March 2004

The chiropractic assistant

by Dr. Jon Baker

Ideally, we would graduate from chiropractic college, move to our dream town, hang out our shingle and serve the masses. The people served, the fun had, the miracles shared and, of course, the money made all makes for a wonderful life.

Our children and our children's children would all go on to be chiropractors and eventually the world would be a better place. A place free of dis‑ease on all levels.

Has this chiropractic story eluded you? Are there pieces of the puzzle you have not been able to put in place yet? I feel, and you should as well, that it is your duty to put this puzzle together, as best as you can, and get out there and tell the chiropractic story.

Today, the piece of the puzzle I would like to share with you is the chiropractic assistant's role. After 18 years of practice and personally coaching more than 50 different chiropractic offices, this is truly a piece of the puzzle that can make your picture clearer.

First, we need to know what makes a good chiropractic assistant. Then we need to know where to find one. Both questions can almost be answered as one. The best chiropractic assistants are usually very passionate and enthusiastic chiropractic miracle patients.

Here are a few examples.

*** We had an incredible C.A. who was a migraine sufferer for over 20 years who became a patient, her migraines resolved and she begged for a job with us.

*** We had a patient and her husband try for more than 10 years to become pregnant when a patient referred them to us for subluxation evaluation. They were both accepted for care and within six months she was pregnant. They had a wonderful little boy and named him Palmer.

*** We had a 20‑year old patient who was a bed wetter at least four nights per week and feared she could never get married out of embarrassment over her condition. She came under care and within two months she never wet the bed again.

*** We had a wife of a patient (a very strong‑willed, reluctant‑to‑come‑into‑the‑office wife) finally come in for a spinal evaluation in regards to her overall sick and weakened system. Within months, she was healthy again and is truly a chiropractic missionary. In fact, the four C.A.s I have referred to seem to know more about chiropractic philosophy than most D.C.s I talk to!

I'll bet you have one or two of these people in mind right now. If you are looking for C.A.s, go get them. If you already have good C.A.s, the next step either way, is to share your chiropractic stories with them daily. You might think they know, but, more than likely they don't. In fact, if your idea of a great chiropractic story is of receiving a $4,500 personal injury check, maybe you're missing the boat.

Don't get me wrong, running a profitable business is important also. Yet, if it's only money that drives you and your team, you will constantly be chasing more and more, while each year the burnout eats up more and more of you. Have you ever seen a dog chase his tail? Eventually, whether he catches it or not, he just lies down exhausted.

Have you ever wondered how some of the great chiropractors just keep serving and serving without any signs of burning out? First of all, they weren't just after the money, they were serving a cause much greater than themselves. Secondly, they were truly out to make the world a better place not just trying to create massive workers compensation cases.

Let me get back to the piece of the puzzle we are dealing with today ‑‑ the chiropractic assistant. Now that we have a way to find C.A.s and keep them excited about chiropractic, the next step is to train them in the proper procedures for handling patients.

You should have almost all of your C.A.s' situations scripted. These scripts are truly invaluable ‑‑ from answering the phone, to questions in regards to finance, to patients wanting to change their care recommendations should all be scripted out. With these scripts comes consistency, with consistency comes excellence. These scripts will make the life of your C.A.s so much easier, as well as yours.

If you train people properly, they will feel much better about themselves and perform so much better. A little extra time at the beginning will allow for much less time correcting later. If you are going to expect ‑‑ you must inspect. If everything your C.A.s do is scripted, it will be very easy for you to inspect.

Don't we all really want to serve more people, work fewer hours, make more money and have more fun? This will be a good start.

(Dr. Jon Baker has been in active practice in Modesto, California since 1985 and runs New Beginnings Chiropractic Consulting and Seminars. His specialty is the one‑on‑one coaching/consulting of individual chiropractors and their staff on procedures, passion, profitability, and action steps toward creating dream practices. Call 209/915‑0957 for information on personal one‑on‑one consulting and upcoming seminars.)