Issue 15 - November 2004

Are you running a daily obstacle course?
By Timothy Gay, DC

Are you running an obstacle course in your daily practice management? Wouldn’t it be easier to identify and remove the obstacles that challenge your success?

Here are several common obstacles that may be holding your success back:

• Procrastination. Does sticking with the comfort of the status quo keep you from branching out?

Set your goals and break down the steps to reaching them. Then take one small step at a time. Risk the unknown to reap rewards.

• Keeping busy instead of working productively. Do you confuse activity with accomplishment? Not all activities are of equal value to your practice. Some are important but not urgent. Others are urgent but not important. The trick is to identify those that are important and urgent and do them first, then move on to the important ones.

What is important? Your patients, then things that will contribute to your goals.

Focus on high-priority activities such as reports and follow-up information that help keep your practice running smoothly.

• Law of familiarity. You spend a lot of time in your office — so much that you may not see your facilities as your patients do. Is the office decorated with outdated pictures, overgrown plants, accumulated magazines, walls in need of paint and shabby furniture? Is your outdoor sign burned out?

All of these things make an impression on patients. Make sure that impression is a good one.

• Office procedures. Are your procedures for contacting patients, processing claims and invoicing patients efficient — and effective? If not, problem solve with your staff to identify ways to improve them. Then train all staff members on the procedures.

• Attitude. Is your attitude keeping you back? Do you believe in yourself and in chiropractic?

Attitude is everything. Until you can serve a higher purpose and accept chiropractic in full faith, you will not be able to take your practice to the level it deserves.

Smile. Keep life simple. And take ownership of ideas that will improve your practice.