October 2004 Table of Contents
CBP® Research Update • Conventional Wisdom • Don's Opinion • CBP® and Geriatrics: A Case Report • Enough of Chiropractic is for This Pain or That Pain • Chiropractic Passion • The Purpose Driven Practice • Three New and Important Whiplash Articles • You Hired Me To Do A Job • ACA Lawsuit Dismissed • CBP® Online Cyber Update • Harrisons' and Caillet • ICA Files 'Amicus' Brief • A Response to Dr Fuhr • Life University Achieves Financial Goal • Structural Rehab Tool • CBP®'s Chiropractor of the Year • CBP®'s Annual Awards
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Conventional Wisdom
by Dwight DeGeorge, DC
Dr. DeGeorge graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa. He has been in for 13 years. He was past president of the Pettibon Biomechanics Club at Palmer College and he has taught spinal biomechanics/biophysics throughout the country for the last nine years. He is responsible for the first research papers ever published in JMPT by Palmer College students. He practices CBP® technique and is a CBP® certified instructor. Presently, Dr. DeGeorge is the inventor of the Compression Extension Traction Table as well as the Spine Aligner adjusting table. Three studies have been published (one at SPINE and two at JMPT) from studies done at his office. Dr. DeGeorge has now implemented a program to help other doctors gain more from their own practices.
Conventional wisdom holds that companies must offer their customers something truly unique in order to win their business and devotion and meet their needs based on the product or service they provide. Many doctors feel that to develop a successful practice, they must offer something unique in order to set them apart from the rest of the herd. Many doctors have an obsession with creating an image and practice of uniqueness and differentiation. In truth, successful businesses offer their customer something simpler and much more important.
This concept of uniqueness and differentiation seems to be more the norm than the exception in the world of Chiropractic business; the doctor is always trying to find a different marketing angle to attract new patients. He will attend a new seminar to get the “new” twist on how to present himself and be the different doc on the block. And so the list marches on. I’m not opposed to or suggesting that one should be antagonistic towards personal or professional development. New concepts are necessary for many reasons, all of which need not be mentioned right now. It is the “however” that is important, and what this article is focusing on. We need to put our attention to being better at what is being done, teaching and adjusting, rather than uniqueness. The age old saying, “the customer is king,” has been an affirmation for many businesses large and small for ages.
But how many of our customers feel like royalty today? Examples: calling a Tech support person on a software product that you bought and you’re put on endless hold, to finally get someone in a distant country who can barely speak English; or bringing your new car back to the dealer for a small problem for the second time so the mechanic can fix his mistake; or calling about a question on your bill and all you want is a chance to talk to “a real person,” but you need to push more buttons on a phone pad than you would to type a term paper. Twenty minutes later, you find this person but their dialect of English gives you the feeling they are 6000 miles from here. Is this the type of customer attention that makes you feel empowered or special?
The point is, many companies, as well as Chiropractic Offices, put the greater majority of energy into creating an image of uniqueness and differentiation and lose sight of consistently delivering the basics. If you polled several busy companies or chiropractic offices, you would discover that what the customer and/or patient wants, is not more differentiation of services, just better service for what was advertised and for what brought them to the establishment in the first place. A prime example of a company that meets the need at the highest level is Toyota, which has market capitalization greater than that of GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler combined. In this sector of the business world, Toyota is the most admired carmaker in the world. Its focus is not one of uniqueness and differentiation but on reliability and customer service.
Bringing this point back into the world of chiropractic practice, all too often we generate a large influx of new patients from an ad only to see our existing patients drop from care or many of the new patients never begin care. The energy expenditure to do a successful ad campaign is great and costly. To see nominal results can allow one to ask “was it worth the effort?” The common thread that is seen in successful chiropractic offices is that the focus is on each individual and the needs of each. This is the premise on which the practice is built; one patient at a time. When this does not happen or the focus on each individual is interrupted, for whatever reason, the doctor/patient relationship is weakened or lost. So goes the patient. Building a practice on uniqueness and differentiation takes tremendous energy and history has shown patient satisfaction is poor. This translates into a practice that requires large amounts of energy to maintain its current patient level. However, if the backbone of the practice is to focus on each individual and build on understanding the needs of each individual patient, a greater level of rapport is created between doctor and patient. This translates into a more rewarding experience for both the doctor and the patient. Now, the doctor has a patient that hears what is said. He understands the value of the doctor’s recommendations of care. He willingly follows through with care recommendations. He sustains the care plan to completion. He refers and is willing to gladly pay for his care.
This scenario happens when the doctor develops certain abilities: Starting with non-judgmental listening skills combined with communication that is designed to identify a patient’s priority of values \ needs. These skills give the doctor a greater ability to direct and organize the information he/she presents, so that his/her communication with each patient is performed with the greatest effectiveness for the patient’s understanding of his/her problems. When a doctor starts off with a judgmental or with a preconceived opinion, he/she will skew the information he/she hears and his/her understanding of it. If our communication skills are not designed to convey the information in a manner in which the patient can comprehend, all is lost! This combination of poor understanding and poor communications skills can lead to more than just poor patient understanding. A synergistic effect will develop and govern your daily practice life. It will most likely sound like this:
What is said is not heard.
What is heard is not understood.
What is understood is not accepted.
What is accepted is not followed through.
What is followed through is not sustained.
This leads to doctor burn out.
