""Rock solid"—the term, itself, commands an image of lasting strength and durability. If you're like many chiropractors, you have certainly experienced days when it felt like your practice was built upon a foundation of shifting quicksand, rather than solid rock. If those days are becoming more and more frequent, it's time to take action and examine your foundation. Laying a rock solid foundation for your practice provides you with the certainty that your practice will have a strong and vital present as well as a long-term successful future. The story is told that the charismatic football coach Vince Lombardi would begin each new season by holding a football aloft and decreeing to the team. "This is a football!" In other words. Coach Lombardi was reminding his team that success begins with a mastery of the fundamentals. When the fundamentals are mastered and applied with vision, purpose, and love, then the only possible outcome is success. Have you been building your superstructure without ensuring that you have first laid a rock solid foundation for your practice? Have you been searching for added profit centers in: weight loss, nutrition, multilevel marketing, specialty procedures, or other means of making up for your shortage of patients and shortage of income? If your answer is yes, then you are not building your practice future upon a rock solid foundation. If you find yourself on a continuous search for a magical: ad, marketing ; scheme, staff member, j office form, seminar or j technique that will solve | your practice woes, then you are not building upon | a rock solid foundation. j Assuming the role of a j small business owner and j manager was not the I vision most doctors had | for themselves when they j graduated from chiroprac- j tic college. To many doctors, running a business is simply not as exciting as the thrill of dealing with the Innate healing power of the universe. As it turns out. the doctoring part of your role is actually only a small part of the total experience of owning a practice. To establish a rock solid foundation for your practice, you must learn to think like a business person. You must learn how to identify the service that you bring to the market, attract buyers for your service, persuade most of them to purchase your service, charge enough, and get paid for your service. To paraphrase Vince Lombar-di. this is your football. By mastering these fundamentals, you can regain control over the growth and profitability of your practice. A rock solid foundation begins with the DECISION to DO the things that will consistently propel you forward. The buck begins with you. While it is true that "Attitude Shapes Action", ii is also true that "Action Trumps Attitude". Having FAITH in your self and in your product is the starting point for all action. The actions you take are the evidence of vour faith. No action—No faith! Your highest | priority is to develop a deep faith in j yourself and your service. 1. Consistently Generate Over 25 New Patients Per Month When you are able to take the action steps required to generate a consistent volume of new patients, you have a rock solid foundation. Doctors with a rock solid foundation have a new patient generation program that can attract a specific volume of new patients into the office. The first step for laying a rock solid foundation is the ability to consistently perform the procedures required to generate over 25 new patients per month. If you occasionally or accidentally produce this minimum number of new patients without knowing why, you are not in control of the future of your practice. The secret to developing a wellspring of new patients is to get in touch with the prospective patients who comprise your market, find out what they want, and then find a way to help them get that need met in your practice. A hint: Continued on Page 56 ...from Page 32 If you are marketing "subluxation cor- j rection" to a public that has a low j demand for that service, do you think i any marketing program will work? | i 2. Consistently Achieve High Patient Compliance The second step for laying a rock solid foundation is to consistently achieve high patient compliance with your complete program of care. The statistic that monitors this factor is patient retention. A practice with a rock-solid foundation will have a patient visit average of over 40 office visits for each case. Two critical fac tors must be present for this level of compliance to occur. First, you must honestly communicate to your patients that it is in their best interest to comply with your complete recommendations and that, if they don't comply, there will be a consequence of a real and painful loss. When your patients per- j ceive the value in complying with your | recommendations, they will do so. If j you do not communicate perceived j value, regardless of how technically | proficient you are, your patients will not complete care. Another critical point is that you must actually believe that your patients truly need the care you recommend. Ask your- j self, if a chiropractor in another area I were to recommend the same program i of care to your mother, would you feel I really good about it? i i I 3. Deliver a Reasonable Level of ] Service on Each Visit ] The third step to laying a rock solid foundation is the ability to deliver a reasonable level of service on each visit to those patients who begin care. Begin by determining your office visit average. Your office visit average is the average dollar value of each office visit you deliver. Your office visit average should be approximately $100.00, if your care includes active therapeutic modalities such as therapeutic exercise, kinetic activities and neuromuscular reeducation. If your program of care only includes passive care, it is vital for you to master the procedures, codes and fees to bring your practice into line with the modern paradigm of active care. Delivering a program of care in which each and every visit is identical to the last one is a sure way to generate a low perceived value in the eyes of your patients. Ten or twenty visits which include an adjustment and muscle stimulation or ultrasound provides no incentive for your patient to continue with your entire program of care. By actively involving your patients in the healing process by teaching them a progressive program of exercises that they can perform in your office and at home, you are laying a solid foundation for your practice. 4. Get Paid for the Services You Deliver The fourth step to laying a rock solid foundation is the ability to get paid for the services you deliver. Patients will either pay you for their care themselves or will have insurance that pays your bill. In both instances, the value a patient places on your service will determine the amount of time and money they will dedicate to your care. Your fees should be reasonable, and your diagnosis and documentation must justify the need for care. The keys to effective insurance reimbursement are a pre-assessment of plan coverage, the correct filing of the HCFA form. and. most importantly, the regular and timely follow-up on the claims submitted. You must also master the procedures of collecting cash from your patients. A minimum of 30% of your practice should be cash-paying, non-insurance patients. Cash-paying patients, as well as patients with co-payments and deductibles. should be placed on a payment plan so that the payment for care falls within their family budget. Focus on implementing these four fundamental steps and you will lay a rock solid foundation for your practice. The success you achieve will be limited only by your focus, your sense of purpose, and your ability to take action. As you raise these basic skills to a level of mastery, you will far exceed your expectations and you will lay the foundation for the Power Practice of your dreams. Once you have laid a rock solid foundation, you can successfully expand service areas, install additional profit centers, and develop your practice into whole new dimensions. Remember, the success you will achieve will always depend upon the foundation you lay. If you feel that you are not secure with the basic skills required to lay a rock solid foundation for your practice, you are not alone. Many chiropractors have found that the best way to ensure the success of their practice is by enlisting the services of a professional practice coach. In order to achieve your breakthroughs, you need one-on-one help from a coach who is experienced in achieving the goals you desire. The greatest power you have is the power of your unique vision and talents. When you use your natural strengths and combine them intelligently with professional guidance in proven principles, success is the unavoidable outcome. Now is the time to take heart and to set a rock solid foundation for your practice and it will provide a multitude of blessings to you and your patients for years to come. Dr. John Markham is a chiropractor in practice in Marietta, GA. He is a sought-after keynote speaker on the topics of personal and practice development. A Palmer graduate in 1978, Dr. Markham has been a professor at Life University and a team instructor for Activator Methods. He is a Senior Coach for Breakthrough Coaching and can be contacted at www.mybreakthrough.com OR phone him at 1-800-723-8423. o
