For The Love Of...

Stepping into the room with a practice member after you have just given an incredibly moving introduction into the severity of the subluxation, there is often times a slight hesitation by the Doc when it comes to discussing the financial responsibility of that practice member.

They came to you wanting help. They wanted something different; not more drugs, not just another exercise that doesn’t get to the cause of the problem. They want your expertise in helping them to be able to get back into life again.

The practice member is wanting your expertise and they already know that to be in fair exchange with you, there will have to be some kind of payment, correct?  There HAS to be some kind of payment.

Of all the areas that are never covered in your detailed education at Chiropractic college was ‘How do you speak with your practice members about paying?” Uh-oh. Not THAT area! A half hearted suggestion is made by the teacher, but your question essentially goes unanswered.

There are three ways to set up fee schedules; 1. What is usual and customary for your area,  2. What you have calculated your time and expertise is worth, 3. What you feel comfortable in saying.  Which of these three is the most common? By FAR it is number 3, which has little to do with what is usual and customary for your area OR what you have calculated your time and expertise is worth. It is sadly usually far below what is usual and customary and NOWHERE near what your time and expertise is worth.

To be in fair exchange with your practice member YOU have to be giving EXCELLENT service and nothing below it. If you are not giving EXCELLENT service then it is YOU who is not in fair exchange with your practice member.  To give EXCELLENT service you have to WANT to give it as you see that as FAIR to your practice member as they are giving you pay. So why would  you deliberately undercut an outlined plan, a plan just like an orthodontist lays out when talking about braces, that starts you off in a state of being NOT FAIR? I tried it. For years.  And it was bad.

Your gym fee. Your orthodontist. Your car payment. Your house payment. Your cable bill. Your phone bill. All of these give you an outline of what your fees are going to be to get the service you want. Giving your practice member a guideline as to what your fees are, and what their participation is going to be is fair to them. They want to know that.

This is an absolutely critical area of practice that we were never taught in school. If you practiced THIS area as much as you practiced side posture, you would already be a master of it. But in reality, since we didn’t get the foundation for it in Chiropractic school we are left to drift in practice and have ‘kind of learn as we go along’.

In ChiroPassion  it is an essential tool for you to have the ability to easily and effectively communicate, and talk with your practice members about the care they need, their anticipated adjustment schedules, their participation in THEIR health, AND their financial responsibility.  To make these areas no longer areas of hesitation, but areas of determination, it is critical to practice this step.

Imagine the strength of your commitment to helping each practice member to greater health when you walk into that room expecting an agreement to the best Chiropractic care. Just as you expect correction of the subluxation with each adjustment because you have practiced this step, you can expect the fair exchange at the financial talk because you have practiced this also.

No magical poster will allow you to step over this. No incredible CA will allow you the Doctor to get away not doing this. No colorful handout given to read instead of talking with your practice member will get you out of it. It is YOUR responsibility to master this. So master it.

You master this not for the love of money, but for the love of giving the best of YOU to each one of your practice members.