Moment of truth 12 of 13: the goodbye procedure.

Many chiropractors abdicate their leadership obligations, particularly as patients experience the relief for which they originally sought care. Instead of being proactive, they simply assume patients grasped the big idea and will continue their care forever.

But like most forms of neglect, this can produce more problems than it solves.

Forcing a patient to self-terminate their care is somewhat cowardly. Because if the patient has a low tolerance for confrontation or imagines the awkwardness of your attempts to change their mind, they simply make future appointments they have no intention of keeping.

Which causes a patient to think...

• I'm a "bad" patient
• I've let you down
• You're angry with me
• I better avoid you in the grocery store
• I'll be scolded if I return for care

Appreciate the difference between ending care and completing care. Set the stage for the reactivation.

Bill Esteb has been a chiropractic patient and advocate since 1981. He is the creative director of Patient Media and the co-founder of Perfect Patients. He’s been a regular speaker at chiropractic gatherings since 1985. His 12 books explore the doctor/patient relationship from a patient's point of view. His chiropractic blog, in-office consultations, patient focus groups and consulting calls have helped hundreds of chiropractors around the world. Since 1999 Monday Morning Motivation has been emailed to over 10,000 subscribers each week.