January 2008

Build a care‑focused practice

by Dr. Eric Plasker

Have you ever heard the saying, "Energy grows wherever your attention goes?" It's an important principle to understand as you set forth in the task of creating positive outcomes for yourself on both a personal and professional level in the new year.

For example, say you're coming down with a cold. If you focus on how bad you felt while you were at work, your symptoms will probably escalate and your performance decline. However, if you keep focused on the health of your patients (instead of your own) while you work, then pretty soon you will forget about your own problems and the severity of your symptoms will probably subside.

Let's take this concept a little further. Many chiropractors tend to put their focus on getting new patients just for the sake of being able to make additions to their staff, or they recommend procedures that they are not absolutely certain their patients need in order to increase their profits. DCs who have suffered in the past from this self‑centered approach to patient care are paying the price today. The government and insurance companies are issuing big time audits and orders to cough up reimbursement checks for procedures that they have decided to disallow as "unreasonable" or "uncustomary."

This type of story illustrates what can happen to a practice when the attention of the chiropractor is not patient care focused. It also begs the question of why anyone would want to invest their energy in policies and procedures that would cause them to constantly have to look over their shoulder and invest more energy in damage control down the road. Wouldn't it be better if your practice was care‑focused to begin with?

Here are some valuable questions to ask as you formulate the guidelines that will help support you in establishing a patient care‑focused practice:

1. What does the individual sitting in front of me need from me?

2. How can he or she get the best results from his or her chiropractic care?

3. How many adjustments does he or she require and what type of wellness program best suits his or her needs?

4. Could this person's children benefit from chiropractic care? If so, what type of care and frequency would be appropriate to recommend?

Not only is maintaining a care‑focused service orientation the right thing to do, but it is the single best practice building advice you will ever receive. Your success in achieving this sort of focus depends on one talent: the ability to block out everything while you work so that you can focus on the immediate needs of the person sitting in front of you. At any given moment, your patient should be the sole source and recipient of your attention.

It is this ability to concentrate on and commit to a care focus 100% of the time that separates the master chiropractor from the amateur. This concept is known to some as giving a "magic visit" to every single person every single time he or she visits your office. Another term for this is being able to live and operate in a "present time consciousness."

Maintaining this focus on care, regardless of what's going on in the greater world or in your personal life or office, will help yours become a successful, busy practice instead of a struggling one. In fact, the more your practice grows, the more you'll be required to master this skill and cut through all the extra "noise" of annoying phone calls, crying infants and employee demands to focus on responding to the patient at hand.

Your ability to perform under pressure and get out of your own head and into your patient's is priceless. Remember that when you consistently maintain this kind of care focus, your practice will become a haven for patients to experience your true abilities as a "healer" and the remarkable difference it can make in their lives. In the process, you will build an incredible practice.

(Dr. Eric Plasker, author of "The 100 Year Lifestyle" [www.100yearlifestyle.com] is the founder of The Family Practice ‑‑ a coaching and training organization providing all the systems, tools and support needed to build a highly successful and profitable family practice and dedicated to helping DCs unite to lead family health care. An internationally known speaker and chiropractic educator, he is best known for rallying the chiropractic profession around the Lifetime Care for Everyone and Family Practice visions. For seminar, coaching, training, or product information, call The Family Practice toll‑free at 866‑LEAD‑DCS (532‑3327), ext. 118 or visit the Family Practice website at www.thefamilypractice.net .)