Do you have the systems to dig deep into a problem?

I go to a lot of seminars.  When I listen to countless miraculous stories and fabulous results I get really pumped up and can’t wait to get to the office on Monday.  On Sunday night, I’m telling my wife and kids about the new things I can do based on what I learned and I go to bed with great anticipation.

Then Monday morning hits and it usually takes three patients and one staff or office problem to curb my enthusiasm and drag me back into the “same old, same old” of practice.  About lunchtime I think to myself, “I sure would like to practice like that speaker does; their grass must be much greener than mine.”

We have all had this happen multiple times in our practice lifetime.  And we all realize the grass isn’t greener.  But it’s hard to change what’s already working without huge amounts of time, energy, money and momentum.  So don’t fall for the Hollywood glitzy “greatest practice ever” scheme, just start digging deeper into the issues and problems you have greatest success within your practice already.

We all know we can’t be all things to all people.  I don’t want to talk to patients about drugs or surgery.  I want to talk to them about staying healthy.  So the more systems you create that bring up these topics in conversation, the stronger your patient-doctor relationship becomes.

We all want referral based practices including grandpa, grandma and all the kids down to the newborns.  The best way to do this is to keep talking and listening to the real life problems and issues people have every day in their lives.

Problems with digestion, blood sugar, energy and weight loss can fill your day with conversation as you assess, diagnose and treat subluxations.  So don’t throw the baby out with the bath water, use your treatment time as a starting point to educate your patients to help them create a healthy lifestyle for life. 

We all have miracle cases in practice.  But 95% of our patients don’t fit into the “Hollywood” practice model.  When you come back from your next seminar think of one thing you can add to what’s working already and implement it.  This will create long-term relationships and a stable practice for years to come.