June 2004

Qualitative growth

by Dr. CJ Mertz

Team WLP is witnessing more record‑breaking growth among our clients than ever before. The number of chiropractors building high volume practices right now is staggering. Surprising many, the way to big growth is by making QUALITY job number one.

Quality comes in many forms and touches every part of your life and practice. The quality of your work determines value for care, sets the bar for the level of patient participation, creates the "emotional high" that all growth is produced within, and much more. Put simply, Qualitative growth is what builds the biggest, most powerful practices in the world.

Yet, every week I receive calls from chiropractors who have achieved volume not understanding qualitative growth and they are unfulfilled.

Imagine needing more than 40 new patients per month just to maintain your volume. Or adjusting 500 patients each week yet barely able to pay your bills. Or working inside a practice that has over 100 missed visits every week! These are the traps you can and will fall into by not following the process of qualitative growth.

For most DCs, however, it's not problematic growth they're experiencing but little‑to‑no growth at all. If your practice isn't currently producing quality growth, there are significant issues that must be addressed.

Qualitative growth issues

I have assembled a short list of qualitative growth issues, hoping a light bulb will go off for you to help illuminate the path to building your practice properly. If you find yourself tangled inside one or more of these, the right advice could make up for months ‑‑ even years ‑‑ of frustration and poor growth in practice.

***  You have the wrong office hours and are working too many of them. (Adjusting should begin before 8 a.m. with total office hours not to exceed 32 per week.)

***  One third to one half of your daily volume should already be adjusted by 9:00 a.m. If not, you potentially have serious organizational flaws.

***  You have caring CAs, but they're not reliable for generating new patients.

***  Your care plans (corrective and wellness) are not based upon consistent protocol, so patient management has become difficult and complex.

***  Your patient education isn't curriculum‑centered, therefore patients tend to get whatever information is new or whatever happens to be on your mind at the time.

***  Your practice is more than 50% insurance‑based, so you must rely on "checks in the mail" in order to pay your monthly expenses.

***  Your marketing is reactive rather than consistently planned and executed at least six months in advance.

***  You have low confidence or low self‑esteem only because you have little‑to‑no personal development mentoring, thus creating personal and professional incongruencies.

***  Your team meetings (if they happen) often turn into gripe sessions, rather than opportunities to solidify your team's vision around the quality growth process you have committed to pursue.

***  Your procedures and practice strategies are too flexible, which often causes delays, frustration and stress around patient flow.

Fortunately, each of the qualitative growth issues are 100% correctable. But most chiropractors have multiple issues and aren't sure what to do or where to start. It's no wonder there's so much burnout in the field today.

Yet, the revelation of purpose that pours out of a chiropractor who is back on track, is priceless. You don't want growth at any price. Begin training yourself to expect your growth to come by developing world‑class chiropractic patients.

Qualitative growth can take a practice from 100 adjustments per week to 100 per day, and then to 100 per shift. The quantity of growth will be directly proportional to the quality of the foundation upon which it is built.

Lifetime family wellness isn't a slogan, a pitch or practice development strategy, but a way of life. Qualitative growth relies on the chiropractor's core values being completely congruent with the philosophy and principle behind lifetime family wellness. For many chiropractors this is the first place to start.

This doesn't mean you can't accept auto injuries, work injuries or sports injuries. It does mean that all these kinds of patients come as the result of the core lifetime family wellness paradigm within your training practice.

Make a commitment today. Let this year be your right time to make the necessary philosophical, emotional and professional changes. Qualitative growth is the greatest high in chiropractic and I'd like to help you experience it in your practice. Don't be afraid to call for help. Even the best chiropractors rely on mentoring.

(Dr. CJ Mertz is president of the International Chiropractors Association, executive director of ChiroUSA, and founder and head coach of the prestigious Waiting List Practice [WLP] chiropractic training organization. For information on WLP services and products, call Jennifer Brown at 877‑TEAM‑WLP.)