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

Get your copy 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.

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.

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

6 Keys to Dramatically Improve Your Marketing in 2015 - by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

MD Referrals?  The 6 Keys to Building Interdisciplinary Referral Relationships in 2015- 

Would you like to increase the amount of interdisciplinary referrals you receive in 2015?  Below you will find 6 keys to dramatically improve your physician outreach.  By implementing these strategies you will have a solid plan to build interdisciplinary referral relationships.  I highly recommend viewing our Free Tools after reading through this step-by-step toolkit to kickstart your 2015 outreach plan. 

Tracking Sheets

You can only build upon what you measure. Tracking sheets are the fundamental to your success. The two most important tracking sheets are 1) MD Monthly Tracking Sheet and the 2) MD Lunch Tracking Sheet. These two simple documents will help you stay focused and accurate with your outreach efforts. The more accurate and focused your outreach becomes, the better ROI you will receive and the results will continue to improve. At The Evidence Based Chiropractor, we offer these sheets free of charge to all chiropractors. Get them HERE. I have included all the fields/criteria which we have found to be important in maintaining your relationships.

Gathering Your List

There are a few ways which you can gather your physician list. I have gone into great detail regarding this in the blog “Building Your Physician List” which is available HERE. 

Gathering and building your list is crucial because the profile of the doctors, and their sub-specialty, should be tailored to your practice style. The bulk of each list should be primary care physicians (approximately 75%). However, you can fill out the back end of your list with doctors such as pediatricians, sports medicine doctors, orthopedic surgeons, etc., depending upon your personal practice interests. I recommend starting with a list of at least 50 local physicians.

Verify Your List

Verification of your list is where the “rubber meets the road”. Verifying your list ensures that your communications are received; saving you time and postage. Additionally, the verification process offers a great opportunity for your first contact with their office. 

Verification is as simple as making the following phone call, “Hello this is John calling on behalf of Dr. Langmaid’s office.  I am calling to confirm that Dr. Smith is still practicing at your location of 123 Main Street.”

By verifying your list you are able to create extremely accurate tracking sheets. This will become extremely important as you fine tune your list throughout the year. Many medical practices neglect their online presence, so the verification process also helps you get a feel for their practice. You are then able to tailor your future meeting in a way which maximizes effectiveness.

Set Up Objectives

Your next step should be to establish some objectives for your outreach.

What is your anticipated ROI from your outreach?

How many current physician referrals am I receiving?

Am I interested in setting up meetings to build rapport?

How many physician referrals would you like per month?

How can I best serve this physicians patients?

What niche am I focusing on?

We review all of these questions with our members during their implementation call, and they always have access to my email and phone to talk strategy and decide what is best for them. However, I would encourage you to think through these questions and determine your professional objectives. The goal will be to increase incoming interdisciplinary referrals, but the process may vary office to office depending upon personality, location, and finances.

Establish Meetings

Establishing and scheduling meetings with local doctors on your list is a great way to accelerate your relationship building. This can build rapport and expand your network at a rapid pace. Our members have access to a full MD Meeting guide, but I invite you to download the abridged free version HERE.

For the outgoing chiropractor this can be an engaging and even “fun” activity. However, for those of us who are a bit more reserved it may seem like a daunting task. It is important to keep in mind that you know more about the spine and nervous system than 99% of doctors. Also, by being fully prepared (which is elaborated on in our guides) you will execute the meeting with the confidence and polish of a seasoned pro.

Follow Through

Outreach without follow through is likely to be ineffective, inefficient, and soon abandoned. As a fellow physician, you don’t need to be in the other doctors’ office every few weeks as a pharmaceutical rep would be. However, it is paramount that you reach out on a consistent basis. The hallmarks of The Evidence Based Chiropractor are our customized Monthly MD Research Briefs. These provide a welcomed monthly update in the realm of musculoskeletal care which helps position you as a knowledgeable and trusted colleague. I have found that most physicians are very interested in learning about advances in evidence based medicine. Thankfully for us, there is a plethora of research which shows chiropractic care as a safe and effective health care profession. It is extremely important that we take the opportunity to showcase this research to our local colleagues and help grow our profession to the prominence it deserves. No one will promote this fantastic research for us.  The onus is on us.  Get started today and build the relationships that can lead to referrals. 

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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.

How to Explode Your Email List and Increase Referrals! - by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

The lifeblood of many chiropractic offices are referrals.  At The Evidence Based Chiropractor, we predominately focus on interdisciplinary referrals.  However, today I wanted to touch on an extremely important source of additional referrals- your mailing list!  

Building a large mailing list is one of the most important things a chiropractic office should focus on.   So how can you take action steps today to build and potentially double your mailing list?

1) Provide Valuable content

2) Make it Easy to Opt-In

3) Follow up with Valuable Content

Providing valuable content is the foundation of list growth.  How do you determine what content is valuable?  Start with identifying your patient base.  Is your practice sports based?  Perhaps its auto-accident care?  Maybe you focus on concierge care?  After you determine your audience, you can focus on providing value for them.  For instance, if your practice caters to a Medicare population of golfers you may want to provide information such as "Tips to Play 18 Holes Without Back Pain" or "Drive the Ball Farther with These Exercises".  The key is to provide content that is actionable and valuable to them.  Greater value will increase the likelihood that they share it with friends and spread your message.  Even if the content is not shared you will begin to establish yourself as a trusted source of health information.  

Second, you want to make it extremely easy for people to opt-in to your list.  Your website should be optimized to collect email addresses'.  You may choose to provide content in exchange for an email address or you can configure your website for a pop-up email collector to appear when the patient is ready to leave your site.  Tools such as SumoMe make it easy to accomplish email collection.  

Finally, following up consistently with valuable content is imperative!  Research shows that people are actually more engaged when they are emailed with greater frequency; so don't be afraid to email people often (as long as the content is providing value).  Creating a series of auto responders is easiest way to do this.  It can truly become a "set it and forget it" system with a little work on the front end.  Again, when you provide content that enriches the lives of your patient's they will share it with their friends which will continue to grow your list.  

When executed properly your email list can give you a far superior ROI when compared to traditional print advertising.  Feel free to ask questions in the comment section below.  Now there is only one thing left.... get started!  

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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.