Issue 4 - March 2003

Turn your patients into walking billboards

LAS VEGAS – Chiropractic research can become your best ally and serve to build your practice. And it’s a great tool for new DCs to use to build their practices. According to Dr. Len Schwartz, DC, when you consistently use research as a patient-education tool, your patients become walking, talking billboards for chiropractic care. And that translates into increased referrals and a bigger, more successful practice.

Speaking at the Parker Seminars, Schwartz said that research can be an effective teaching tool: After all, he said, when you cite research, you become an objective messenger who reports on facts and is not positioned as “anti-medicine.”

But the key to using this type of information is to be systematic. “Each time a patient comes in, each person in your office has to share research with them,” said Schwartz. Each person – beginning with the front-desk assistant – must have a “script” to share with the patient on the research topic of the day.

And by the time the patient leaves the office, he or she will be thinking about how the information can help a family member or acquaintance. That someone is your next referral.

How it works
Schwartz described how to develop a system to deliver consistent research information to patients:

1. Compile approximately 200 research articles. These articles will become the basis for your daily topics.

2. Assign a topic coordinator. Give this person the responsibility to pick out a topic each day.

3. Post the topic. Use a bulletin board or a white board and post the topic, such as “chiropractic and asthma in children.” Place the board in a prominent place, where patients as well as staff can see it.

4. Meet with the staff daily. Prior to meeting with them, review the research article. Pick out pieces of it for each staff member. Then train them in what you want them to say to patients.

5. Introduce the topic. With the arrival of each patient that day, each person in the office – from the front-desk CA to the chiropractor or anyone else who may deal with the patient – has a specific script for the topic. That script is designed to stimulate a referral.

6. Give the patient a referral kit. Prepare referral kits appropriate for children as well as adults and have them ready to give to patients who are ready to make a referral.

Schwartz gave an example of how the system works:

With the arrival of each patient, the front-desk CA says to the patient: “Today’s topic is [chiropractic and asthma in children],” and refers to the topic on the white board. “Often, the patient will start to talk to the CA about someone he knows who has that particular problem,” said Schwartz. When that happens, the CA should give the patient a referral kit. When the patient goes in to see you, as part of your “table talk,” tell her a fact gleaned from the research topic of the day. For example, you might say, “Research shows that…” After you have finished your adjustment, ask, “Did you have any questions about [the topic]?”

Answer any questions, then cue your CA to give the patient a referral kit (if he does not already have one) or to ask, “Did the doctor talk to you about [the topic]?” “It’s one more opportunity to educate and to cause the patient to think about the topic,” said Schwartz.

He said that his own research has shown that 75 percent of patients know someone with the problem addressed in your daily topic. “Not all of these patients will make referrals,” he said, “but a significant number of them do.”

Why does it work, he mused? It works because the research attaches value to the adjustment. The patient leaves knowing more than when he came in and understanding how adjustment can help someone else he knows.

Dr. Len Schwartz, DC, is president of ChiroPower LLC. He spoke at the Parker Seminars. He can be reached at 866-969-3508.