Be the Answer in Your Community
INDUSTRY INSIDER
Better Outcomes for Patients and Better Income for Practices
Interview with
Tim Maggs
By The American Chiropractor
Education has always been at the core of Foot Levelers' mission. In September 2016, the company's longstanding vision of having a national training program for doctors was realized when Foot Levelers asked Dr. Tim Maggs to lead its Practice Xcelerator Training Center.
The first sessions were held at Dr.
Maggs' office near Albany, NY. Nineteen months later, the Practice Xcelerator Training Center has grown, and sessions are being held in cities across the country. At the time of this article Dr. Maggs has hosted 38 Practice Xcelerator Training Centers, providing training to more than 400 doctors and staff members. The results from these half-day coaching sessions are improving the health of countless patients and leading to increased orthotic orders. In an exclusive interview with The American Chiropractor Magazine (TAC), Dr. Tim Maggs (TM) shares some of the exciting details behind The Practice Xcelerator® and the Atlas OS.
TAC: Dr. Maggs, what is the primary goal of the Practice Xcelerator®?
TM: It is about helping Chiropractors who want to grow their practice by increasing orthotic usage by helping fix the health care crisis in their community. There is a major crisis with regard to musculoskeletal health, and the doctors currently seeing the majority of patients are masking their pain by prescribing opioids. This is directly contributing to the opioid epidemic - 115 people die every day from opioid overdoses.
We are the largest non-drug profession caring for musculoskeletal health, and the public needs to understand we are the most qualified to care for their musculoskeletal structure. The Practice Xcelerator® Training Center is about showing chiropractors why they are the answer for this health care crisis in their communities. It is about showing chiropractors the need to re-educate their communities, implementing a standard protocol at their office that assesses the body's structure from head to toe, and creating some level of commonality amongst our profession.
TAC: What On Earth is Happening at These Events?
TM: The Practice Xcelerator® is a half-day coaching session where we share the Atlas Operating System, a step-
by-step diagnostic process designed to address the psychological, clinical, and financial aspects and challenges of the doctor-patient relationship. It is an intuitive, easily implemented, and research-backed approach to musculoskeletal care that improves patient outcomes, patient compliance, and the overall success of a practice. We break it down into two treatment tracks - Acute and Non-Acute patients. We know that imbalances in the body start with the feet. So we spend a lot of time going over digital foot scans, and how to best implement these successful protocols into your practice.
TAC: What is it about the Atlas system of assessing patients that has provided an advantage to chiropractors?
TM: The operating system is a whole-body wellness approach. The Atlas OS segregates the acute patient from the non-acute patient and lays out a step by step process for whole-body wellness.
Most chiropractors use the same approach and end up with a patient who leaves prematurely once their symptoms have improved. The doctor needs to have bigger goals with each patient, and longer-term goals.
TAC: How do you recommend chiropractors accurately diagnose musculoskeletal conditions?
TM: The chiropractic profession needs a unified approach for treatment protocols. Period. We believe that the common approach starts with the feet. Our process is called the Atlas Operating System. At these sessions we go into depth about the Atlas Operating System, which includes a step-by-step diagnostic process designed to create a complete view of the musculoskeletal structure and diagnose the cause of the problem, not just treat the symptom(s).
We teach the importance of including basic cervical and lumbo-pelvic x-rays on every exam. There is a wealth of biomechanical information on every x-ray. This, in combination with the digital foot scan, separates us from all other professions. We can see femoral head height, centers of gravity, disc narrowing, rotations, etc., and all of these findings are relevant to a patient’s musculoskeletal health and future health. Chiropractors then have the ability to order MRI’s to learn what the soft tissue is doing and use the information in combination with the x-ray findings. Finally, the digital foot scan allows doctors to see how the feet are affecting eveiything above and if the feet are doing their job. No other profession can even come close to providing this much information.
TAC: How does the use of crooked man influence patients?
TM: Patients have little understanding of what we mean by biomechanics. Visual evidence and education are critically important. Crooked Man allows patients to quickly understand that all imbalances originate in the feet and that there is a domino-like effect up the musculoskeletal structure. We need to educate patients quickly, and Crooked Man gives the visual evidence and education to do just that. The Atlas OS allows that to happen by helping the doctor focus on developing long-term relationships with patients.
TAC: How do you explain that chiropractors are the most qualified to care for the musculoskeletal system?
TM: The chiropractic scope of practice is broader than all other professions combined in the diagnosis and care of the musculoskeletal system. We are the only profession that can x-ray for biomechanics, read the biomechanical information, perform biomechanical testing, digitally scan the feet, order MRI’s, provide chiropractic adjustments, provide physical therapy, recommend rehabilitation, make nutritional recommendations and never use a drug in the process. No other profession knows biomechanics and many treat symptoms without any knowledge of how to accurately diagnose the cause of the condition.
TAC: Some recent stances in fitness assert that the body doesn’t need to be symmetrical to be efficient. What is your experience?
TM: Some say the body will adapt to imbalances. That is like saying the body will adapt to elevated cholesterol or high blood sugar. The answer is, you are right, but they call that disease. In musculoskeletal, you are dealing with live tissue, and imbalances accelerate degeneration and increase the vulnerability to injury.
TAC: How soon do patients see results, once they begin using a treatment as designated by the Atlas System?
TM: With the Atlas OS, the patient is going to get a more comprehensive and accurate diagnosis and a more holistic
treatment/rehab program designed specifically for them. The Atlas OS allows the chiropractor to use all the tools we have available to us as a profession, tools no other profession can even come close to providing.
TAC: What’s the feedback from doctors and results from patients?
TM: The feedback has been tremendous. Our doctors have been very welcoming of this approach and consistently share that their patients love it. These doctors are gaining new tools to improve their service to patients.
Patients are so used to dealing with a broken system. Right now, Acute patients only get the treatment they need when they are on the floor writhing in pain. We focus on addressing their whole structure. And guess what happens when you address the patient's whole structure. Patients get better results. When patients get better results, they tell their friends and family about it. That, in turn, makes the entire protocol sustainable.
With Non-Acute patients we talk about preventative care. I always tell them that the sins of youth are exposed with age. It's like the rings of a tree. Addressing the entire structure allows you to see the biomechanical flaws. Even though the "free" may be standing, looking at the entire tree can help you forecast what problems are coming, and take measures to address the issues.
We tell Non-Acute patients very simply that even though they may not be in serious pain, biomechanical flaws will eventually lead to structural problems up the entire kinetic chain. To explain this to patients Foot Levelers has a graphic they call "Crooked Man." This graphic depicts imbalances that originate in the feet and have a profound effect up the entire kinetic chain. We show doctors that if you don’t digitally scan your patients, if you don’t x-ray your patients, the patient’s biomechanical imbalances and weaknesses that have caused their condition are not being collected. Again, it all starts with the feet. Do you see a theme there?
For more information, you may contact Dr. Tim Maggs directly through e-mail at drtimmaggs@cpoya. com, or by visiting the website FootLevelers. com/PX.
