Law of the Lid

Patients rarely get healthier than their doctor.

If you want to help those with work injuries or suffering the aftermath of a car accident, you don't have to be very healthy. These victims rarely want health, they simply want to be made whole.

On the other hand, if you desire a practice full of cash-paying, lifetime wellness individuals who value true health, you'll need to be healthy. Not so you can project a "healthier than thou" attitude! Instead, from walking your talk and out of your abundance, you can be an authentic guide, a desirable example and an understanding steward.

Remember, true health is optimum physical, mental and social well-being. Sure, most of us could afford to lose some weight, however it's often the mental and social well-being that holds the greatest opportunity for improvement.

As Mahatma Gandhi so eloquently admonished, "Be the change you want to see in the world."

One of my guilty pleasures, being a radio guy, is to listen to one of the best interview shows on radio, Fresh Air and its host Teri Gross. While generally heard on NPR stations, I monitor the current show on her website since I’m rarely in my car at 3:00 PM when her show is broadcast locally on KRCC.

One of her contributors (David Edelstein) recently offered a review of a new movie I’ll be seeing in Denver this weekend (and I urge you to see) entitled Food, Inc.

The content of this 93-minute documentary probably won’t surprise you or readers of Eric Schlosser’s book and movie Fast Food Nation. However, I share this to remind you that the tide is actually turning. There are a growing number of enlightened individuals in your town, in your state and in our country who are our brethren. They "get" the unhealthy influence of big farma and big pharama!

Remember, next time you’re at the grocery store, you’re voting. Remind patients that they’re voting too.

Law of Reciprocity

You must first give to get. Giving creates a debt; an imbalance. The debt is paid by returning the favor.

A new patient referral can be gift or a get.

If you want more referrals, give more referrals. When appropriate, refer to the MD down the street or the pediatrician who "gets it." Refer patients to a good plumber, roofer or restaurant. Assume the role of a concierge, solving more problems than just their admitting complaint. Become the "go to" person for anything and anyone and watch your influence (and reciprocal referrals) grow.

The Law of Reciprocity takes time. The error that many make is they superimpose their own sense of time when invoking the Law. Trust it will come back to you, next month, next year or some time in eternity. But it always comes back. What you give away (good or bad) always returns.

Turns out my tantrum (Deprogramming Chiropractors) has inadvertently hurt some people that I love dearly. Secondly, I may have underestimated the attention these musings and rantings receive. (It’s not exactly peer reviewed, if you know what I mean.) And worse, caused enough doubt that it might have prompted a coachable chiropractor not to get some needed help. Allow me to clear up some misunderstandings.

While it was convenient for me to paint all practice management/consultants with a broad brush, the fact is, there are some shining examples of what coaching can and should be. In fact, I’ll name a few of them in a moment. But first allow me to clarify:

• I remain unwavering against manipulation in any form—whether done on an adjusting table, in front of the X-ray view box or by a well-intentioned relative.

• I believe that anyone who wants to get better at just about anything can benefit from a good coach. (I have one.) Yet, if the client thinks success is something you do, rather than something you are, it’s possible to pervert even the best advice.

• A solid, stable practice is the result of referrals and reactivations. Advice, procedures, techniques or patient policies that come from me or anyone else that thwart these important “votes-of-confidence” from patients are counterproductive and ultimately damaging.

Continue reading "Broad Brush" »

Law of Identity

Horse. Zebra. Similar, but different. The Law of Identity is based on the ability to make distinctions with our language—something difficult to do if we're hamstrung by underdeveloped observational skills or crippled by a limited vocabulary.

For example. If you have the desire to have a practice of nonsymptomatic families availing themselves of care designed to maintain their health or promote wellness, calling them "patients," which comes from the Latin meaning "to suffer," blurs the distinction. Oh, they may begin care as patients, but at some point (if all goes according to plan) they're no longer suffering. If you want more these non-suffering regulars, you'll want to call them something other than patients. (i.e. clients, practice members, participants, etc.)

This is this and that is that. Success does not flow toward ambiguity, vagueness or those who are lazy with language. Rigor displayed here pays off later, but it's a distinction lost on many.

Earlier today, I completed a one-hour telephone consultation with a chiropractor. The anger I’m feeling might be similar to what you’d feel when presented with a child suffering from vaccine damage or a patient who was maimed by a medical mistake.

Just what has produced this angst? The suffering inflicted on this coachable chiropractor at the hands of the top practice management organizations in chiropractic. Finally, I’m present to the far-reaching and deleterious effects of these well-intentioned “coaching” programs. I’m fed up with the manipulative techniques taught chiropractors that are justified by a do-gooder mentality.

It would be easy to use this space to take pot shots at this parasitic industry that has sprung up from the confluence of low self-esteem, third-party reimbursement, a lack of business training and old-fashioned greed. Instead, allow me to deprogram some of the more common beliefs that come from brushing up against these chiropractic cults.

Continue reading "Deprogramming Chiropractors" »