The Importance of Refining Your Product and Service- by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

Recently, I was listening to Jason Fried (co-founder of 37Signals/Basecamp) talk about pulling back the lens on product development. While not every chiropractor is developing products; we are certainly all in the service industry. In a practical sense, I think this can be applied to every Chiropractors blog. For instance, why did you choose this brand of a new chiropractic table? What goes into your decision to upgrade the copy/design on your website? I believe that the answers to these questions are important, not only to your patients, but also to other chiropractors struggling with the same questions.

In light on this I want to touch on the evolution of our MD Research Briefs. We did not choose the design out of the sky, but rather it has been a journey. The original design is a distance cousin of our current design. Originally, I had a multipage letter/newsletter hybrid as you can see below.

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The design was a bit cumbersome and lacked the elegance I had hoped to achieve. Additionally, one of the biggest challenges in reaching MD's is time. They are completely swamped in practice and probably don't have the time to read multiple pages of text (even if the layout is world class). 

This started the process of our transition to the current format; a single page PDF with a customized header/footer, clear indication of the highlighted study, short and direct analysis, beautiful graphics, and some direct quotes. We have found that this design really fires on all cylinders. 

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In 2015, we will continue to explore new design ideas which can improve our message. Simplicity, elegance, and efficiency are the hallmarks of good design. And truthfully, the bottom line is that good design solves problems. The problem we encounter is the inequity of referrals from other health care professionals. I believe we can solve this problem with hard work, persistence, a clear message, and perhaps a little bit of good design. 

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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 Care and the NFL in USA Today

Recently, USA Today featured an article on chiropractic care in NFL. The piece highlights how and why the worlds greatest athletes are seeking alternative care for the treatment of their health concerns. Essentially, the athletes need to heal as quickly as possible and perform with the highest function (performance). I posted a link to this article on my Facebook page and it immediately exploded across the internet.

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The most important take away for me was that MD's and DC's are working together, in a very high stakes arena, for the benefit of the patient/athlete. Additionally, the article states that some athletes are seeking out the use of chiropractors as they hear about the results from their colleagues. While not all of us will have the opportunity to work on NFL players; we all can work towards better communication and cooperation with other physicians in our communities for the benefit of our patients. 

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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.

Medical Attitudes Towards Chiropractic- by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

A new study in the Journal of Chiropractic Education examines the attitudes, knowledge, and perception of medical students towards chiropractic care.  Not surprisingly, many of the medical students have had limited exposure to chiropractic.  Their views and perceptions were based on hearsay and speculation as opposed to research and experience.  A few of the key quotes include:

‘‘Just a lack of understanding of what a chiropractor does and the safety associated with it, are barriers to me, you know, when I’m practicing or referring someone to a chiropractor.’’ 

‘‘Showed us journal articles . . . this is the kind of evidence we were looking for, and she had presented this to us about safety and about patient satisfaction. I think those are 2 big topics for me that. . .maybe I can take this seriously, rather than just brushing it off, you know, as a service.’’ 

I am sure these quotes resonate with many of the members of The Evidence Based Chiropractor.  My estimation is that roughly 50% of the physicians my members interact with have never met a chiropractor before.  Unfortunately, chiropractic seems to be the best-kept health care secret of the last 200 years.  However, we can built referral relationships with other physicians and drive increased utilization of chiropractic.  By presenting research, answering questions, building rapport, and reaching out we can build the referral relationships which will not only grow our individual practices', but the profession as whole.  In my opinion chiropractic needs nothing added to it; we simply need to highlight the wonderful safety and efficacy of the chiropractic adjustment. 

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-The Evidence Based Chiropractor is the leading DC/MD marketing and outreach group in the world.  Our service is dedicated to increasing chiropractic utilization by showcasing research.  Marketing to medical doctors through research is efficient, cost effective, and can dramatically improve your incoming referrals.  Join us.  Lets grow chiropractic together.

Low Back Pain: Tylenol is No Better Than Placebo - by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

A new research study from the Lancet has shown Tylenol, or more specifically the active ingredient paracetamol, to provide no added relief when compared to placebo for acute low back pain.  The study is a double-blinded, randomized-controlled trial, which is one of the highest classes of research.  

For many people with acute low back pain; Tylenol is one of the first recommendations from their Primary Care Physician.  This study finds that we should question the universal endorsement of paracetamol.  Did you know that previous research studies have found chiropractic care to be one of the most safe and effective treatment options available for acute low back pain?  Often, primary care providers unfortunately rely on the status quo, which is this case would be the prescription or recommendation of paracetamol for acute low back pain.  However, evidence based guidelines indicate that chiropractic care may be a superior option.

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-The Evidence Based Chiropractor is the fastest growing chiropractic marketing group in the profession.  The service, founded and run by Dr. Jeff Langmaid, is dedicated to increasing chiropractic utilization by showcasing research.  Marketing to medical doctors through research is proven, cost effective, and can dramatically improve your incoming referrals.  Join us.  Lets grow chiropractic together.

Positioning- The Secret Sauce of Success. by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

Marketing guru's such as John Carlton teach 3 kinds of positioning.  Positioning your practice appropriately within your local community is perhaps the best long term path to success.  There are great, actionable, lessons that can be learned from each type of positioning. 

1-  The first type of positioning is establishing your "eye level".  In retail, this means literally having your product at eye level.  It is the best and most direct indicator of sales.  Relating this to interdisciplinary relationships; we should have our practice at "eye level" of other physicians in the community.  We should be engaging them on a consistent basis through Case Notes, Monthly Research Briefs, and occasional meetings.  This keeps your practice at "eye level" and not hidden on the back of the shelf!

2-  Second is where your "ad" appears in magazines and publications.  Ad agencies long ago learned to charge a premium for the first dozen pages of advertising in their publications.  Of course this is because while 90% of readers will look through the first dozen pages; not even 10% will make it to the end of the publication.  Our lesson to be learned from this is to keep our communication short and poignant.  Physicians are not going to read 10 page research papers, or 15 page case notes forms.  Quite simply, it is important to provide one page updates that grab their attention.  

3.  How you position your service in the "readers" mind.  This is perhaps the most obvious with how it relates to your practice.  Does your practice exude professionalism?  Do people in the community know that your office works with (not against) other physicians in town?  Have you positioned your office as the only logical choice for primary care physicians to make chiropractic referrals?  

As you can see, how we position our office will make a huge difference in our success not only with interdisciplinary referrals, but also with our friends and neighbors.  

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-The Evidence Based Chiropractor is the fastest growing chiropractic marketing group in the profession.  The service, founded and run by Dr. Jeff Langmaid, is dedicated to increasing chiropractic utilization by showcasing research.  Marketing to medical doctors through research is proven, cost effective, and can dramatically improve your incoming referrals.  Join us.  Lets grow chiropractic together.