December 2004

Chiropractic Assistants ‑‑ not receptionists

by Dr. Dennis Nikitow

CA means Chiropractic Assistant, not "receptionist." The mainstay of every doctor's practice is new patients and retention. CAs' role is to "assist" that effort and doctors have to train them.

Today's cold, high tech, cyberspace, medical, "Dr. Jones Chiropractic Center‑hold" attitude needs to be replaced with "I REALLY want to talk to you and we sincerely want to help you" attitude. In today's world, that takes some focus ‑‑ on serving.

CAs could literally make or break a practice based on their attitudes and actions. To maximize new patient acquisition and retention through teamwork, DCs must acquire, train, and develop CAs with the following traits:

1. Purpose. CAs need to have the right purpose to help the team acquire new patients. This purpose is to teach as many people possible with the understanding that everyone should have a DC on their health care team because spinal subluxations can affect the body's ability to function optimally, lowering health potential. CAs need to understand the impact of subluxations in order to deliver purposeful communication from the heart with passion and enthusiasm. Doctors should show CAs patient testimonials that reflect the life‑changing impact subluxation correction has on people's lives.

Once a CA sees and hears these life‑changing cases, she or he should be moved enough to want to tell everyone about chiropractic. CAs should be a beacon of hope to a chemically educated, iatrogenically diseased world. If CAs are mechanical in their delivering of communication, merely reciting scripts, either move their hearts or move them out of your practice.

2. Philosophy. Cas must know the philosophy and principles of chiropractic to realize the place chiropractic fits into the health care team. If they understand the philosophy they will understand that subluxations never cause symptoms, but create states of dis‑ease. Dis‑ease will eventually result in symptoms and lowered health potential and wellness. CAs should be able to convey this philosophy anytime, anywhere. They should know how to assist the doctor using visuals and support materials to enhance patients' understanding with confidence and certainty. They need to know the philosophy because they believe it. When they own it, they can live and give it.

3. System. Doctors must have a system to communicate and reposition people's beliefs on chiropractic to a wellness model. There must be a specific flow and a course of events that happen in the doctor's office for new patients, corrective care, and maintenance patients.

Each new patient is a reservoir for more new patients. CAs play a pivotal role here because they not only promote the new patient effort, they do it from a different place then the doctor.

When encouraging patients to send their friends in, patients have a different perception and interpretation when it comes from a CA, versus a doctor. One carries a certain level of authority and the other is more personable and intimate. Patients will often ask or tell CAs things they won't ask or tell the doctor. With this in mind, CAs carry a lot of weight in new patient acquisition.

In our system, CAs promote new patients with a systematic approach. They:

a. acknowledge the referral with enthusiasm;

b. pre‑frame the patient on how great the doctors are, and emphasize their uniqueness;

c. show testimonials of other patients' results and satisfaction;

d. show medical research posters to increase credibility and dispel rumors and aberrant beliefs;

e. give repositioning pamphlets in a certain order;

f. explain how to screen their children's posture, and the importance of it;

g. set appointments for families after the Report of Findings;

h. make daily salutations that hint to someone else about chiropractic;

i. talk about others successes to stimulate referrals;

j. sign up new patients after the orientation class;

k. ask patients where they work and try to get outside lecture or spinal screening health fair leads;

l. encourage, stimulate, and support patients after progress reports about their improvements and pass out referral gift cards;

m. establish rapport with friends that happen to be with the patient and introduce chiropractic and send them back with the patient so the doctor can meet them and possibly screen them;

n. sign up their families as well as new patients at screenings and lectures;

o. refer their own friends and families; and

p. talk chiropractic everywhere they go because they want to help and serve people.

We script and teach all of these strategies and more to give doctors and CAs certainty at all times in getting new patients.

4. Consistency. All procedures in a system must be consistent. If your CAs are not consistent and drop the ball repeatedly, drop them. They are off focus because they are off purpose.

5. Opportunists. A doctor from ASU categorized people as sleuths, bunglers, and smugglers. Sleuths are basically opportunists. When the opportunity arises they seize it and make something out of it.

For example, when a patient tells a CA she has to help her friend with her kids because this friend has migraines, the CA gets the patient to make an appointment for the friend ‑‑ by taking the time to explain the unique way subluxation correction can help migraines, and sharing testimonials of other patients success.

A bungler on the other hand, would simply empathize with the patient and say how sorry she felt for the poor friend who's suffering. Sleuths see each new patient as four or five new patients because they have family and friends. Their communication, therefore, facilitates referrals of family and friends. Bunglers only see patients as one person. Teach your CAs to both identify and create opportunities. Make them aware of bungling and you will create sleuths automatically.

Most CAs have the right heart and desire to help people and help you build the practice. When taught the right things to say and do in varied situations, you will enhance teamwork and practice productivity.

(To learn about the Certainty System, Certainty Practice Products and Dr. Dennis Nikitow's upcoming seminar schedule, call 800‑544‑3884. Outside the U.S., 303‑721‑6202.)