November 2004

Health care class: An unbeatable tool

by Dr. Peter Fernandez

Are health care classes really worth the time and effort? When conducted properly, health care classes, workshops and/or spinal care classes can be your number one source of new patient referrals, patient education, etc.

No other promotional tool can boast the following:

***  It's FREE. Splurge on some cookies and soda and this is still the least expensive form of highly effective referral generating promotion available.

***  Reduces how much you have to communicated to your patients during their daily visits. By educating your patients via health care classes, you significantly reduce the amount of daily visit time spent doing so.

***  Increases patient compliance and longevity. Using chiropractic health care classes to explain the concept of chronicity, will help increase your patients' compliance with treatment recommendations, thereby reducing the number of missed appointments and increasing the number of patients who complete your recommended plan of care.

***  Stimulates referrals. Patients are taught to understand their health problems, take more responsibility for their recovery, fostering greater patient satisfaction, which is key to generating patient referrals. And, patients who know more, refer more.

When you raise the chiropractic IQ of your patients, you can count on increased referrals. By giving your patients a working knowledge and vocabulary of chiropractic, you allow them to tell others about the value of your services.

If Mr. Smith tells his wife that he's getting his back "popped," she may be concerned that he is not getting the professional health care he really needs. However, if Mr. Smith tells his wife about the mechanics of subluxation and the concept of adjustments, he has not only assured her of the value of your health care, but has also built up your credibility. This quite possibly will stimulate HER to become a chiropractic patient as well.

By inviting your patient's spouse, relatives and friends to your health care class, it's not only your patient's family that enters into your care through your health care class, but his or her friends as well. This establishes an easy portal of entry for newcomers.

***  Maximizes patient education. You can maximize patient education and time saving benefits of your health care classes by taping them and then playing the tape in your reception room, therapy suite or resting area. The time you save by doing so, will allow you to take care of more patients and enjoy a more profitable practice.

***  Your CA can conduct the classes. You may want to conduct health care classes but are currently committed to other speaking engagements or practice building activities, and simply don't have the time every week. Solution: Your CA. Yes, your CA can be trained to conduct health care classes to a group or one‑on‑one with your patients. However, other "practice building" activities should be your only excuse for not personally conducting your weekly health care classes.

I'm sure a number of you are reacting to this column the way I did when the doctor I worked for as an associate during my first couple of years out of school, told me I would have to conduct his health care classes for him. I wanted to do it but was absolutely terrified of getting up and speaking to a group of people. I had never done it before and seriously doubted that I would be able to keep their attention, or keep the fear out of my voice.

Solution: Dale Carnegie. Dale Carnegie gave me the confidence I needed to become a much better communicator, whether speaking to a group of people or one on one. You cannot over estimate the value of effective communication skills when it comes to building your practice. So, whether you choose Dale Carnegie, Toastmasters or some other course that will help you overcome your public speaking anxieties, just do it!

The benefits of conducting chiropractic health care classes can be boiled down into one mission statement: "To garner more trust from your patients by reaffirming your credibility as a professional and all that is associated with you, i.e., your profession, your CAs, your office, your equipment, and your entire procedure." This trust and credibility is the foundation upon which all other transactions are based. The stronger your foundation, the larger and more successful your practice will be.

I warn you that if you try to conduct health care classes while seriously doubting they'll be of any benefit, they won't. What you believe will come to be. Don't sabotage your own efforts. Learn how to conduct effective health care classes and you will surely see their tremendous value. How successful your classes are is directly dependent upon how determined and confident you are in making them a success. Success just doesn't happen ‑‑ you make it happen.

(Dr. Peter G. Fernandez, a 1961 Logan College graduate, is past president of the Florida Chiropractic Association, and past chairman of the International Chiropractic Knights of the Roundtable, an organization of the world's most successful chiropractors. The nation's leader in marketing the chiropractic practice, he has consulted with more than 5,000 DCs and in the opening of almost 3,000 successful new practices over the past 24 years. Dr. Fernandez can be reached at Fernandez Consulting, 10733 57th Avenue North, Seminole, FL, 33772, by calling 800‑882‑4476, or by e‑mail: DrPete@DrFernandez.com. Visit him on the web at www.DrFernandez.com).