266 The End of Patient Compliance

Welcome to the KC CHIROpulse Podcast.  

This week’s topic:  The End of Patient Compliance has Arrived!

The KC CHIROpulse Podcast is designed for Chiropractic professionals ready to elevate their practice to new heights.  This week, the show is hosted by Kats Consultants’ coaches Dr Michael Perusich and Dr Troy Fox, seasoned experts in Chiropractic business management.  This podcast provides invaluable insights and actionable strategies to help you create a flourishing and sustainable Chiropractic business.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why does it seem to be more difficult to get patients to be compliant
• Why patients seem to be disinterested in our treatment recommendations
• Why a real patient communication strategy is paramount to compliance
• Why being patient-centric is more important than ever 
• …and so much more…

In each episode of KC CHIROpulse, we delve into crucial aspects of building a successful Chiropractic practice, covering topics such as establishing a strong foundation, adopting a patient-centric approach, mastering marketing techniques, achieving financial fitness, fostering effective team building and leadership, integrating technology and innovation, and navigating common challenges in the field.

Whether you're a seasoned chiropractor or just starting your practice, the KC CHIROpulse Podcast offers a wealth of knowledge and personalized practical advice to help you navigate the intricate world of Chiropractic business. Join us on this journey as we explore proven strategies, share success stories, and connect with industry experts to empower you in your pursuit of building a thriving Chiropractic practice.

Don't miss out on the latest insights and expert guidance. Subscribe now and unlock the secrets to taking your Chiropractic practice to the next level. Your success is our priority at Kats Chiropractic Business Advisors.

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Transcript

266 Why Compliance Vanished

Why Compliance Vanished

[00:00:00] 

Dr. Michael Perusich : The end of patient compliance is here. Hi, everybody. Welcome to the KC CHIROpulse podcast, where business innovation meets chiropractic. I wanna welcome everybody. I'm Dr. Michael Perusich. This is my co-host, Dr. Troy Fox. I wanna thank Chiro Health USA for plugging in, being one of our sponsors as well. So everybody, why has patient compliance just completely, suddenly, it seems like, vanished?

Dr. Troy Fox: Good question. And you know what? 

Dr. Michael Perusich : Oof, it's gone. We know why. 

Dr. Troy Fox: We, it's enou- it's enough to scare you though, isn't it? Because it 

Dr. Michael Perusich : is different. It is. And we're hearing this from, from a lot of doctors right now, that patients don't commit to care. They don't wanna comply with care. I adjust them a few times and they drop out, and we don't know why.

Let's dive into what some of those possibilities, probabilities, realities actually are today. 

Start With Patient Goals

Dr. Michael Perusich : And Troy, I'm gonna throw one out. 

Dr. Troy Fox: Yeah. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : Uh, the first one I wanna throw out is the fact that, and it is a fact, it's the fact [00:01:00] that we want to spend time talking about ourselves, how great our practice is, how great chiropractic is, and we forget why the patient's there.

Yeah. And why is the patient there? They're there because they're hoping you can create some kind of outcome for them. Yeah. But we tend to just blow right past why the patient is there, and we palpate the patient, and we do this great exam, and we find out, "Oh boy, I can't wait to adjust this patient," 'cause they have several subluxations, and we explain the subluxation and how great chiropractic care is.

But the patient's thinking, "But I wanna be able to play golf." 

"

Dr. Michael Perusich : I don't care about your sublux- subluxusion, whatever it's called. I care about going back and playing golf, and you never once mentioned that I might be able to play golf again." So

we gotta make sure that we're not so focused on what excites us, and we gotta make sure that we turn our focus on what excites the patient. And nothing [00:02:00] excites, excites the patient than getting back to doing whatever they wanna do. 

Dr. Troy Fox: And there's such an easy solution for that. One, read the intake from the patient.

I hate going to a doctor's office where they don't read the intake. They walk in and go, "So what are you here for today?" Read the intake, and what I like to do, this is a little caveat for you guys, don't pick out the main symptom. "Oh, you came in, you got low back pain today. I noticed that you said you were on blah, blah, blah drug," or, "I noticed that you stated that back in 1986 you had such and such injury.

I'd like to start with that. Can you tell me a little bit about that injury? And then let's move forward into kinda what's going on with you today, and what this is keeping you from doing right now." Wow. Mm-hmm. Boy, all of a sudden I've got 'em all... Th- now, A, they know I read the intake, B, they know I picked up on a little caveat in the intake that I really wanna approach that first before I forget to ask you about that.

Mm-hmm. And then we can go into the main symptoms that we're [00:03:00] talking about today. So now all of a sudden they feel validated that everything they wrote down on that intake was not a waste of their time, because a lot of times patients think that's a waste to even fill out an intake. Right. So there, there's your caveat.

There's the starting point if you want to help yourself, and it keeps you from talking about what you think's important with the patient at that point. That's not where we're at right now. That comes closer to the end when we make recommendations, but at the beginning is their time to share with you what they think's important.

Dr. Michael Perusich : Yeah. And going back in their history is huge- Mm-hmm ... because if you light on something that happened many years ago, now you've introduced the chronicity- 

Dr. Troy Fox: Mm ... 

Dr. Michael Perusich : of their condition. And now you're, you're 10 steps ahead of creating a lifetime patient, because this didn't start yesterday when your pain started, this started 20 years ago when you had that injury, and it was- That's-

never treated correctly. 

Dr. Troy Fox: That is exactly right, and that's such an easy step. You guys can [00:04:00] implement that one today with your next new patient that walks through the door. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So we're gonna take a really quick break here, a word from our sponsors. So when we come back, we're gonna dive into why patient compliance is so low, and how you can overcome that

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Engagement Tools And AI Notes

Dr. Michael Perusich : Okay, everybody, welcome back. We are talking about patient compliance and how [00:05:00] difficult it seems like it is anymore. And, and Troy, this is something we hear from clients and non-clients all the time is, "I can't keep patients in care." 

And you know, we just mentioned a big one. It's because we're not paying attention to their history.

And when you dive into that history, I think you do connect a very solid relationship upfront with the patient and a comforting relationship. Mm-hmm. Patient, patient will relax. Now, now they're gonna be open to telling you more because they know that you're paying attention. I think that's huge 

Dr. Troy Fox: And I think sometimes we're afraid to ask that question 'cause we're afraid the patient's gonna unload, but it's amazing.

Now, yes, you're gonna get, you're gonna get an 80, a 85-year-old grandma that this is her big social hour, and she just- Mm-hmm ... cannot wait to sit and talk with you. You are probably gonna have to, politely curtail that one a little bit- Sure ... just so you can get it done. And that's not 

Dr. Michael Perusich : hard to do. 

Dr. Troy Fox: But the majority of patients are actually gonna get right to the point.

If you don't- Yeah ... interrupt them and let them [00:06:00] talk, they're gonna talk themselves out in about three minutes- Mm-hmm ... and you're gonna be right where you need to be. Let me give you another caveat. If you guys have AI note systems or note systems that record, the best thing that you can do, I get their, I get permission first that we can record, number one.

Number two, I'm gonna record that conversation and let my AI note create it. You know why I'm gonna do that? Because I'm fully engaged with you. Now I'm having a conversation like we're having coffee. Yeah. I'm no longer looking at my computer while I'm talking to you, typing notes- Mm-hmm ... and trying to keep up.

I'm listening to what you have to say, and then when you get to the end, I can say, "You know what? I love what you had to say about that. I appreciate you giving me so much information. I have several questions for you." 

Boy, talk about being engaging. So that is one way to get patient compliance right at the beginning, because they know that you've heard them.

That's number one. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Troy Fox: How do we h- how do we tackle this one? 

Explain Long Term Care Value

Dr. Troy Fox: Here's number two. How do we tackle the patient that comes in and says, "My chiropractic care in the past has always [00:07:00] been one or two adjustments." Mm-hmm. "I got adjusted three years ago. The last chiropractor I went to fixed me in two visits." How do we tackle that?

Dr. Michael Perusich : Then why are you here? Yeah. Why are you here? 

Dr. Troy Fox: Exactly. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : If you were fixed what new condition do you have? 

Or, "That's an interesting perspective that you have on chiropractic care. Let me tell you my perspective." And th- this is when I usually would talk about things like, well, SLAAH, abnormal pressure on normal tissue causes it to g- degrade.

And I would say, "You know, what do, what do you do for a daily, on a daily basis?" "Well, I sit at a computer all day." "Great. That means you're compacting your spine. Did you know that when you sit all day like that, you're compacting your spine anywhere from three to five times your body weight and compressive force is on your low back?"

"

Dr. Michael Perusich : Oh, I didn't know that." "That may be why your low back hurts. So here's the deal with chiropractic care. We unwind that process." And I would explain Will's Law very, in, in very generic terms so the patient understands, and how [00:08:00] ongoing chiropractic care works like the dentist toothbrush. It helps un- unravel those little things that insult our spine on a daily basis.

So when you saw your chiropractor last three years ago, now we've got three years- Of abnormal pressure creating problems in your low back 

Dr. Troy Fox: And then if you throw the second one in here, these are the two, you- I love Wolf's law. The other one I like to throw out is the term imbibition. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : Yeah. 

Dr. Troy Fox: And I love talking about how the discs themselves do not have a direct blood supply.

Dr. Michael Perusich : Right. 

Dr. Troy Fox: Imbib- im- imbibition is the process, it's almost like a sponge, right? We all know this. We learned this in chiropractic school. When you put that abnormal pressure on there, what are you doing? Well, you're, you're pushing out the, uh, you're pushing out the- The fluids ... to- the fluids and the toxins, right?

Okay. But how about are we getting new fluids back into the area, and are we [00:09:00] getting blood flow and oxygen into the area for the health of the disc? Well, the answer with the subluxated joint or a joint that's not moving well or already has degenerative changes on X-ray is absolutely not. So it's a really easy leap at that point to explain the patient why you have a chronic area in your body that needs support.

It's support that we're giving to the patient when we do that. So those are the two big ones, and I think they're easy ones to explain. They're quick, and patients are blown away by both of them. Yeah, exactly. I think they love to learn that part. That is not something... Somebody's not gonna look up Wolf's law or imbibition- Yeah

on a Google search about chiropractic. And when you tell them that, all of a sudden it kinda makes sense, just like it did to us in chiropractic school. That was an aha moment when we saw Wolf's law in action. Yeah. It was an aha moment when we learned that the disc does not have its own direct blood supply.

Well, how in the world does it get blood flow then? 

Yeah. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : How does It's very important 

Dr. Troy Fox: And it gets the patient's attention, and it also makes you look [00:10:00] like the expert, which you are 

Dr. Michael Perusich : Exactly. Exactly. You know, and then I think there's a couple of other things too that, that degrade patient compliance.

I think one is that we're, we're not being... And we, we've talked about this on other podcasts, but we're not being patient-centric enough. We're not talking about the outcome so much that the patient's looking for. We may be talking about how g- how great chiropractic care is, and, and it is. 

Dr. Troy Fox: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : But are we talking about what the patient's really looking for from you?

So I always tried to draw out the, I call it the emotional component of their symptoms. "Okay, you said you have low back pain, but how's it affecting you?" What... Because does pain really bring patients in the door? No. What brings patients in the door is it's beginning to affect something in their lives.

They can't do something. They can't play golf. They can't sit and play, uh, bridge with the ladies at, uh, the ladies' night at the country club. They can't do [00:11:00] whatever it is. They can't play with their kids. They can't sit on the, uh, on the bleachers while their kids are at a soccer tournament. There's something emotional that's bringing them in, and they're looking to overcome that emotional impact.

And so when we attach that to the treatment plan, by little things like, "Won't it be great when you can sit on those bleachers and cheer your kids on the entire weekend, rather than right now you have to get up and walk around, and maybe sometimes can't even go to the games because your back hurts so bad?"

Dr. Troy Fox: And you have to dig that out of the patient or at least introduce the option for them to talk about it. Absolutely. Because when they call, they don't call and say, "I can't play golf." They don't call and say, "I can't sit on the bleachers." What they call and say, "I got low back pain," or, "I got neck pain."

And that's all they say. Like, my intake forms are like, oh my gosh, give a complete description, low back pain. I'm like, oh my gosh. Right. Like, really? So it is a challenge [00:12:00] sometimes. Mm-hmm. But when you hear low back pain, what's that keep you from doing? Boy, isn't that a powerful question? Yeah. Because now I get my patient talking about themselves again, which is very important, and I also find out what they really want from me.

Dr. Michael Perusich : Yeah. 

Dr. Troy Fox: Now, now we're actually at the reason why you came into my office, not because you have low back pain. Because you wanna be able to go to your kids' games and sit on the bleachers again. Okay, how do we get there? Isn't that a great concept, and doesn't that seem more engaging- 

Dr. Michael Perusich : Mm-hmm ... 

Dr. Troy Fox: when somebody wants to help you reach your goal, rather than just we're gonna try to get you out of pain.

Let's see if we adjust you a couple of times. I'll adjust you today, and then you might need one more adjustment." 

Okay? I- 

Dr. Michael Perusich : And talk about a referral generator. Right. When your patient who can't play golf goes back to the golf course and tells all their buddies that, "Dr. Fox got me back to playing golf, and I don't have any pain anymore."

Everybody else is gonna go, [00:13:00] "Oh, yeah, my back hurts too. I just don't ever tell my buddies about it, but I'm gonna go call Jo- Dr. Fox." As opposed to if your patient goes back and says, "Oh, yeah, my, my pain's kinda gone now. I went to see Dr. Fox." That's boring. That's not a referral generator. It's the emotional things that are referral generators.

And Troy, you're spot on. You have to dig that out of the patient. It takes a little bit of finesse- 

Dr. Troy Fox: Yeah ... 

Dr. Michael Perusich : but then it becomes this great engagement process when you do the report of findings, "Hey, wouldn't it be great when you can go play golf again?" 

Dr. Troy Fox: W- I wanna tell you a funny story, 'cause this happened on my way to do this podcast today.

There was a truck, rolled over, hit the back of a car at an intersection- Yeah ... about a mile from where my office is at, and it has nothing to do with the roll over or the person in it. It has to do with the state trooper that was standing there stopping traffic. He's holding his hand up, blocking me, because it's one lane of traffic while they're working on this.

He pulls up, starts talking to me, and he [00:14:00] goes, "Oh, you're a doctor," 'cause I had my scrubs on. Of course, it has my name on it and all that. And I said, "Yeah." He goes, "What kind of doctor are you?" And I said, "I'm a chiropractor." He goes, "Oh, cool. What kind of techniques do you use?" And so I talked to him a little bit about techniques and I said, "Are you asking about techniques because of an issue, or you've been under chiropractic care over time and there are just certain techniques that you like?"

"Well, no, I've been having a little bit of, you know, low back pain." That's exactly what he says. And my first question to him because he had also mentioned before that, "Man, it's hot out here today. I think I'm gonna go to the lake when I get off work today." I said, "What's it keep you from doing?" I said, "What's, you know, what's your low bac- back pain really bothering you, uh, when you're doing right now?

You know, what does it affect?" He goes, "You know, I really like to wakeboard and it, it's been kind of uncomfortable going out there and doing that." I go, "Interesting." I go, "So really- Yeah ... your goal would be to improve..." And we sat there and talked for about five minutes about couple of different techniques, and I said, "You know, w- without doing an exam I can't really tell you everything."

But I [00:15:00] said, "Just based on what you're telling me, it sounds like there's a couple techniques here that might be useful for you." And he's like... You know, of course, then he asked me more about my practice and all that. But literally, I changed gears on that from, where do you hurt at to- Right ... what does this keep you from doing- I love it

while I've got the window rolled down talking to the trooper. What... And it wasn't like I was soliciting him. He just asked me, "What techniques do you use in your practice?" Boom, big opener. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : Yeah. Love it. Love it. And then it got centered around his emotional need was to go wakeboard 

Dr. Troy Fox: Right, and next thing you know, he's asking me what my hours are and when I'm in which practice there 30 miles away.

So- Nice. Love it. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : Yeah And 

Dr. Troy Fox: since then- Does he come see me? I don't know, but you know what? He might tell someone else if he doesn't come see me, "Man, I had this great conversation with this chiropractor, talked about this, and we were talking about, not only my low back pain, but the fact that I haven't been able to wakeboard, and he had some good ideas about it."

Dr. Michael Perusich : And that's just proof in the pudding that people [00:16:00] are less concerned about their pain- Mm-hmm ... even though that's what they talk about 'cause it's easy to talk about. They're more concerned about what they can or can't do. 

Dr. Troy Fox: Yeah. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : And so this is the reason why I think a lot of patients drop out of care, and why we have such low compliance today in a lot of practices is because we're not making that connection for patients.

And docs, how quick do people typically get out of pain once they're under care? Two, three, four visits? I mean, it- Mm-hmm ... in a lot of cases it doesn't take long. So if we let them think only about pain, yeah, poof, they're gonna be gone as soon as they're out of pain. 

Dr. Troy Fox: Yeah. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : So we need to talk to patients about the end game, not the short game, and we're allowing patients to think too much about the short game, and that's going to deplete your compliance every single time.

'Cause the patients that gets out of pain early is not going to understand why they still need 10 more visits. 

And- And they're not gonna ask you, they're just gonna leave you ... 

Dr. Troy Fox: and it frustrates you because you never get to completion of care. You don't ever get to see the patient get well. [00:17:00] You just see 'em get out of pain.

And then they come back with the same problem over and over again, and you continue to treat it, and if it doesn't... let's go this route. Let's talk real quick about this. You get to a point of where the patient is going through this endless cycle. What about the one time that adjustment that you give the patient doesn't improve 'em?

They're just static. They're stuck. Guess whose fault it is at that point? It's your fault. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : Exactly. Yeah. 

Dr. Troy Fox: It's not the patient's fault, it's your fault. Right. Even though they didn't follow through with care recommendations, you never said a word about it. "Oh, hey, John. Let's get you adjusted. Okay, I know, usually we'll come back for one more visit," and then that's, "Okay, I'll see ya," you know?

And you make it a joke, but quite frankly, it's not a joke, and you are setting yourself up to be the fall guy when their back doesn't get better. When it doesn't improve pain-wise- Mm-hmm ... now all of a sudden you're the bad guy because it always worked before, and now you've failed them somehow. Yeah. So isn't [00:18:00] that a disaster just waiting to happen?

I'd much rather set the stage for the patient to be able to do what they wanna do in life and create longevity for that patient- into the interim. I always talk about retirement with patients. "Hey, what is this gonna look like when you're 65, 70 years old?" 

"

Dr. Troy Fox: If we don't address this?" Right. And so I like to look years ahead.

Now, is that pretty hard to do with a 20-year-old? Absolutely, but I always go, "Hey, look at your parents. Do you wanna be like them when you're older? Absolutely not." And so sometimes we have to use that too, but that's how you generate that type of outcome, and it's what I call the psychology of the patient.

Mm-hmm. The patient comes in with neck pain, but that's not really why they're there. Right. The deep psychology of it is they're there with a problem that they want corrected because their enjoyment in life sucks, quite frankly. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : Right. Exactly. That's the emotional component. 

Dr. Troy Fox: And if it was just irritated, they still wouldn't have called.

When they call, there's a reason they called. It [00:19:00] wasn't by chance. It wasn't by whim. It's because they've reached a breaking point. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : Yeah, exactly. Exactly. 

Shift From Commitment To Engagement

Dr. Michael Perusich : You know, and I, and I hear us still talking this... We- we've heard this for years in the profession. We have to get people to commit to care. 

Dr. Troy Fox: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : Well, think about that.

That actually creates an arm's length transaction because what we're telling them is what we, you, we want you to accept my care plan because the outcome of that care plan is good for me, the doctor We have to turn that around. We want patients to e- get engaged in care. If we're gonna ask them to come in multiple times and make an investment in their care, we want them engaged in the process.

Right. Not committed to, but engaged in. So thi- and think about it, committed to or engaged in? We want them engaged in. And how do we do that? We get them connected to the emotional component, and more importantly, we talk about how great life will be when they get to [00:20:00] that point where they can go do that emotional thing, where they don't have that emotional pain-based problem anymore.

Not just the pain is gone, but now I can do whatever I couldn't do before. That shapes behavior. We have to remember that what we say to patients shapes their behavior. It shapes whether or not they're going to be compliant. It shapes whether or not they're gonna show up to their appointments on time. It shapes whether or not they're going to invest in care and do the things at home that we tell them to do.

It's all about how we talk to the patient. 

So today, we have to shift our minds from commitment to engagement. We have to shift our mind that, too, that we have to understand that how we're talking to people is why they're not complying with care. So we've gotta make a, a change. Again, we study consumer mind consumer buying habits all the time, and that's what this falls under.

Why do people find certain [00:21:00] things, products, services, whatever, why do they find value in them? It's because of what it does to change their life, and today people are more, I'm gonna use a kind of a negative term here, are more narcissistic. They're more self driven today. 

And so they just wanna know, "How are you gonna help me?

How is chiropractic gonna change my life?" And if we don't connect those dots for them, then we won't change their behavior, and they won't comply with care. 

Dr. Troy Fox: That's, uh, absolutely true, and that is the psychology of the patient. It is totally. And if we are looking to make people compliant, governments try to make people compliant- That doesn't work very well except by force, right?

Can you force- Right ... a patient to be compliant? No. So if the psychology is that I think I need this, and here's why I need this, and they make the decision, that's the psychology of the patient. So it's a shift in focus of what we're trying to do. [00:22:00] Am I trying to force you to get care because I know it's good for you?

Well, you can do that with a three-year-old. You can make a three-year-old do something because it's gonna be dangerous for you to do this. This is better for you. Hold my hand when we're walking into the store. Do not run willy-nilly, right? We can force a child to do that. But can you tell your spouse or your girlfriend or boyfriend or even another family member, "Hey, I think that you need to walk behind me when we're going into the store."

Now, if they think that maybe it would be safer for them, or l- you know, what's, what's the old, uh, sh- chivalrous thing to do? If you're walking on a sidewalk, who walks nearest to the street? The male does, right? The male does. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Troy Fox: Now, th- a- and we're not getting into this whole... I don't wanna get into the whole, all that stuff.

What do I wanna say? The, uh- 

Dr. Michael Perusich : Don't, don't even go there. 

Dr. Troy Fox: Yeah, don't even go there. But what I'm just saying was that that was the thing is like, okay, the male took the bigger risk by walking next to the street, like say if a, a car pops a [00:23:00] curb, right? Yeah. Type of thing. And so i- if my wife believes that's the best way for her to walk when she's walking with me, then she's gonna expect that I'm gonna walk next to the curb, and she's gonna walk farther away.

But that was her choice. That's probably a bad example, but the truth of the matter is people are gonna make choices based off what they feel is good for them. 

And if they feel like that the chiropractic care that's been offered them, one, has been... I- it's been ferreted out what the real problem is, and now that they know what the problem, the real problem is, what a possible answer could be, now they're much more willing to follow through.

And then, hey, when they get results, guess what? Now it's much easier to support that, especially when we're using things like Wolf's law, imbibition. We're using a few terms that show to you and explain to you that just because we do that does not mean that we've cured you. It means we've improved your condition.

Dr. Michael Perusich : Correct. And the old days of educating [00:24:00] about chiropractic over and over on every visit- ... I think it's still important to have it mixed in there from time to time, but in today's world, it probably takes 12 to 18 visits in that approach to get the patient to finally understand that chiropractic care is great.

And yet patients aren't staying more than three visits if we're not engaging them in care. So the chiropractic education, again, it's great, it's powerful, but that's committing to- We need to make sure we're engaging in, and so we've gotta reverse the process. So it's gonna be down the road when patients really understand how amazing chiropractic care is.

Dr. Troy Fox: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : But first we need them to see how amazing your clinic is because you got them back to that emotional component that they needed. That's the first step. So this is where things have changed quite a bit, is it's emotional first, chiropractic education second, [00:25:00] in my opinion- Mm ... in today's world. Again, I'm not saying you don't mix the chiropractic stuff in, 'cause we're gonna get some hate mail on this, but- Right

that's okay. The, this is the innovation process that we do. We're always ahead of consumer psychology. We're ahead of where the profession is. We're ahead of the new business models in the profession. So we know this works because we've seen it time and time again- Mm ... with the practices that we've worked in, as well as our own practices.

I could go on and on here. We need to take a quick break and come back and wrap up a little bit. So we'll be right back

Speaker 4: Patient numbers, dipping staff overwhelmed, and another marketing idea, promising the world, but delivering nothing. These pressures feel familiar to nearly every Chiropractic clinic today across the country. Chiropractors work hard, yet many find themselves stuck. Balancing patient care with the nonstop demands of running a business.

That's where the real strain begins. [00:26:00] Most clinics face the same set of hurdles, inconsistent new patient flow, operational bottlenecks, and the constant challenge of staying visible in an overcrowded digital space. National reports show that over 60% of clinics struggle with scheduling efficiency alone and even more lack of clear marketing strategy that reliably converts.

But the good news, these challenges aren't roadblocks. They're signals with the right procedures, smarter outreach and guidance built specifically for Chiropractic practices, clinics can turn daily stress into sustainable growth. Stronger clinics start with smarter strategies. Grow your practice with confidence.

Book your strategy session with Kats Consultants.

Dr. Michael Perusich : Okay, we've been talking about the end of patient compliance, and we've talked at length really about how you can fix that. 

It- what it comes down to is having a good communication strategy in your practice.

And doctors, little gold nugget [00:27:00] here it's not... it can't just come from you. This process has to come from your staff as well. This is another one of the big changes. Patients need to hear this from multiple people in your practice. So if it's you and a front desk person, great. Patient needs to hear it from both of you.

If it's you, a front desk person, and a couple therapy people, great. They need to hear it from everybody. So this is what we do at Kats Consultants. We help you develop these very specific conversational systems, if you will. We help you develop that communication strategy so it works in your practice.

Here's the good news. They're super simple. They're super simple. Uh, uh, as far as a wrap-up, patient compliance hasn't ended, it's just changed. Yes. If you don't change, then you're gonna continue having the problem with the early dropouts in your practice, and patients feeling to you like they're not being compliant, when actually they may just not [00:28:00] understand why they're there.

Or in a couple of visits, you may have gotten them out of pain for the short term, and then when it comes, that pain comes back, which we all know it will, they don't know that they should come back to you. So, let's work on changing our ways in this profession, and it starts with sometimes our communication strategy.

Troy? 

Dr. Troy Fox: I'm gonna throw out here that I think that the shift in patient psychology or the shift in their sentiment is actually easier to deal with now. And yes, you're gonna separate- Agreed ... the, the wheat from the chaff, right? Meaning that there will be some patients that just absolutely disagree with you, that they don't- Mm-hmm

need more than one or two chiropractic visits. You don't waste your time on that one. You tell 'em, but you don't waste your time. Hey, they know that they can't play golf because they're, you know... And they're coming back again and again. And after about three visits, "Hey, you about ready to try it my way?

Because your way's not working, and my concern is long-term that you're gonna [00:29:00] end up even more injured than you are now." And we can go back to why that is. But I don't do it up front. I'm not here to scold you. I'm here to work with you as a valu- member of your healthcare team. But it's so much easier when you do get people to understand.

Now all of a sudden, they're in the driver's seat, they're making the decisions, and they're not making it based off of whether they felt better on that visit or not. 

And that's really a big thing. Huge. So listen closely to what we told you today, because it does make a huge difference. 

Dr. Michael Perusich : Huge. Huge.

All right, everybody, we are gonna check out. From all of us here at Kats Consultants, and, and thanks to ChiroHealth USA for being one of our great sponsors. Um, Troy, on behalf of all of us Troy, thanks for being here. And everybody, we will see you next time. 

Dr. Troy Fox: See ya.

[00:30:00]