A Chiropractic Disneyland

by William D. Esteb

My doctor of chiropractic recently remodeled her office. New carpet, contemporary colors, and reupholstered chairs have upgraded the reception room. New paint, wallpaper, and better lighting have given the office a new sense of professionalism. I've noticed I'm even more conscious of what I wear when I go in for my appointments.

Environments dramatically shape the way we think and act. Environments affect our conduct, our expectations, and even our moods. Have you given any thought to the effect your office environment has on your patients? What does it communicate about your long-term objectives? How does it affect your staff? What affect does it have on you?

Sadly, many chiropractic offices that want to create lifetime patients, merely look like a medical doctor's office--a place most patients want to visit only once a year or less. The visit frequency of chiropractic patients alone dictates that a chiropractic office should be more creative, more contemporary, and more exciting than some outdated medical model!

Unfortunately, simply painting the reception room or putting in new carpet doesn't result in dozens of new patients the next day. Environmental improvements are cumulative and the results are experienced over months and years. The effect is long term.

Even after five or six years of successful practice, many offices have the same layout, wall colors, and furnishings of the hand-to-mouth days when they first opened the doors. Furnishings have become out of date, uncomfortable, or soiled. Office literature is dog-eared and void of recent scientific findings. Wall coverings and color schemes that were chosen to be as neutral as possible, now communicate the ambiance of a bus station. The drop ceiling and factory fluorescent lighting give the office a coldly efficient look. The lack of soundproofing and hollow core doors make patients reluctant to discuss confidential health matters. Or at the other end of the spectrum, ominous dark paneling gives the office a heavy, ponderous feeling.

Perhaps you've become accustomed to these familiar surroundings and either look past the flaws or don't notice them. After all, your specialty is chiropractic, not interior design. But realize that your office communicates your self-esteem, your outlook--even your clinical skills. Patients read these signs in the same way they judge a retail establishment by the amount of merchandise displayed, the brand names carried--even the cleanliness of the rest rooms!

The master of environments is the Disney organization. Here are some of their techniques for creating optimum environments. See how they might be adapted in your professional setting.

Many of these ideas were facilitated by Mike Vance who helped pioneer Disney University, an in-house training resource begun in California to train Disney employees. There are three concepts which bear mentioning in the context of the Disney perspective on environments:

Questioning the status quo. When Disneyland was created, Walt wanted an alternative to sleazy, dirty amusement parks. When he conceived of the idea of family entertainment in a park-like setting, critics laughed. Employees would be called cast members. Customers would be called guests. Snack counters wouldn't sell chewing gum so there wouldn't be sticky messes to clean off the sidewalks.

In your office, questioning the status quo might mean singling out paperwork, procedures, policies, or methodologies and reviewing their validity. Do the procedures you used three years ago still contribute to growth, or are they holding you back? Can several forms be consolidated into one? Would you still have a practice if People magazine and its pharmaceutical advertising wasn't in the reception room?

Look at every aspect of your office. Does it still make sense? In a rare example of innovation, many state governments are enacting sunset laws, forcing subcommittees to automatically disband on a preset date unless their continued need is demonstrated. We're all creatures of habit, even if our habits are self-destructive, limiting, or result in unseen capacity blockages.

Romancing an idea. Creativity has been defined as inventing the new by rearranging the old in a new way. Often the best ideas are never reached because we give up too soon, accepting the first "right" answer to our problem. Romancing an idea goes beyond the first solution and the individual becomes more playful, entertaining the bizarre and the ridiculous--even opposites. This shows up in Disneyland with Space Mountain, a roller coaster that takes place in the darkness of outer space! Adapting movie set-building techniques makes buildings appear taller than they really are. The thematic uniforms seem more like costumes.

The most important barrier to romancing an office is the fear of being wrong. Of making a mistake. If you were to romance your office starting with the reception area, that critical first impression of your office, what would you do? Would you create a warm, homey atmosphere? Would you offer Wall Street Journal for your early morning business people to read? Fresh orange juice? A convenient telephone for making local calls? Moving down the hall, would you romance the names of your adjusting rooms, creating conversation starters by naming them after people who have had an important influence in your life? Would you add more plants or living things?

Funny how so many chiropractic offices that proclaim to be committed to the restoration of life and the unleashing of human potential are themselves dead.

Five-sensing. This is my favorite. The five senses are the only means we have to perceive the world around us or learn about new things. EPCOT, adjacent to Walt Disney World in Florida, is a great example of five sensing. Here the Disney organization enhanced the guests' experiences by attempting to involve as many senses as possible in the educational and entertainment process. As you enter the front gates you hear dramatic, optimistic music originating from unknown sources. In the Exxon pavilion, you return to the days of the dinosaurs and feel the murky humidity and smell the prehistoric sulfur in the air! At the Kodak exhibit, you see the world's best 3-D film presentation--so real, those unaware of how the illusion is created take flash photos attempting to capture the images! In the China and Canada exhibits, you stand up to see a 360-degree movie that is so powerful there are railings to steady yourself as the whole room appears to move!

By five-sensing your office you can add a dimension to the patient's office experience that can powerfully affect the patient's perception of you and chiropractic. The senses of sight and sound are the easiest. What about touch, taste, and smell? Have you created three-dimensional models showing the phases of Subluxation Degeneration using sand and glue so patients can touch the lipping and spurring as they see it on their X-rays? How does your office smell? Some offices are using the inviting aroma of fresh brewed coffee or hot cider in the reception room. Others are adding small amounts of vanilla or cinnamon to the edges of the headrest paper, changing it from room to room.

The ideas are limited only by your imagination. By becoming aware of all five senses and orienting your office to be more stimulating, you will give your patients a heightened sense of awareness of your environment. This makes being in your office more enjoyable and coincides with the improved function of their nervous system.

By involving more of the senses, we are better able to remember information and recall situations and important events in our lives. Have you ever been in a crowd and caught a whiff of perfume or aftershave that caused you to remember an old friend? The sense of smell is an overlooked and powerful memory device.

What do you want a patient to remember? All too often traditional patient education depends entirely on the sense of hearing during an oral presentation. Researchers suggest that hearing is only 12% effective in communicating an idea or symbol. Add the sense of sight (84% effective) and you have a powerful communication tool: videotape. This is just one of the reasons for using a video-based patient education program in your office. We are visual animals. Video can bring images into your office and into the minds of your patients that they will remember for the rest of their lives. (While we're still waiting for "smell-o-vision," you could use calcium salt tablets so patients can taste the lipping and spurring of Subluxation Degeneration!)

You don't have to turn your office into a theme park, but if you expect to see a patient for months or years, it may need some rethinking. It should have a sense of wonder. It should communicate a sense of excitement and creativity and enhance your therapeutic and clinical objectives. It should reflect the importance of chiropractic and contribute to a patient's understanding. It should recognize that a more normally functioning nervous system has a voracious appetite for stimulation.

Buy the book
A Patient's Point of View
Originally published in 1992
240 Pages
US $19.95

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