How to Be an Effective Practice CEO  Video
If you are struggling with the ups and downs of a stressful practice, or have finally “settled” into a comfort zone producing much lower than you know you are capable of, this program is for you.

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Chiropractic Office Manager Webinars

 Chiropractic Manager Webinar – Roles and Goals  Summary, Video and Study Guide
What Are The Key Roles In Your Office? A hidden barrier in many offices has to do with confusing roles and job duties. Clear these up and see how much smoother patients and paper flow, and happier the team becomes.  Small office or big health business, clarify these 8 roles and the numbers will go up.
 

Chiropractic Manager Webinar – Job and Performance Reviews    Video
Employee reviews are often neglected, or are dreaded by employee and doctor. This webinar covers the basic steps to make them effective and positive for both doctor and employee.  Approx 37 minutes.

Chiropractic Manager Webinar – Motivating Your Staff – Video  Ms. Phyllis Frase shares 5 secrets to keeping yourself and your staff motivated.

 Chiropractic Manager Webinar – Team Meetings   Summary, Video and Study Guide. This is an overview of 8 essential actions to help you improve your meetings and make them faster, more fun, and more effective. Plus, different types of short meetings that your team can grow.

 Chiropractic Manager Webinar –  The Office Manager Job Description  Summary, Video and Study Guide. This class covers 17 essential duties of the office manager. Both the doctor and the office manager should watch and discuss these duties.
 

Chiropractic Manager Webinar-  How to Best to Train Your Staff  Summary, Video and Study Guide This webinar covers eight tips  to improve the performance of your team.  Training plays a big part in team building.
 

Chiropractic Manager Webinar– How to Hire the Right Team Member   Summary, Video and Study Guide.
This webinar  covers eight priniciples for hiring the right team member from knowing when to hire, who to hire and how to hire.
 

Office Manager Webinar – It’s All About the Patient, the Doctor and the MISSION [Summary, Video and Study Guide]
There are procedures to help the patients and procedures that help the doctor help the patient and then there is Everything Else.  Tips on how to deal with Everything Else. (30 minutes)

Office Manager Webinar- Part II – Tips and Tricks to make the office more efficient[Summary, Video]
Part II reveals tips and tricks of what an office manager can actually do in the office on a day to day basis to make things run smoother and  significantly improve the volume and quality of services. (55 minutes)

 Office Manager Webinar- Part I – Fundamentals of Practice Management [Summary, Video]
Part I covers the fundamentals of Practice Management (55 minutes)

 

Chiropractic Marketing Webinars

Innate Marketing  (55 minutes) – Webinar plus Summary.
There are stories that float around every now and then about how some offices can simply “think”  “New Patients” and they come in.
Are these stories an urban legend? A myth, or a fact? Can staff or doctors “concept” new patients in the door. Is this true? If so, how can you do this?  10 steps to help you generate more patient visits through “concepting.”

Chiropractic Special Promotions  (55 minutes) – Webinar plus Summary.
This webinar covers different promotions by month. You will learn 2-4 different practical promotions for each month of the year. More importantly, you will learn how to organize them so that they are time effective and productive.

Patient Retention – Summary and Video
If you understand the underlying basics of patient retention your appointment book should always be full.  Covered in this webinar is: Patient retention should be based on Principles – not gimmicks. Where are we you taking your patients? Why they quit?  The cost of not getting them there.

 Chiropractic Patient Education – Summary and Video (45 min)
We go over 7 basic strategies that cover the entire horizon of patient education and explain why it is so necessary to educate your patients if you want them to be healthier.

 Infomercials. – Summary and Video .
Whatever happened to Infomercials? They’re still around and they still work. And you can do them very inexpensively. You just need to know how. This webinar will give you practical examples and include forms for you to use in producing your own amateur and informational marketing that can help you create more new patients and keep the ones you have.

 Internet Marketing and Social Media. – Summary and Video . This webinar covers some fundamentals regarding social media, Facebook, and general Internet marketing. (35 minutes) (not yet posted)

 The Art of Spinal Screenings. – Summary and Video . Spinal Screenings – The Queen of External Marketing.  Everyone has done at least a few  spinal screenings. You have probably had some success with them. But how much better could you do if you knew the fundamentals of this time tested external marketing activity?  This is a three part series on spinal screenings. This session we will review the most fundamental principles of screenings. Get these, and all else will follow.(45 minutes)

 Scheduling Screenings and other External Events – Summary and Video .  How to Schedule External Events And Create External Referral Sources.  Types of events, Outcomes, Purpose. How to plan the events and get them scheduled.(30 minutes)

Marketing Tips: Earth Day, Spring Promotions, and other Tips – Summary and Video This webinar covers: Powerful internal marketing script, Report of findings referral procedure,  upcoming spring promotions, with special attention to utilizing Earth Day as an opportunity to promote your services.

Short Overview of Chiropractic Marketing Management with Some Marketing Tips – Summary and Video   This is a short version of marketing management and some tips for the upcoming months. What are the three levels of marketing?  What part does communication have in your marketing?  How to engage your patients in your marketing efforts.  Upcoming special promotions. (30 minutes)

Marketing Management, Part I and Part II – This is the longer version of how to manage your marketing, and why.

Chiropractic Marketing Management – Session I – Summary and Video The Why, What and How of Marketing. Getting your Marketing off the Ground. (55 minutes)

Chiropractic Marketing Management – Session II – Summary and Video  Specific Marketing Manager Duties – Your Job Description.  General Overview of the Most Effective Marketing Procedures in Each of the 11 Marketing Categories (55 minutes)

 

Marketing the movie DOCTORED for your practice and community

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There has never been a movie like this for chiropractors. Now with this professionally produced documentary on DVD, you have an extraordinary tool to help you educate your staff, patients and community.

It really  is historic.

You can learn more about it on the trailer and of course, by watching the movie. I am not going to give it a review here other than to give it two thumbs up.

I recommend that you use it to educate your office team, patients and your community. Here are some tips on doing so:

  1. It is intended to be shown as a movie and not as a reception room video clip.
  2. Set aside two and a half hours with your team during some down time.  Watch it uninterrupted. No phones, patients, etc.
  3. Afterwards, eat.  Have the food brought it.
  4. Now, discuss the movie. What did everyone think?
  5. Then discuss how best to use it – for patients and non patients. Put together some tentative plans.
  6. Set up two or three special private screenings for 8-10 patients.
  7. Watch the movie with them, feed them and then ask them what they thought and then how they recommend we use this movie.
  8. This now becomes a focus group. You will find that you get good ideas from them that might also appeal to other patients. Plus, they will now be very motivated to bring in more of their family and friends.
  9. Rent a space outside of your office and show the movie for non patients. This requires LOTS of promotion and preparation. Dr. Anthony Ebel has a description with examples of what he is doing this year. See links below.
  10. Over November and December, use the movie internally to generate excitement with your patients. With Holiday and Christmas and New Year retail promotions, we recommend to keep the promotion directed internally.   Then, in Jan and Feb., promote your special screenings to the community.

In the end, I think DOCTORED shows how courageous and committed all of you are who work in and with the great profession of chiropractic.

New ideas and methods that work are often opposed at first before they are generally accepted by the public.   This movie will help get your services more accepted and in fact, desired.

RESOURCE LINKS:

Order the movie and trailer

Movie Trailer trailer of movie, originally entitled: “Medical, Inc.”

Dr. Ebel promotional program

Dr. Ebel’s flier and tickets Front  Back of flier

Interview with one of the executive producers of the movie, Dr. Paul Riegleman from WI (5 minutes) Link

Doctored image you can download for your posters

Dr. Mercola  and comments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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10 Strategies for Improving Patient Retention

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In our recent webinar on patient retention, we reviewed basic procedures that can be used to decrease patient drop outs.

More significantly, we looked at a new or model for practice retention that many businesses are now using successfully.

If your visit average is less than 60, then you can benefit from the material we covered.

The old approach to patient retention is focused around patient control procedures designed to “plug up” the “leaky bucket.”  These still work and we covered some of the more effective procedures.

But this approach tends to address the symptoms more than the causes.  A more effective approach is focuses on teamwork.

Patients, like customers, want two things: results and a “good feeling.” The “good feeling” is a product of how much each doctor and staff member genuinely cares about that patient at the time he or she is interacting with that patient.  Patients will even tend to stay with a doctor and a practice if their results are not satisfying IF the service is extraordinary.

An effective method of improving patient retention includes role playing the “moments of truth” each team member has with patients. These include phone and walk-in greetings from the front desk, patient encounters with the doctor, therapist, and with the billing department for financial consultations.

Here are ten strategies you can put into place to keep your chiropractic patients coming back.

10 Strategies To Improve Patient Retention

__1. Love The Services You Provide.   If you don’t love what you do, how can you expect your patients to?   People buy based upon confidence – and if don’t have faith, confidence and love for your services, your patients won’t either and they won’t come back. (They won’t refer either.)

__2. Love Your Patients.  People can tell if you are being real, or just reading a script. You see it when you go to the chain stores and the checkout clerk says “hello”, or “have a nice day.”   They say the words, but it isn’t genuine.  They just don’t care. Practice and improve these “moments of truth.”

__3. Their Goals. Be goal oriented with your patients. Get them to set and commit to a goal for improving their health. Keep them recommitting.

__4. Coaching Patients.  Once you have their commitment, you now can use your patient control techniques. The webinar included a short presentation on an effective patient recall system used many years by Linda Skiles, former Chiropractic Assistant of the year in WI. The forms discussed in the webinar are located on our PM&A members site.

__5. Education to Make Your Patients Self-Motivated. Would you as a chiropractor, or experienced chiropractic team member, stop getting adjusted? Of course not.  And why not?  Because you know it how important adjustments are to maintaining your health. You have been educated.

__6. Help With Finances. Third party pay is confusing. Financial concerns can be embarrassing for your patients. Providing friendly and easy access to personal help in working out paying for their services can assist keeping your patients coming back.

__7. Stand for Something.  Your mission has to extend beyond relieving pain, just like Apple goes beyond computers or Starbucks beyond coffee. If you honestly embrace a greater purpose, your patients will see why you do what you do, not just how you do it. They will want to support that purpose as well by getting adjusted regularly

__8. Family.  People like to belong to communities. We like to have friends. Some offices call their patients “Practice Members”, while others have “wellness clubs”,  and advisory committees.  However you do it, your patients should feel like they are part of your inside circle.

__9. Measure, review, improve. Constantly work on improving your service.  That which you don’t improve upon eventually atrophies.

__10. Take care of each other.  We spent a lot of time on this one, but need to spend more. One of our webinars later this year will zero in on how this action helps create a winning team.

As it turns out, the way you treat each other is the way you will treat your patients.

The webinar is located on our PM&A members site now. PM&A Members: Marketing Training/ Patient Retention

[Download version of this file for your staff meetings and reference: 10 Strategies for Patient Retention. ]

Billy DeMoss Shakes Up Appleton Wisconsin at Petty Michel Seminar

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Billy DeMoss, ChiropracTOR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

Video here

Photos here

Making a Chiropractic Patient Community

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Is it just YOUR office?

Or does it also belong to your patients?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Some examples:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NO PAIN…………MUCH GAIN!!!!

Changing lives….One Adjustment at a Time!

Happy Bones = Healthy Life!

Don’t Slack…..Fix your BACK

Bartz Chiropractic, your adjustment Junction!

Less yacking, more Cracking!!

A HEALTHY SPINE WILL MAKE YOU SHINE!

BE WELL-ADJUSTED, BE HAPPY, BARTZ CHIROPRACTIC

MOOO’VON OVER TO BETTER HEALTH AT BARTZ CHIROPRACTIC (COW PICTURE OVER THE moooo)

A lifelong journey of health starts with CHIROPRACTIC

Put your life BACK IN LINE with Bartz Chiropractic Care

Walk STRAIGHT to the FAIR

Dr Bartz will CRACK you up!!

Dr Bartz is a “god” Chiropractor

Back aligned, feeling fine!!

Chiropractic Newsletters

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Newsletters to Your Patients

Pity the poor practice newsletter!

So misunderstood. Forgotten, neglected, and ridiculed.

Scorned as too expensive, dismissed for eating up too much staff time, and disregarded because they just don’t “work.”

But is any of this true…?

Not necessarily.

Too expensive? They can be. Fancy paper, color photos, six pages,  and sent first class can cost thousands.

Take too much time? Oh boy, how true this can be!  Who is going to get the information and write it, format the newsletter, get the mailing list, organize the mailing, do the printing, add the postage, and take it to the post office?  That is a LOT of work, and costly staff hours.

Do they work? After spending so much time and money on any other promotion, you would expect the new patients to come in for a good return on your investment. Often, this does not occur.

BUT WAIT… it doesn’t have to be like this. IN FACT:

Patient newsletters can cost as little .50 cents per newsletter. That includes, postage, paper, printing, and taking them to the post office.  The offices where we see them used regularly have shown an increase in patient referrals and in reactivated patients.

Before we outline how to do it, here is why you should.

Why You Should Do A Newsletter
When a patient starts care with you, you and that one person, old, young, male, female, it doesn’t matter, that ONE person and you – have started a conversation. They confided in you about some things about which, outside of close family friends, no one knows. It is personal. Professional, yes, but the fact is, you and your patient have started a dialogue.

It is your job to continue it. It is not their job to do so – it is yours.

You are the doctor and they came to you. They reached out for help. All you have to do is to keep the conversation going. It may be one sided for a while, but they are listening.

We are all spammed to death. It has been estimated that each one of us receives up to 3,000 to 5,000 separate advertising impressions each day in the U. S. People are numb to advertising. It is no wonder that your ads in the local paper just don’t have the pull they used to.

Patients who have once been to you already know who you are. When they receive a letter from you, it is from someone who knows them.  You are communicating to someone who already knows you and knows that you know them.

Statistics tell us that it is much more profitable to invest in keeping the patients you have, and marketing to them, than trying to procure new patients that do not know you.

Patients stop seeing you because sometimes, Life gets in the way. Finances, personal problems, work, and after a while, they kind of just loose touch.  But you are mistaken if you think that your relationship with them is over.  Once someone tells you intimate details about their personal condition, a relationship has started. Think about who you have confided in personally. You feel a special connection to them, right?

So, a conversation has started and by simply maintaining it, you will find that the patients stay with you longer, come back to care more frequently, and refer more of their family and acquaintances.

How To Do A Newsletter
For those of you who have the Marketing Manager System (sm)  computer program, there are a number of sample templates and examples that can be easily reformatted for your office.

Newsletters are thrown away, of course,  but they are reminders and brief advertisements about your services. They should not look like another pamphlet – homemade newsletters work very well. Too fancy is too expensive and look like the regurgitated pulp that gets thrown in most health articles and brochures.

Add a column just from you. We have a sample doctor’s column which you can use. On our members site for our clients, we have others.  Add some news, maybe one of Margie’s favorite non fattening brownie recipes, a snapshot, a testimonial, and a list of upcoming events. That’s about it.

Put it on one piece of paper that gets folded over twice and become self mailer. Bid it out to local mailers and you will find that the printing, paper, postage, and mailing all comes out to about fifty cents each.  If you have 1000 patients to whom you are mailing, that comes out to $500. If you do the mailing every 4 months, it averages to be $125 per month.

Make sure that one person is delegated to oversee the newsletter. It should not take but a few hours to do.

Email newsletters are nearly free, of course, and can be effective.  You can capture the email addresses from your patients and send out personal newsletters using services such as constantcontact.com, aweber.com, or a new one icontact.com. There are many others that have simple templates where you can simple type in the information and send out.

Homemade Newsletters versus Preprinted Newsletters

There are a number of companies that will print and mail newsletters out to your patients for you.  There are also a number of chiropractic commercial websites that will send out prefabricated electronic email newsletters to the email addresses you supply them.  The advantages are obvious – someone else does all the work and patients receive a professional good looking copy in their mail box, or their email in box.

We have seen these work, however we prefer the home made newsletter.  The reason is that professionally done newsletters are a bit like pamphlets – they look nice, but they are generic and soulless.  This can be particularly true of email newsletters. Some prefabricated newsletters make room for your customized inserts.  In this case, these might work well.

The primary problem with the preprinted newsletter, whether “hard copy” or electronic, is that it can take you out of the loop. You cannot really delegate all of your patient communication.  You can delegate some of your communication, but the point is, you want to maintain a personal relationship with your patients.

There is more to it than this, but don’t worry about getting it too prefect or too fancy. Funky, friendly, and funny is good.  Just do it and keep the conversation going. You will see your old patients returning, referrals increasing, and established patients coming in to thank you for that the recipe you put in your last newsletter.

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[Petty, Michel & Associates offers special practice development programs designed to help you achieve your goals.  For more information on our 3 Goals Seminars, coaching programs, and products: Services Products]

Chiropractor: Are You a D.C. or a D. S.?

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Whether you are a D.C. or a D.S. makes a big difference in your patient retention and patient referrals.

Many years ago we were working with a chiropractor who, while he had a great practice, couldn’t manage it worth a damn.  Even so, because his patient retention and patient referrals were exceptional, he had a high volume practice.

As we worked with him to improve and expand his business structure, his volume continued to increase. This was a while back; when note taking was very simple, but I think he got up to seeing around 500 visits a week, with peak weeks over 600. We helped with marketing and associate doctors, and he continued to grow. He had all kinds of marketing programs, plenty of associates, and made a great name for chiropractic.  But at the heart of his growth was a special secret he often related.

What was his secret?

Well, one of them was the way he started each case.  On his initial consultation with each patient he would say:

“Before I tell you what chiropractic does, let me tell you what it doesn’t do. As doctors of chiropractic, we do not prescribe drugs.  (Pause.) We also do not perform surgery. (Pause.) Lastly, we do not treat symptoms.” (Long pause.)

He would let that sink in for a few moments. He would then briefly explain what chiropractors were really after.  Namely, subluxations. And while there may be other terms for this condition, from a marketing point of view, this has worked. It fixes in the mind of the patient that there is an underlying cause or a basic contributing factor that resulted in, or at least affected their current complaint(s).

Over the years of consulting, we routinely see doctors “going shallow”, treating only the superficial symptoms that patients come in with. “Hey doc., I must got a crick in my back. Can you just give me a crack here (points) and fix it?”  Horror of horrors!

It is easy to focus only on the symptoms.  First, it is the reason why the majority of your patients come to see you.  They have pain, stiffness, or discomfort and want it fixed.  Second, it is what your insurance company requires in your documentation.  Third, it is the path of least resistance. Give the patient some relief and then move on.  Fourth, chiropractic is usually SO effective with symptoms relatively quickly, that we often are just happy with that.

I am certainly not advocating any particularly type of treatment guideline.  I am just pointing out that many successful chiropractors look for earlier traumas in their consultation and history and maybe spend just a bit more time on the general diagnostic process, if only a minute more.

This is from a marketing point of view, not from a clinical perspective. In these times of higher deductibles, you have to put the value into your service.  If a patient comes to you for a pain in the “keister”, and you only address that, not only is the patient being the doctor, but also you are relegated to “therapist.”

Another doctor David and I worked with had a practice “melt down” one winter day. (By the way, we see these “melt-downs” every now and then! Too much insurance B.S., mid-life burnout, staff problems, etc. Please call us if you feel one coming on!)  He was mostly a “straight” doctor, but had purchased a very inexpensive, used EMS (muscle stim.) unit for patients.  One day, one of his patients came for his adjustment. He told the doctor that he didn’t want adjustments anymore, just wanted some of that electronic muscle stimulation.   Our doctor blew a fuse. “Fine”, he said. “Here, take the dang machine and go home. You can have it.” And he actually gave it to him.

A bit extreme, but it was probably good to get it out of his system. The doctor was feeling that he had become only a band-aid therapist for his patients because of the therapy unit. It took a while, but we got him to see that it was not the patient’s fault. The patient simply did not understand the purpose of the doctor’s treatment program.

D.C. could be called Doctor of “Chronicity.” I was reminded of this recently by one of our clients.  D.S. could be “Doctor of Symptoms.”

We suggest the following:

1.    Be a D.C. Doctors who emphasize the chronic nature of the patient’s symptoms seem to have busier practices.  We suggest that you should do both:  definitely help patients get what they want – pain relief.  But, as appropriate, work with them to get what they really need.

As a side note, some doctors can become so philosophical that they loose touch with the fact that “the Customer is King.” (In Japan, I have read they say that the “Customer is God.”) Philosophy, principles, and emphasizing the chronic nature, as indicated, is fine.  So is “Wellness.” Just remember that you have to also give the patients what they want and keep them happy.

2.    Integrity. Needless to say, in all things you have to call it like you see it and maintain your integrity. If there are no chronic conditions, then so be it. But at least, take the time to look.  Be curious, investigate, and don’t let the insurance company or the patient’s desire for fast results compromise your clinical integrity.

3.    Interest. Traumas may have occurred many years earlier, or accumulated over the years.  Be genuinely interested and focused on their case. Even intense about what you discover in their exam and x-ray and how you explain it. “Would you look at this, Mrs. Jones”, pointing to a spot on the x-ray as if this was the first x-ray you had seen of this kind before. (And it is.)  This will increase the patient’s confidence in you and acceptance of your treatment plan.

4.    Time, Repetition, Effort. It may take time to correct the condition. It may take repetitive visits (like an orthodontist), and it will take effort on the patient’s part as well as yours.

Go over the factors of time, repetition, and effort with the patient. You can also ask the patient how long do they think it will take to correct the condition.   If you have educated them on the true nature of the condition, you might be surprised to hear that they often offer a longer period of time than you were ready to present to them in your treatment program. (A very successful doctor recently reminded me of this.)

5.    You Are, And Have Been, A Leader. And finally, don’t sell yourself short. As a chiropractor, you are an active member in a profession that, no doubt, has led the way in real health care over the last 100 years.  Certainly, it will continue to do so in the future, provided that you stick to your guns, while always adapting to the ever-changing market.

By looking for and working to correct the long term causes of spinal related symptoms, you will inspire trust and confidence in your patients as their doctor of chiropractic, coach, and friend. As such, your patients will be loyal and refer their friends because of your care. And, as such, you will be a D.C.

Ed Petty