How to Overcome the 3 Big Obstacles to Chiropractic Referrals- by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

Gaining traction with your MD Marketing

Without a plan, reaching out to medical doctors can be challenging.  Many chiropractors have spent time meeting with MD's only to see little progress in the way of referrals.  Often this is because they don't have a plan!  Like everything in life; when you have a plan and are prepared to execute, you will have far greater odds of success.  Through the years we have found that medical doctors have 3 big obstacles to initiating a chiropractic referral. Today we will touch on these 3 obstacles and how you can overcome them in your conversations. 

#1 - The Never Ending Long Term Treatment Plan

Almost everyone (including your local MD's) have heard stories of patients visiting a chiropractic office for mild low back pain and subsequently being prescribed a course of treatment which lasts months (or even years).  Certainly there is a place for long term care for certain patients.  Additionally, there are patients who are interested in chiropractic maintenance care.  I don't believe anyone would argue that point.  However, many physicians are under the impression, and ultimately fearful of making a referral, if they believe they are sending a patient to a physician who is going to possibly prescribe a long term plan for every patient.  I like to address this directly and let the MD know that ever patient in my office first goes through a initial trial course of care.  At the conclusion of the trial course of care we will re-evaluate and determine the next step.  Typically the trial course of care can run anywhere between 4-12 visits depending upon the presentation of the patient and the diagnosis.   

#2 Lack of Communication

Research shows us the communication between MD's and DC's is inconsistent at best. Case notes are the foundational tools of physician communication.  By simply sending case notes, it is unlikely that you will immediately receive a flood of referrals.  However, when you combine this with your monthly research brief and periodic meetings, you will have a potent combination of outreach and marketing.  Of course, when communicating patient information you must follow all local, state, and federal laws regarding protected health information.  Chiropractors often overcomplicate their case notes.  Simply, the physician wants to know- who? (patient name, date of birth), when? (date of service), what? (chief complaint), how? (plan of care).  This information should take up only a half page or so.  Nearly every EMR system can be programmed to export this data automatically for every new patient visit.  Some systems even allow the ability to fax directly from your workstation.  

When you consistently sending case notes the physician will become familiar with your name.  Additionally, they will begin to identify the great results you are getting in practice when they follow up with the patient!  Again, we have found that the combination of case notes, monthly MD Research Briefs, and periodic physical meetings are a fantastic way to build referral relationships. 

3# The Patient Vortex

Finally, physicians are fearful of patients being taken from their care.  Simply let the doc know that the research shows that patients receive the best results when their primary care physician and chiropractor are work together.  This simply statement shows that you intend to work in a collaborative fashion. 

A Final Word

By addressing these 3 obstacles you will not only "ease" the mind of the potential referring physician, but also professionally position yourself.  Currently, only 11% of Primary Care Physicians report that they have made a formal referral to a chiropractor.  By using the formula above you will be putting your practice in a great position to receive referrals.

Would you like our complete FREE guide to MD Meetings?

In it you will learn

• -why should I meet with local MD's?
• -should I provide lunch?
• -how to set up the meeting
• -getting prepared for your meeting

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-The Evidence Based Chiropractor has assisted hundreds of chiropractors around the globe build interdisciplinary referral relationships.

Have you viewed our FREE Guides?  Download The MD Meeting and the 5 Secrets to MD Referrals today.

The Email Paradox - by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

Why Email Marketers are Getting Better Results Sending MORE Often

The biggest question regarding email communication is - how much is too much?  It takes a lot of hard work to develop an audience and the last thing most businesses want to do is alienate them by sending emails every other day; or gasp! every single day!  This is the great paradox of email marketing/outreach/communication.  

Well, contrary to what you may think, engagement actually increases significantly when people are emailed more often.  As a matter of fact, daily emails seem to generate the best engagement. But, there is a catch.  It must be valuable content!  When you are able to send relevant, valuable content with consistency you will see your engagement soar. This is a good thing regardless of your business.  However, if you fall into the trap of lazy, spammy, promotional emails everyday you will find a less than enthusiastic audience and high unsubscribed rates.  I must give credit to Ben Altadonna who has extolled the value of consistent communication for quite some time.   For more information regarding email marketing I highly recommend learning from Noah Kagan (employee #30 at Facebook, employee #4 at Mint),  Neville Medora, and within our own industry, Ben Altadonna. 

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-The Evidence Based Chiropractor has assisted hundreds of chiropractors around the globe build interdisciplinary referral relationships.

Have you viewed our FREE Guides?  Download The MD Meeting and the 5 Secrets to MD Referrals today.

Chiropractic Can Help Reduce Opioid Use - by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

     Research recently published in the Journal of Internal Medicine found that interdisciplinary care of patients in a pain management program reduced the necessity and prescription of opioid mediations.  Opioid medication prescriptions have skyrocketed over the last decade.  This has occurred in spite of the evidence, and best practice guidelines, which caution against the prescription of opioid medications (especially when prescribed for musculoskeletal conditions).  Studies show that opioid medications result in the death of thousands of individuals per year.

    The VA Hospital system outlined a program where interdisciplinary care was used in an attempt to divert patients from the use, and doctors from the prescription, of opioids. Over the course of four years this study found a decrease in the number of patients who were prescribed opioid medications when offered the option for interdisciplinary care.  Physical therapy, and chiropractic care, and topical analgesics were the foundational components of the alternative, interdisciplinary model.   

    The inclusion of chiropractic care as an evidence-based choice in the pain management of our nations veterans is a large step forward for our profession.  Additionally, studies like this continue to build the depth and breadth of the research which supports and encourages the use of chiropractic care. 

See the study on PUBMED here.

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-The Evidence Based Chiropractor has assisted hundreds of chiropractors around the globe build interdisciplinary referral relationships.

Have you viewed our FREE Guides?  Download The MD Meeting and the 5 Secrets to MD Referrals today.

Unleash Your Custom Audience. The Most Powerful Facebook Ad Strategy- by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

Are you currently collecting the data and information from the visitors to your website? If not, you are missing out on a HUGE opportunity to build your practice.   

Let's say that you spend money each month on print advertisements in your local paper, marketing handouts, or Facebook ads.  First, you should know how much money its costing you to get a person to visit your website from these ads (it could be a specific landing page, isolated phone number, etc).  A vast majority of people will not respond to the ads.  So the prospective patients that actually visit your website are already highly targeted clientele who have an interest in your practice.  These are the people who should be filing your office!  

Creating a Facebook Custom Audience is one of the best ways to provide value for these patients and be able to retarget your message to them.  Facebook Custom Audiences are created by simply installing a "pixel", or piece of code on your website (which is invisible).  This code captures the information of everyone who visits your webpage and automatically creates a list of these people on Facebook.  Then, when you make your next Facebook ad, you can specifically choose this list of people to target your message!   

So to wrap things up, a Facebook Custom Audience is a set of people who have already visited your website (highly targeted, already interested people) whom you can retarget through Facebook ads and provide high value content.  Don't waste money on print ads and other advertising without creating a Custom Audience!

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-The Evidence Based Chiropractor has assisted hundreds of chiropractors around the globe build interdisciplinary referral relationships.

Have you viewed our FREE Guides?  Download The MD Meeting and the 5 Secrets to MD Referrals today.

The Modern Doctor’s Black Bag By: Daniel Kivatinos, COO and Co-Founder, drchrono

In the past you have read my rave reviews of the drchrono EMR/EHR.  It is simply one of the most elegant and affordable systems on the market today.  Don't take my word for it. Additionally, it works flawlessly on an iPad as well as your traditional workstations.  Today I am proud to feature a guest blog post from the drchrono founder, Daniel Kivatinos. Learn more about drchrono here. 

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The Modern Doctor’s Black Bag

By: Daniel Kivatinos, COO and Co-Founder, drchrono

Doctors have an abundance of patient-facing software and hardware solutions; while the variety is welcomed, it is sometimes hard to figure out what is best for one’s practice. As the Co-Founder of an EHR company, I’ve come across a series of modern practice set-ups and have found some similarities in the toolkits or “black bags” of some of the most efficiently run medical offices. Based on my meetings with hundreds of physicians, here’s some tips and insight on solutions and technology for the doctor of the future.

Patient Portal

Patient Portals provide your patients with access to their medical record, including key information like prescriptions, allergies and lab results. Additionally, a portal can provide your patients with the ability to view and pay their bills, send and receive messages from their doctor and schedule appointments. Patient portals provide patients with all of the features mentioned above, and some like drchrono’s onpatient provide easy access through the cloud or an app and this is a big one, the ability to synchronize with Apple’s latest Health app and share their wellness data with their physician in an easy-to-digest format.

Electronic Health Records (EHR)

Paper has become a thing of the past in most doctors’ offices. From Meaningful Use requirements to the need for a better doctor-patient experience, doctors are embracing EHRs in droves. Of course, like everything else, some solutions are better (or even far better) than others. When selecting an EHR, look for a solution that is server-less, allows for easy access via cloud or iPad and iPhone (via native apps, not cloud), includes advanced features like speech-to-text, free draw and HIPAA-compliant file storage and sharing. Additionally, your solution should integrate billing, prescriptions, and faxing into the app itself. 

Look for one that offers a free account and complimentary demos so you can try it out before you sign-up.

COST: FREE

Patient Check-In

Forget the days of handing a clipboard to a patient and asking them to fill out long forms, instead, utilize a check-in app. Hand your patient an iPad or other hardware and have them fill out customized forms easily on the device; information is transferred to the front desk, in real time, to review. We find Patient Check-In to be one of the most popular and efficient apps for our customers.

COST: Free

Hardware Must Haves

Laptops 

The best laptops today on the market are the Macbook Air and the Macbook Pro Retina 13 or 15 inch; they are extremely fast, reliable, easy to use and the quality is amazing. 

COST: $899.00+

iPad

I recommend an iPad Mini or an iPad Air; the Retina display is excellent and the two integrated microphones integrated with both models ensure that your voice will be picked up at an extremely high rate if you are using EHR features like medical speech-to-text.

COST: $399.99+

Apple Cinema Display

For any doctor who is using a Mac or iPad, an Apple cinema display is a must have. The screen provides you with an extra 27 inches of screen space, making sure you have enough real estate to get your work done.

COST: $999.00

Apple TV

Perhaps the most underrated piece of hardware is the Apple TV. Doctors can utilize AirPlay, which allows doctors the ability to share their laptop, iPad or iPhone screen to a larger TV (even very large TVs). With the swipe of a few fingers, a doctor can project their device on a large screen, and share a medical record with patients or colleagues. The best part, Apple TV only costs $99.00 dollars!

COST: $99.00

Scanner

Doctors need a great scanner to scan papers at high speeds. One scanner family I’ve seen used most frequently are Fujitsu ScanSnap Scanners; these are small very fast scanner, scan double-sided, and can also scan to PDF and other file formats with the click of a button.

COST: Varies

Printer

HP printers are a great idea; they are dependable and work very well with both PC and Macs.

COST: Varies

eFax Services 

The most savvy of electronic medical records platforms have fax services built in. For those who want a fax service outside of their EHR, there are great fax services like HelloFax these services allow you to send and receive faxes from your computer. 

Cost: FREE+

Daniel Kivatinos, COO and Co-Founder, drchrono

Daniel drives direction, brand vision, and business strategy for drchrono. Daniel's focus has been in the technology space since 2001, as a software engineer and entrepreneur. Daniel holds an M.S. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Computer Science & Psychology from Stony Brook University.

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-The Evidence Based Chiropractor has assisted hundreds of chiropractors around the globe build interdisciplinary referral relationships.

Have you viewed our FREE Guides?  Download The MD Meeting and the 5 Secrets to MD Referrals today