March 2003
Say goodbye to boring case histories and
exams
by Dr. Kevin Pallis and Dr. Ed Plentz
How many case histories have you done
in your practice lifetime? If you're like most D.C.s, they're performed
with the passion of a visit to the dentist for a root canal. They are
usually either done by the
C.A.
or
conducted in a cursory manner by the doctor.
Watch as the usual case history
unfolds.
The D.C.'s busy, patients are waiting,
and a new patient is anxious and apprehensive. He has a pain or ache, some
condition, and has heard chiropractic can help. So far so good. Then he
fills out the case history. What's in YOUR case history, doctor? Do you
only ask about symptoms and conditions, or do you ask about spinal
injuries that have healed wrong?
When patients enter your office for the
first time, you're introducing them to a brand new concept -- spinal
injuries that have accumulated and healed wrong throughout their life.
When these spinal injuries heal wrong they weaken the spine, damage the
nerve system, and allow the body to lose whole body health.
The obvious beginning point is the
delivery process. The literature is clear that difficult deliveries cause
spinal injuries that heal wrong, weaken the spine, damage the nerve system
and allow the body to lose its health potential. It's not uncommon for
mothers to blurt out something about their children, during the case
history ("my little Jimmy was a forceps baby and blue... do you think
that these spinal injuries can contribute to his breathing
problem?").
The goal of the case history is to
communicate the chronicity of a patient's spinal injuries throughout his
or her life. How many times do patients practically brag they've had many
major causes of spinal injury (car accidents, falls, etc.) but that it
didn't hurt them?
Your job as a D.C. is to communicate to
the patient the seriousness of spinal injuries that have healed wrong. If
you cannot communicate this scientific fact to the patient, you can watch
your patient visit average and referral meter plummet.
One way to make the connection is to
stress to patients that even though they may have forgotten many of these
spinal injuries that have healed wrong, the injuries haven't forgotten
about them. They're permanently recorded in the spine whether a person
knows about it or not. Each successive new layer of injury further weakens
the spine, further damages the nerve system, and allows the body to get
sick.
Once you get the patient's attention
that there is something above and beyond an ache or pain, he or she is now
beginning to get it. If you only talk about aches, pains and symptoms
patients will continue to expect instantaneous relief. Once you introduce
them to the new concept of spinal injuries that have accumulated
throughout their life, their focus changes. Sure they want their problems
addressed, however they also want to have this spinal injury removed.
The average person understands that it
takes time to get out of shape, and it takes time to get back into shape.
To think an out-of-shape person can exercise tonight and be in shape is
shear lunacy. Removing layers of spinal injury is a process, not a quick
fix.
Now on to the exam.
The average 40-year-old has been
subjected to hundreds of examinations (dental, physical, ob/gyn, etc.).
The object of every one was the search for disease, pain, or symptoms. In
our exam, we focus solely on finding all of the spinal injuries that have
accumulated throughout a patient's life. It doesn't matter whether the
patient remembers the spinal injury or not. It gets recorded in the spine
if each injury goes uncorrected.
When the exam is being performed,
average patients are going to be amazed at how extensive the damage to
their spine is. And they will be thinking of people in their lives who
might also have this new concept of layers of spinal injury that could be
adversely affecting their health.
The "magical" thing about the
case history and exam is that patients come up with the dialogue and the
questions. There is no selling or prodding. Many patients have their
entire families under care within the first couple of adjustments. This
includes patients who may have entered your office for auto accidents,
industrial accidents, etc.
Boring case histories and exams are a
thing of the past when you focus on accumulated spinal injuries. Mothers
and fathers want the best for their entire family. Communicate to them
spinal injuries known as vertebral subluxation complex and you'll have a
family who stays, pays, and refers.
(The New Renaissance -- the next
generation of office procedure, chiropractic mindset for success, and
patient education for today's chiropractor -- is a complete system of
practice based on science and philosophy working on the doctor from inside
out. To learn more about The New Renaissance, and the Mentor IV Practice
Development Program that takes 24 years of the pioneering experience of
Renaissance procedures and combines it with the practical daily activities
of doctors in the field, contact Dr. Kevin Pallis at 781/255-7080, Dr. Ed
Plentz at 517/592-8208, or the New Renaissance world headquarters
800/525-3879.)
