April 2005, Vol. 15, Iss. 2

Table of Contents

Altered Cervical Lordosis and DJD • Chiropractor Invents Car Seat Headpiece • DACBRs Cause Professional Embarrassment at RAC • Eight Major Aberrant Forms of the Lumbo-Pelvic Spine • European Spine Journal to Publish 6th CBP® Clinical Control Trial • Evidence Based or Not • Glutamate/Aspartame - Pain and Your Brain • Greg Buchanan Donates $30,000 to CBP® Nonprofit • Inappropriate Characterization of CBP® Technique • Missed Appointments and Patient Education • Money, Taxes, Life and Practice • Palmer College Takes Alumni Group to Court • PosturePrint™ Research with ICA • Presenting Defendable Care Options to Patients • Published Papers Near 81 • Resign or be Terminated • Thermography: Renewed Interest • Using Silence to Communicate • Whiplash Injuries: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, Medical Management and Prognosis

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Missed Appointments and Patient Education

by R. J. Hammett, D.C.

Dr. Hammett is a chiropractor in private practice in Kenosha, Wisconsin. After graduating from Life College in 1979, he completed several post-graduate programs in Physical Impairments, Diagnostic Imaging and Rehabilitation. He completed his Juris Doctor in 1995. He has written articles for several Journals and has lectured to numerous Chiropractic groups on the topics of Practice Management and Risk Prevention.

               I’m tired of all those patients missing their appointments. Man, those patients are rude! I go through all the trouble of examining their spines, x-raying, setting up a treatment plan, and explaining just how bad their spines are and they won’t show up. I give up! These people are just stupid and they deserve the spines and the nervous systems they get. I know they’re just uneducated! I’m going to start a spinal care class, pick a health topic of the day and talk about that theme each time a patient comes in. I’m going to order health pamphlets for every known disease that chiropractic has been proven to help, and every patient will leave with 36,000 pamphlets in the first two weeks of care. I’ll teach my staff to only speak the chiropractic language, they’ll memorize D.D.’s 33 principles and they will tell every patient at every visit. I’ll hire a consultant who will teach me micro scripts for every one of multi-million situations I run into with patients. That way I’ll have the handy, politically correct, and fast to the point answers for every patient. You’ll see, I’ll have a retention of 1,000 visits for every new patient I get.

              Well, I’m here to tell you it’s time for some new thinking on your part. So let’s get to it, and hopefully, help you rebuild your practice in a style that even your mother would be proud of.

              First missed appointments; forget about them. Yes, I know patients need every appointment if they’re to live in a subluxation free world! Right, how about you? How often do you get adjusted? Your family? Your close friends? Think about this for a moment. People miss appointments for only a few reasons. One, they really forgot. Two, they didn’t want the appointment to begin with. And three, they didn’t know they had an appointment. Ask yourself; do you have control over any of these situations? Right...None! Not one ounce of control. So why are you fussing, becoming pissed off, worrying or going crazy about something you can’t control?

              Here’s what I want you to do for your next five new patients. Track them for at least eight weeks. First, at the report of findings, clearly and honestly state how many adjustment visits you want the patient to participate in and do it factually to the patient. Don’t give a multiple appointment calendar. Just tell them what you want them to do. Note it in the patient’s records and let go. Let the patient be responsible for their appointments. Yes, call them once when they miss, that ‘s it. That’s right, give up on trying to control another person. Let’s face it, you have enough trouble controlling how the staff answers your phone, so tell the patient what they need and forget the rest.

              Patient education, what a myth. Yes, it’s true an educated patient is a better patient. But, I promise you that the ones who are the better educated patients are the ones who were self educated, not the ones you cram cute little micro statements and phrases to. We live in an age of over information bombardment. You yourself are overwhelmed with thousands of bits of information every day. What do you do? You filter! You read, listen to, pay attention to only those bits that matter to you. So, guess what? So do the patients! Remember those 5 new patients? Let’s educate them differently. Yes, recommend a class, yes, give literature, but let them come to you for answers to their questions. That’s right, do adjustments perfectly. Yes, show the patient every visit that their body has changed, then shut up and go to the next patient. Let the patients ask you whey they are ready. But beware, when they ask, know the answer and then and only then give them a one-sentence answer. Much like children, we need to wait until a question is asked before we answer it. Self-questions are the ones we mostly remember, because of our importance we’ve placed in asking them.

              So, yes quit educating patients. Let them educate themselves. Quit any planned, canned tableside scripts that are mostly bull shit from some consultant. Tell the patients what you truly believe, listen to all their questions like they’re malpractice attorneys at a deposition, and give them your truth and honesty. Watch your practice grow again.