November 2004

New patient orientation: Your key to freedom

by Dr. Kevin Pallis and Dr. Ed Plentz

There you sit once again crouched behind your desk, stewing and frustrated because more of your patients don't get it. They act enthusiastic enough, nod their heads in agreement, say they're going to refer in the whole town, but then they got what they wanted ‑‑ relief of their symptoms. Now they're gone and you're once again scrambling to replace the recently departed. Sound like deja vu?

Giving people what they want not what they need can be a real downer. This contributes to the lost identity of chiropractic. Society will continue to impose its will on chiropractic until we stand up as a profession. You must let people know that you're more than the socially accepted concept of pain relief after you get sick.

It's so hard to resist the temptation of selling out and caving in to societal pressures. Much like a parent you must be able to hold firm and not give in. It's so easy to be tempted by money and acceptance by society to give people what they want ‑‑ symptom relief only. They don't know any better.

Ask people:

...who've found themselves in a state of poverty they want. Of course it's money, but what they really need is a way to create wealth for the rest of their lives.

...who've found themselves larger than they used to be what they want. You guessed it, food. What they really need is a lifestyle that supports a more ideal bodyweight.

...who have drinking problems what they want. It's a whiskey bottle. But what they need is to develop a healthy self‑image of that doesn't mandate their self‑medicating to get out of their pain.

Often the solution to the DC's (or anyone's) problems is literally right under his or her nose. The trouble is, these solutions are surrounded by beliefs charged with negative emotions that, in many instances, prevent people from utilizing them.

For example, take the person who's become very much out of shape. You can be sure that he or she has a belief surrounding gymnasiums. Usually this belief is negative. The very thing that could change the circumstances the individual finds himself or herself in. How tragic.

All DCs need a vehicle or a tool to reposition their patients from where they are to where they need to be. The world thinks of you as a musculoskeletal specialist, forget about kids and chiropractic or chiropractic care from birth to death on a family basis. Failure to accept this concept results in frustration and disappointment. Imagine the end of dumb, never‑ending questions by your patients.

Enter new patient orientation

New patient orientation (NPO) is the crown jewel of any wellness practice. Not only does it reposition all people in your audience, but the energy generated every week excites all of your practice members. Problems in your practice are solved in your NPO by making prospective patients aware of your expectations very early on in ‑‑ or even before ‑‑ their care at your office. Many DCs around the country accept practice members only after they have attended the NPO.

Think of the feeling of having a room full of people anxious to hear what you have to say about health, and what chiropractic has to do with it. Imagine having people in your community talk about you from this vantage point, rather than from the very closed‑ended concept of help after trouble. Instead of a pain relieving status, you assume a family wellness identity.

You begin to take on a "phenomenon status" of helping the community, rather than helping yourself. People are attracted to you rather than you having to market and advertise to them. Consider the stress reduction of not having to perform screenings, use gimmicks, schemes and the like. Think of the savings in expensive and often ineffective advertising. Big vision offices will tell you loud and clear that new patient orientation is their number one tool to attract the type of people we all want to have in our offices.

The choice is yours. Accept people who'll tell you what to do or interest people in wellness for themselves and their families. Always remember the mess the world is in today was created by sick, subluxated people. You're either a part of the solution or a part of the problem. You can run but you can't hide from your responsibility as a wellness chiropractor.

Change the world with healthier people or turn your back on the planet. With the NPO everything is possible. Without it you will continue to give society what it wants, and continue the downward spiral of humanity.

(A complete system of practice based on science and philosophy working on the doctor from the inside out, The New Renaissance is the next generation of office procedures and patient education for today's chiropractor who wants to implement the chiropractic mindset of success. The new Mentor IV Practice Development Program takes 24 years of the pioneering experience of Renaissance procedures and combines it with the practical daily activities of doctors in the field. To learn more about The New Renaissance, contact The New Renaissance World Headquarters at 800‑525‑3879.)