their staff as they do their patients. Get your staff involved, as they have different levels of credibility and can provide invaluable posi-tive reinforcement for patients during their term under chiropractic care. Explore the following eight points, one point at a time, through and 11-week pro-cess as follows: explore one point per week for four weeks and then on the fifth week review your progress to date. After this, move on, weekly, to the next four points, and so forth. Revisit the process once a month for six months to ensure that your agreed upon processes for execution of each point are being followed. You cannot help but benefit from this process. Chiropractic assistants can help out by doing the following: • Remind the patient that the problem they are suffering with could have taken months or years to actually develop, and healing can often be just as protracted a journey back. • If the injury is acute, remind the patient of the severity of the incident and that the doctor has experience with many cases such as this. • With the management of chronic con-ditions, explain to the patient that it is usual for long-standing problems to be somewhat slower to respond and that each individual’s body takes its own amount of time to respond. • When the patient is discouraged with the length of time that care is taking, ask if they have been following doctor’s recom-mendations. • When the patient questions the frequen-cy of care, remind them that each treat-ment schedule is customized because no two patient complaints are the same and corrections sometimes have to be made in a deliberate and planned fashion. • Show and tell – this is very individual and requires that your CAs have a thor-ough understanding of the practice. Edu-cate your staff on information contained in wall charts and posters, and get them comfortable in handling the model of the spine and explaining it with relevance to the patient. Teach staff the three basic phases of care and role play at staff meet-ings, until they comfortably own the process. Use pamphlets and DVDs as the learning tools that they are. Personalize the process to dramatically improve ef-fectiveness by reviewing, with your CA, which features to point out to the patient before the patient comes in. • Remember to schedule re-exams every 12 visits. • Assist with health-care classes. If you were to do nothing else except take the above eight points, print them out and use them to educate your staff, we guarantee that your practice will grow, in-corporate more compliant and enthusiastic patients and, along with all this, increase your personal satisfaction and the financial reward that you deserve. (Please feel free to write us for details regarding how to incor-porate this CA training.) The “take-away” from this article is simple: education creates understand-ing, in both your staff and your patients, which leads to compliance on the part of your patients. This, in turn, enhances the likelihood of positive clinical outcomes that satisfy on all levels, including intel-lectually, the terms for fulfilling a success-ful purchase experience. The final result leaves the patient primed for enthusiastic advocacy. Sounds like a win all around! • Restore your patient’s health ... • Ergonomically designed • Therapeutically sound • All Therapeutica products encourage healing by providing support and stability while sleeping and sitting • Therapeutica back supports are created to match the natural curve of the spine and to help the patient achieve optimum neutral posture while sitting • The Therapeutica back support aids in the prevention and relief of back pain and fatigue • Available in three sizes The Ultimate Back Support The Ultimate Spinal Orthotic Upper Back Support Lumbar Support The Ultimate Cervical Sleeping Pillow Lower Back Support 1.800.348.5729 · www.therapeutica.com 24 • CaNaDIaN CHIROPRaCTOR | DECEMBER 2010 www.canadianchiropractor.ca
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor December 2010: Page 24
