One of the opportunities afforded by having strangers enter your practice to begin care is to introduce them to the chiropractic paradigm.

Ignore this and you'll have mostly a pain clinic, rather than delivering health care. There's no shame in that. You can help a lot of people as a pain clinic, but it's a different beast.

Some distinctions you might make include:

Chiropractic care is different from medical treatment—not superior or inferior, different.

Pain is a language their body uses to inform its owner that a limit has been reached and a change is needed.

Their recovery is based on what you do on each visit—and what patients do between visits.

The difference between a diet of care and a lifestyle.

Health insurance is neither about health or insurance.

You may discover that many patients suspect this already, but find it reassuring when you say it aloud.

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, coaching program, 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.