I had an odd dream last night. I dreamt that I was back in my chiropractic practice, sitting at the front desk, when the phone rang. A pleasant voice said, “Hello! I was referred to you by one of your favorite patients, and I’d like to begin care in your office. I don’t have any pain, I just think I’d be better off if I had some wellness care.”
I made the appointment, and no sooner did I hang up then the phone rang again. “Hi there,” a cheerful voice greeted me. “I heard about you from another doctor in the area, and I want to be as healthy as possible. When can I come in to get under your care?”
Once again, I made the appointment, and as I looked up from the front desk, a young family of four stopped in front of my storefront window, spoke briefly among themselves, and opened my door to walk in. “Aren’t you the wellness doctor in town?” the mother asked. “We just moved into the neighborhood, and we’ll need to make appointments to get ourselves and the children a check-up — moving can be so stressful, you know, and we want to be at our best as we settle into our new home.”
If this dream seems too surreal for you to wrap your mind around, I can certainly understand that, given the experience so many of us have with recruiting new patients in our communities. The majority of our new clientele seeks our services to deal with some health problem, and while we welcome the opportunity to help sick people get well, it’s befuddling to realize the small percentage of people who pursue a program of regular chiropractic care as part of their health and wellness routine.
Looking back over the dream, the surprising part is not that some people would want chiropractic services for wellness, rather than just for condition-based care. The mindblower is that so few people do. You would think that in 107 years, more citizens would avail themselves of wellness care — and therein lies the rub. People do want wellness, but they have yet to make the connection between wellness and chiropractic care. We’ve convinced the public that chiropractic is good for back pain and headaches — now, we have to face the reality that if anyone is going to deliver a message of wellness and quality of life through the chiropractic lifestyle, it’ll have to be the chiropractors who do it.
What do you say to patients in your office? Do you ask them how they feel on every visit? You may think you’re being kind or responsible, but being asked how you feel by your doctor is different from being asked by a friend. The patient feels obligated to report every symptom, not realizing that you make most of your clinical distinctions on interpreting your findings, and not so much on symptoms — but that’s the way they were brought up to communicate with their health advisors, to “tell the doctor where it hurts.” Unfortunately, it reinforces their belief that they are there to be treated for their condition. If that paradigm is to shift, it starts with reshaping your interactions with your patients.
If you want to live this dream in your practice, take the responsibility to educate your patients about chiropractic wellness care — you’ll make a bigger difference in the lives of the people you serve.
Dennis Perman DC, for The Masters Circle
PS If you’re planning your 2004 seminar schedule, remember to include the first quarter MVP seminars, entitled “Raising The Bar Of Chiropractic Practice.” These power-packed two day seminars in Chicago, SF and NJ will help you improve your practice with better leadership, marketing, patient education and confrontational tolerance. We’ve even added continuing education for many states — to register, or for more information, call 800-451-4514 or go to themasterscircle.com.
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