The American Chiropractor Volume 36, Issue 6 | Page 42

FEATURE
the patient? Are you only treating them until they get out of
pain? Do you not believe in chiropractic? Take a long, hard
look in the mirror and ask yourself these questions.

The cause of the negative statement, "Once you go to a chiropractor, you have to go for the rest of your life," comes from
chiropractors who use open-ended treatment plans. It comes
from the doctor's failure to let the patient know how long he
or she anticipates it will take to get well. As stated earlier, the
failure to effectively communicate progress throughout care
can result in this too.

I've spoken with thousands of doctors and there seems to
be a common theme for most of the doctors who do this. Most
chiropractors say they want to recommend the care the patient
needs, and not just what insurance covers. Most tell me they
are not just doing pain-relief care-they want to do more than
just get patients out of pain.

Now, some of you are thinking, "But how do I know how
long it will take?" If you 've been in practice for more thanjust
a few years and don't have a good idea of how long it takes for
the care you provide to create an objective outcome, then seek
some help with your technique. By all means, make sure you
know the goal you're trying to accomplish with your patients.

The most common reason is not surprising at all. A fear of
rejection is the underlying reason most chiropractors fail to tell
patients about the care they really need. I often hear doctors
say things such as, ''I'd rather have them get some care than
no care."

Since we are on a journey together to find the cause of this
negative statement, we need to dig a little deeper now. If the
negative comment is made because of a doctor using an openended treatment plan, then why does the doctor fail to tell a
patient how long care will take?

It often manifests itself with chiropractors making excuses
such as, "I don't have a crystal ball. I can't predict what the
patient will need." Really, you have no idea how long it will
take for a patient to get well?

From this point forth, I will assume you have an idea of how
long you truly believe it will take for your patient to reach a
maximum level of improvement. So if you know, then why
aren't you telling your patient? Do you think you should only
recommend care that insurance covers? Are you scared to tell

My fellow chiropractors, the failure to tell patients how long
your care will take not only hurts the patient, but it hurts the
profession as a whole. It harms chiropractic because it continues to create negative brand equity. In addition, patients are
harmed because you're making it difficult
for them to follow through with care. They
lose, you lose, and the profession loses.
Get over your fear of rejection and start
telling patients what they need right from
the start of care.

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38 I The American Chiropractor I JUNE 2014

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