The 10 Important Strategies for Repositioning Patients

In my last article I explained why a cash practice’s success is not in the payment plan and gave guidelines for payment plans that would fit most any state. The key for patients to pay for service beyond insurance and refer other can be summed up in one word- VALUE. To value chiropractic, the patient needs to see chiropractic as a natural part of their healthcare lifestyle.

Positioning chiropractic as back pain treatment alone merely limits a practice and cheats patients of important care necessary to maintain optimum health potential. Unfortunately, this is what the majority of chiropractors have done. Since the majority of chiropractors rely on insurance money for income, they have to conform to what the insurance company allows. For example, insurance codes for musculoskeletal aches and pains. Patients are educated this way so when insurance stops paying, they stop care. It’s amazing, but patients actually believe that since the insurance company only pays for a certain amount of care they think that’s all they need and they wonder why the doctor is recommending more.

Patients have to be repositioned to understand that chiropractic is for total body function it is not a panacea nor is it an alternative for medical treatments. They have to understand that many of the medical treatments they seek are not necessary because their problems are a result of nerve interference creating dysfunction and disease. The chiropractor’s job is to remove nerve interference so the body can restore itself and function better, not treat symptoms like the medical doctor. The goal is to get patients to see chiropractic as an integral part of their health care. Therefore, in order to optimize their health potential they must have a chiropractor on their health care team.

Repositioning patients to this “traditional” philosophy must be done consistently in all aspects of your patient contact. Starting when the patient first steps into your office.

There are 10 important strategies to follow for repositioning:

1. Focus by asking questions.

Instead of telling people chiropractic principles, ask them questions so they access their own references. People already have references for the chiropractic principle but have not lined them to chiropractic.

Example:

Dr.: “What happens when your brain stops?”

Pt.: “You die.”

Dr.: “What happens when you cut a nerve to a part of the body? Does it live or die? (In terms of its ability to function and contribute to the whole of the body)

Pt.: “It will die.”

Dr.: “If a bone is out of alignment in your spine (subluxated), interfering with the optimum nerve flow or life force to any part of the body- will that part, over time, be healthier or sicker?”

Pt.: “Sicker”

By asking questions, the patient has to retrieve and align their references in a way to focus them on a specific principle (Chiropractic). They believe the principle because the answers to the questions came from their references.

2. Pain/Pleasure principle.

It is a known fact that people will do more to avoid pain than to gain pleasure. Neurolinguistics is founded on this principle. Direct your questions toward how being subluxated would be more painful (for their health) than spending the money to correct them. (continuing with the last example)

Dr.: “So if we locate subluxations in your spine, is your health enough of a priority to fix them?”

Pt.: “Yes it is, but does insurance cover it?”

Dr.: “Insurance will only cover a small portion. Regardless of how much they cover, you still have a problem that needs to be fixed.

(Pain) If you don’t fix your subluxations, you’ll continue to get worse. If you only fix it half way, because that’s all insurance will pay for, your symptoms may improve but the subluxations will continue to cause damage until your back is to where you started from, which is a loss of time and money.

(Pleasure) On the other hand, if you’re committed to fix this and maintain it, we will work out a payment plan that’s comfortable and affordable with your budget. How does that sound?”

Pt.: Great!

Use the pain/pleasure principle in all situations in your practice. It will help the patient see possibilities rather than limitations and make their decisions practical rather than reactive to fear.

3. Future Pacing

Future pacing uses the pain/pleasure principle so the patient can see their future potential. The future will hold pain or pleasure depending on their present actions. This is a powerful principle to help people take action now before they get into trouble. The majority of your patients are baby boomers who look to the future for pleasure by investing in the present. They want future pleasure, not pain, so they are willing to make the appropriate sacrifices.

A study in 1988 revealed another important point about Boomers. Their most important values were family, health and peace of mind. By future pacing patients about the damaging effects of subluxations if they don’t maintain their spines now will motivate them to include chiropractic as part of their heath care maintenance for themselves and their families. With family and health at such a high value, they don’t want their family to develop the problem they’re coming in to fix.

4. Anchoring with power tools.

Anchoring is setting a reference that can be triggered later to focus the patient. Power tools such as pamphlets, posters, and tapes can be used as anchors in patient education to deliver a powerful message with leverage to keep the patient focused on the principle of chiropractic. All explanations of chiropractic must include a visual anchor like a pamphlet or poster. Avoid generic posters like sunsets with “have a nice day with chiropractic”. Power tools build power practices. Anchor your patients to “The Damaging Effects of Subluxations”, “The Force is Within You”, or “Chiropractic, the Affordable Way”.

5. Analogies

Analogies are the best way to educate patients to new principles. People have references to common things that you can use to bridge the gap. For example, put a rubber band on a patient’s finger and ask them how they would treat the problem. There are several points this analogy makes

a. The rubber band symbolizes the subluxations.

b. When the rubber band fist goes on, there is no symptom but the problem exists.

c. Over time, the finger starts to hurt because of the damage.

d. You can treat the finger with massage, pills, exercise, or surgery but only removing the interference (correcting the problem) will restore heath to the finger.

Another analogy is the plant with the water supply cut off by a padcock. When water is blocked off to a plant, it doesn’t just fall over. It takes time for cells to damage enough to show symptoms of dryness and wilt. When water is restored by aligning the padcock, the plant doesn’t just jump up and look beautiful instantly. It takes time for nature to heal. Subluxations and our ability to innately heal is the same way.

We don’t know if symptoms are going to disappear so why do we tell patients when or if they will? We can only align the bone and let innate intelligence (nature) do the healing.

6. Four Essentials.

The fist pamphlet we give our patients on the first visit, before the exam, is “The Four Essentials of Health”. Most people only maintain three essentials of health but if they knew of four, they would maintain them all. To figure out the four essentials of health all you have to do is look at what’s essential for health. If you stop any essential independent of the other, you will die. If you interfere with quantity or quality of any essential independent of the others, your health potential losers.

Food, Water, Oxygen and Nerve Impulse are what we need to survive and stay healthy. Eating right and exercising will take are of the first three but nerve impulse is maintained through chiropractic adjustments. This is why so many “fit” people can’t understand why they have health problems still occurring. They don’t realize that fitness and health are not the same thing. They may be fit, but they are not optimally healthy because of subluxation.

7. MPC (Maintenance, Problem, Crisis)

There is a fundamental law in nature. If something that requires maintenance is neglected, it will develop a problem. Problems are silent. When enough damage occurs from the problem, a threshold is met and crisis occurs. Crisis is the symptom stage. An unhealthy diet of high fat will lend to the problem called heart disease. Heart disease is silent. As the problem develops, the damage reaches a threshold and a symptom called heart attack occurs. The spine is the same way. The majority of people have spinal subluxation because they have never learned how to maintain their spine. Spines require maintenance from birth for maximum nerve integrity and optimum health potential. Maintenance means drinking plenty of fluids, movement, proper ergonomics, and adjustments. If spines are not maintained, they will develop a problem (subluxations). Subluxations are silent. When enough disease and damage occurs, a symptom (crisis) develops. Our job is not to just bring the patient out of crisis and leave the problem there, nor is it to correct the problem only. It is to correct the problem and maintain it. To reposition patients, explain to them the reason they’re in your office, and that the reason 9 out of 10 people have a back problem is they didn’t know to maintain their spines. If they don’t maintain what you correct, there’s no need correcting it because the problem (subluxation) will return and they will eventually be back in crisis. The key is lead with maintenance and follow with crisis. The future paces crisis, if the action of maintenance is not taken now. I really anchor this hard with my posters and pamphlets on spinal maintenance. When people understand this concept, the next natural progression is to bring their family in to start maintaining their spine. (Before they develop problems silently over the years and end up in crisis with symptoms like the patient you’re talking to.) Remember the Boomer’s values: family, health, peace of mind.

The other thing I say to patients to establish value is “I allow you to bring your family in for a spinal exam as a professional courtesy since most people don’t know about maintaining their spine.” Once I’ve explained this concept to them, they want to have their family checked. “After all, what if they’re subluxated and developing the same problem you’re coming in to fix (another anchor poster)? If you understand what I’ve told you and care about them, I allow you to bring them in to get their spines checked as a professional courtesy. Sometimes people think they have a medical problem, and its nerve related because of a subluxations.” After this, I give them my pamphlet “Chiropractic, the Affordable Way” which positions pain to insurance and pleasure to cash payment. This concept alone will super charge your practice!

8. Workshops (orientation classes)

In another article I will cover the specifics of how to do a workshop to your patients so you can sign up 30-40 new patients per class and maximize the number of those who come in and start care. Suffice it to say, educational workshops, spinal care classes, orientations or lay lectures are imperative! Where else can you education your patients better, get more intimate with them, let them experience your intent for them at its highest level and strengthen their commitment as to why they’re doing chiropractic? Use the fundamentals we’ve talked about in this article and make the classes mandatory for all new patients. I have three classes: mental, physical, and chemical. I explain how subluxations affect those three things in the body and how these three stresses cause subluxations. (See our live tapes on The Triad Workshops.)

Keep subluxation and basic chiropractic philosophy as the center point. When done correctly, the natural progression is for patients to bring family and friends in to maintain their spines. DO NOT DO CLASSES TO GET NEW PATIENS! Do them to educate your current patients and let them see your passion for chiropractic and your desire to help them. New Patients will follow!

9. Research

Over the years I’ve accumulated medical research to substantiate chiropractics functional philosophy. There is nothing more powerful than showing research done by Mud’s to substantiate chiropractic philosophy. This repositions the patients quickly because many people are still stuck in the old medical paradigm. Use research articles for your bulletin board, pass them out and keep a research book in your adjusting room.

10. Have fun!

By staying on purpose with chiropractic philosophy, the fun returns to your practice. People will see your passion for your work which helps them become more comfortable that you’re going to help them. Remember, people will buy you and your belief in chiropractic before they buy chiropractic.