Embracing the benefits of telemedicine as a chiropractor

The benefits of telemedicine meetings offer a convenient, functional workaround for chronic-pain sufferers and keeps patients on track

Chiropractors are in an excellent position to grow their practices and help patients feel their best by embracing the benefits of telemedicine. Perhaps no other area of medicine is better suited for remote appointments and digital treatment sessions.

Far-reaching chiropractic care strategies can be implemented from the office, but the injury-recovery process is a long game that requires ongoing mental and physical effort from patients. Telemedicine, and reassurances from medical professionals, can do much to improve patients’ recovery speed, state of mind, and self-belief.  

For these and not a few other reasons, there’s never been a better time than now for chiropractors to equip their practices with telemedicine solutions. 

Benefits of telemedicine: at-home exercise programs foster consistency, spur recovery

As most every chiropractor will attest to, it’s hardly uncommon for patients to neglect their at-home exercises between office visits. Some lose track of recovery-oriented stretches amid their busy schedules while others become frustrated and deliberately abandon the endeavor. 

Telemedicine presents a tremendous opportunity to keep both types of chronic-pain sufferers — and more broadly, any patients who may skip their recommended exercises — on the path to recovery. 

Furthermore, the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis is disrupting appointment calendars and, to be sure, some patients’ willingness and inclination to book office visits. The benefits of telemedicine meetings offer a convenient, functional workaround for chronic-pain sufferers and chiropractic specialists alike. 

Occasional 10-15 minute telemedicine consultations and exercise sessions will help keep patients on track with their healing process, and perhaps even more valuable — they’ll alsoprovide invaluable support, prompting patients to buckle down and continue helping themselves. 

Stated succinctly, the more time patients have with their chiropractors, even if the visits are digital, the easier it’ll be for patients to stay on course toward optimal recovery. 

The significance of ‘the little things’

In a similar sense, many patients are quick to forget “the little things” once they leave the office, no matter the lengths that their chiropractor has gone to emphasize them.

A good night’s sleep, adequate hydration, and healthy eating habits carry with them many anti-inflammatory benefits, which, like daily exercises, contribute to long-term improvements. But the rigors of work, family life, and social commitments can make it a challenge for patients to prioritize their health, and encouragement from medical professionals will aid them substantially. 

Telemedicine appointments allow chiropractors to receive detailed, up-to-date accounts of patients’ progress in addition to creating a window during which the significance of “the little things” can be reiterated. 

During future office visits, and especially throughout the following months and years, patients’ results will speak for themselves. 

Treatment tweaks and DIY ideas

Lastly, telemedicine is an excellent resource for chiropractors because it affords them a chance to tweak treatments, answer questions, and introduce DIY exercise ideas. 

If the patient indicates that an element of his or her treatment is working particularly well, the chiropractic professional can modify the recommended exercise regimen accordingly. In the same vein with the benefits of telemedicine, treatments that are falling short of expectations, as well as pain or other causes for concern, can be addressed immediately. 

As a bonus, chiropractors can answer patients’ pressing questions during telemedicine sessions, so that they aren’t left for the next office visit. In turn, chronic-pain sufferers will enjoy progress more expediently than they otherwise would have; uncertainty almost always produces hesitation and delays results. 

The short and long-term benefit

Both generally speaking and amid the current COVID-19 quarantines and shut-downs, the benefits of telemedicine — for chiropractors and patients — are too exceptional to overlook. Those saddled with chronic pain will feel more connected with their care providers, and their health will be better for it. 

Chiropractors, for their part, will signal their willingness to go above and beyond by adopting telemedicine solutions. Undoubtedly, patients will relate their positive experiences to others, and a steady stream of additional chronic-pain sufferers can reasonably be expected to seek the same high standard of care — and the same chiropractors. 

Telemedicine is revolutionizing the chiropractic field and the positive effects it brings will outlast the current crisis. For benefits now and into the future, all growth-minded professionals shouldn’t hesitate to bring their practices into the digital age. 

Jeffrey Cronk, DC, JD, is a nationally-recognized expert and thought leader on spinal ligament injuries, which are the number one cause of pain and disability worldwide. He is CEO of Spinal Kinetics, a national medical company that provides CRMA (Computerized Radiographic Mensuration Analysis) to doctors that are testing for the severity and location of their patient’s spinal ligament injuries. He also serves as CEO of Biocybernetics Inc, which provides education for doctors and lawyers in the spinal ligament injury space through Smart Injury Doctor and Smart Injury Lawyers.