By William N. Willis, D.C.
Most people will probably tell you that they value the truth in every situation.
We want the facts and we want people to be straight with us-or at least that’s
what we say.
If so, then why do so many of us lie to others and—more often than not—to
ourselves? As Mark Twain noted with such slicing wit: “Truth is more of
a stranger than fiction.”
This column is far too short to cover all the ways in which we deceive ourselves,
but for the chiropractor, the area where we so often fall short is in telling
the truth about our profession to our patients. In fact, the “truth”
is that most of us have lied to our patients at one time or another at the most
fundamental level—in explaining just what chiropractic is and why they
should be our patients.
Before you say, “No, I always tell my patients what chiropractic is all
about,” let me explain, and then you can be the judge of just how much
“truth” there is in your everyday interactions.
Sadly, most of us approach patients not with the intent of educating them about
the subluxation and the power of the specific adjustment to change their health
and quality of life. Instead, we’re afraid that if we tell them the care
we are providing is not about pain and symptoms, but a revitalized life, they
will reject us. We fear that because the concept is so far removed from the
medical paradigm of drugs and surgery, they’ll think we’re a quack
and run away. We shy away from laying out the course of action needed to achieve
robust and long lasting health, and instead let the patient dictate how we run
our practice.
Practicing in fear is a heavy burden to bear, and one that will inhibit you
and your practice. In most cases, in fact, a practice steeped in fear will soon
die.
In order to be a success in this area and put your negative emotions behind
you, it’s essential that you have a clear idea of what you’re trying
to accomplish and how you’re going to go about it.
While spontaneity is a wonderful thing when it comes to your everyday practice
interactions, with new patients it is helpful to hone a scripted presentation.
Scripting may sound very mechanical or even unwieldy in the day-to-day hustle
and bustle of an office, but think about it. You have certain information that
you want to convey that doesn’t change, and you have goals that you want
to reach with each patient that don’t change either. Developing a presentation
that works saves you time and energy and also raises the effectiveness level
for both you and your staff.
Scripts help front desk personnel know what to say to patients when they come
into the office and when they call to schedule an appointment. Scripts represent
established polices, like telling a patient about payments and keeping appointments.
Scripting works for your employees and it will also work for you as well. Scripts
can most importantly aid in telling patients the truth about chiropractic in
every important encounter you will have with them. It helps everyone to be clear
and “on purpose.”
Truth telling is also extremely important in your most in-depth encounter with
a new patient. It is here that you have the opportunity to present your patient
with a life changing opportunity, if you’re willing to do so.
If you tell the truth about chiropractic your patients have the chance to decide
between whether they want to relieve their symptoms or if they want a lifetime
of health and vitality. The choice is always theirs because ultimately, the
patient always makes their own decisions about healthcare-but your job is making
sure that they have that choice.
A conversation in which you present your new patient with this vital choice
might go something like this:
“Sally, your job is to decide how much chiropractic care you want to receive
and how long you want to be a patient.
“I’ve found five subluxations which are presented here on your X-rays.
Three have been there for a long time and are probably a result of the accident
that you had as a child. Two are of more recent origin.
“As a doctor of chiropractic I specialize in correcting these types of
subluxations. You know that you’ve experienced a number of symptoms and
considerable pain as a result of these subluxations. If you want to completely
correct them it’s going to take four to five months of regular, dedicated
care on the schedule that I’ll outline for you.
“Sally, I don’t expect you to make a decision today. Right now 10
to 12 visits will give you symptomatic relief, because we’ll be able to
patch your problem.”
You tell Sally that at the end of those 12 visits you will re-evaluate her and
then she can make a decision about continued care. With every visit, in fact,
you present a re-evaluation about her progress and you continue to lay the groundwork
for continued care through your consistent education.
By showing Sally how effective chiropractic care can be on a short-term basis
in improving her quality of life, you also have the opportunity to show her
that continued care could achieve much longer lasting results. You’re
not engaging in a hard sell; that isn’t going to create a satisfied patient
who will refer others. No, you’re winning them over visit-by-visit, so
that they will make the decision to move from symptom care to corrective care.
In fact, the few patients who are validated by this approach won’t refer
new patients to you either. By taking the soft approach instead you can develop
a bond of trust that will serve both of you well.
During the 1990s when managed care permeated every aspect of healthcare, the
dental profession saw their income decline by a mere two percent. Medical doctors,
on the other hand, saw almost a 30 percent decline. The dentists learned early
on that if they did a good job and didn’t do anything to scare their patients
off, they could eventually sell them a host of new services during each six-month
visit.
At the heart of this strategy is telling the truth, telling it effectively and
trusting in that truth to achieve results. In the long run this approach will
result in a thriving practice and happy, healthy patients who will never cease
being your greatest advocates.
About the Author: William N. Willis, D.C. is a veteran writer, practice
management consultant, teacher and practitioner. A 1977 graduate of Life University,
he founded and operates a highly successful practice in Kennesaw, Ga. Drawing
on his personal experiences and study of hundreds of successful doctors, he
has distilled the essence of high-level practice and personal success. Over
the past two decades, he has taught these secrets to thousands of chiropractors
and chiropractic students through lectures, seminars and as a member of the
faculty of Life University and Life Chiropractic College West. He is the author
of the forthcoming book “The Essential Secrets of Practice Success”
due out this fall. You can address inquiries to Dr. Willis via e-mail at drbillwillis@aol.com.
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