Dear Bill

What are the best ways to encourage new and existing patients to become partners in their care and be excited to come to our clinic for regular chiropractic adjustments?



There are two parts to this. There’s the patient side of the equation (for which you have little control) and the practice side, which you do. First the patient piece since it’s the greatest limiting factor.

Is the Patient Seeking Relief or Health?

If you rely primarily on the culturally accepted notion of why someone would consult a chiropractor (neck and back pain), you’re seeing new patients rarely interested in optimum health. Instead, they want natural, drug-free relief without succumbing to your maintenance care overtures. (Read Beating the House.)

Despite the promises of marketing gurus, the likelihood of changing this perspective ranges from difficult to near impossible.

Granted, you can shame or scare the most gullible into a temporary, short-term behavioral change, especially if their insurance carrier picks up the tab. But long term? Improbable. Changing the value a patient places on his or her health requires far more than a snappy report of findings or sorry set of X-rays. (Read this Monday Morning Motivation.)

This has nothing to do with chiropractic or even its value as an ongoing lifestyle adjunct. Dentists face a similar issue, practically begging patients to brush and floss. Even with their greater cultural authority, and the convenience of flossing from home virtually cost-free, the national average for regular flossers hovers in the 30% range. Which reveals more about human nature and the value many place on their oral health, than dentists.

In other words, the notion that some compelling explanation or persuasive scripting can turn relief patients into lifetime wellness practice members borders on the absurd.

Turns out, the people most likely to begin care and continue for the rest of their lives—are those who become chiropractors!

The Practice of Delivering Health Care

The prospect of attracting a tribe of health-conscious individuals who embrace some type of regular care is not hopeless. But it may require changes that are either too daunting or fail to deliver instant gratification. Since you asked, here are a few strategies:

Conduct seminars and lectures – If you want to attract patients who seek health rather than pain relief, you’ll want to become an authority on subjects that interest such individuals. Which is rarely spinal anatomy and physiology. There is simply no other strategy as effective as giving talks in your practice and community. Yes, you’ll want to slay your fear of public speaking and learn strategies to entice people to attend your talks, but both obstacles can be overcome.

Become familiar to wellness individuals – Without an outreach beyond your practice walls, you’re a chiropractor; a back doctor. If those currently paying cash to avail themselves of Pilates, yoga, nutritional supplements and a myriad of other healthful strategies don’t have back pain, you’re not on their radar screen. Join the running club, meet the golf pros, health food store owners and become familiar. Find out where the health conscious in your community hang out. And then join them so you can contribute. But NOT to solicit new patients. That will come in time as you become a trusted resource.

Practice non-therapeutic chiropractic – Make sure every new patient understands that while you don’t treat symptoms, you have an excellent track record with those suffering as they are. It’s essential that you make this distinction up front and not get sucked into becoming defensive later should they complain about the pace of their recovery—something they control, not you. This is about presenting chiropractic as a whole-body health adjunct, not something limited to the spine. In other words…

Make chiropractic about the nervous system – Simply put, people rarely avail themselves of ongoing chiropractic care for the resolution of “spinal dysfunction,” postural distortions or some other orthopedic issue localized to the spine. And while you may find curve restoration a fascinating pursuit, most patients aren’t that interested. Instead, make chiropractic about nervous system integrity and whole-body health. Overlook this neurological aspect and you’re simply delivering physical medicine, with a beginning, middle and end.

Make it easy to discontinue care – Since even the wellness oriented may not want to “become addicted” to adjustments, most may need to start and stop care multiple times before seeing the wisdom of some type of ongoing, periodic care. Thus, the real goal is the subsequent reactivation. To improve your odds that the patient will return for another tranche of care, means you’d want to take on a more celebratory tone as patients discontinue care, letting them know they’ll be welcomed back should they need you in the future.

Keep in touch with inactives – Another way you enhance the likelihood of reactivations is to maintain contact with your inactives. At the very least, send a card, email or text on their birthday and New Year’s resolution time—the two times each year we tend to think about our health. Again, no need to a crass overture to return for care. That’s implied. Become a cheerleader who wants what they want. Even if it’s far less than what is possible or what you would want if you were them.

Think eternal – Even though patients may be in the dormant stage of their care, they still think of you as their chiropractor. Act like it. Offer up health tips and wellness strategies. What if it takes a decade (or longer) for them to embrace a bigger vision for their health and return for care? Where are you going? What’s the hurry? Think long term.

Make no mistake, you can help a lot of grateful and appreciative people by delivering relief care. And there’s no shame in doing so. But that wasn’t your question.

Let’s not forget the payoff!

With time, as you “collect” your tribe of wellness-oriented individuals, your need to beat the bushes for new patients diminishes. And because most of your patients aren’t in pain, they can easily schedule their periodic wellness visits around your frequent vacations. And let’s not forget that you’ll no longer be the whipping boy of insurance carriers, since most patients will be paying cash for their supportive care.

Yes, it’s a simple, low stress way to practice. In fact, for most of the history of chiropractic, delivering family-centered, whole-body health care was the primary practice style.

Do you have the patience (and faith) to make the needed investments in your headspace and patient-honoring procedures whose payoff may take weeks or months?

Great question. Thanks!

Ask Bill your question.

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