I was reminded this week that practice success is derived by keeping to the basics. Patient and practice management taught in college and during weekend seminars outline sound fundamental concepts that are sharpened to perfection after years of refinement. Keeping to these principals find your professional and personal life easier to manage and savor. By contrast, those finding the fundamentals stale and boring are ever searching for the holy grail of success and worse yet life fulfillment and joy. Yes, the end product of success is not just financial and material rewards, but the ability to coast through life with happiness, shared personal achievements and partnership with those you hold dear. There is nothing more fulfilling than that.

 

I often relate chiropractors to salmon swimming upstream. Collectively, we seem to squander our achievements while drowning in the septic tank of insurance relations, patient and staff management stress, low professional and personal self-esteem and more. Seminars are full of hungry doctors looking for the latest and best forms, flyers and new patient acquisition promotions while methodically meandering through their self inflicted maze of new patients. Like salmon, some make it to the top and breed new life into their practice. Others flounder amongst the stream and almost make it to the top only to fall back after a few attempts. These individuals have skipped the basic steps towards their ultimate prize and as in the fate of the salmon never reach their ultimate potential.

 

If you attended a recent practice building seminar or remember your notes from a recent CE continuing educational seminar there probably were no earth shattering ideas to fill your office with new patients. No new technical approaches for patient compliance. No new concepts of case management with complicated financial programs and souped up therapies to entice the patient into compliance. Instead there was a deliberate message that our best practice and personal assurance was getting past the fluff and puff and consider the fundamentals, the inner voice within, the yearning to get to the top and the destiny that we are meant to achieve success and fulfillment.

 

This is the old and proud school of chiropractic weaned on patient compliance because they understood the message of chiropractic, pleased with results and readily refer others. The old school that didn’t have you look over your shoulder for acceptable insurance parameters and evidence based criteria. No, this was the school that was dictated by the knowledge that the body was meant to be well and can achieve wellness best without neurological interference.

 

Old time philosophy is like a fine wine that gets sweeter and better with age. Add fantastic therapies, sweeten results with various healing concepts including nutrition and rehabilitation, pride yourself as an expert with your techniques, provide your staff with knowledge and service but never forget this ..  fundamentals is the common denominator of a successful doctor and business professional. Keeping it simple and purpose driven wins all the time.

 

Doc, where have you strayed from the basics or have you never learned them at all