About 8 years ago, I taught an “Introduction to Chiropractic Program” at a local private college here in Buffalo, NY. This college had a relationship with New York Chiropractic College and the goal of the class was to introduce prospective students to chiropractic as a profession. A few weeks ago, I received a call from one of my students who had been in the first class and it turns out he is practicing about 40 minutes from my office. Yesterday, we ended up meeting for lunch since he had some questions about the new workers’ compensation laws in NY. We ended up talking about a lot more than that and I want to share some of this with you. This is a doctor that is truly doing what it takes to succeed and many of the things that he is thinking about and already doing are fundamentals of the MD Program. I am bringing this up to you for a VERY important reason; it has to do with the level of education that new doctors are graduating with.
This doctor, who associated for 2 years and is now going into his 2nd year of practice on his own, has been calling MDs with their patients results, sending reports to each MD and specialist and meeting with medical offices on a regular basis. There are a few things that he needs to sharpen up to allow this to explode in his area and the MD Relationship Program can help him do that, but back to the young doctor. IF YOU ARE NOT PRACTICING AT THE TOP OF YOUR GAME, SOMEONE ELSE IS. The one thing that doctors in the field have that new doctors don’t is experience. However, clinical experience that has not evolved is sometimes worse than no experience at all. Healthcare is moving fast and with the increased use of technology, you can be scrutinized in a heartbeat with minimal effort. MDs know this and they continue to evolve and their reporting is getting better and better. What do you think happens when they invest in their staff and infrastructure only to receive poor reports from another “specialist?” It does not instill confidence. There are many solutions to reporting issues that are inexpensive and simple to implement. All it takes is effort.
Later on in the lunch, this new doctor was going over a case with me of a patient that he recently saw in his office. It was the younger daughter that was under care, but it seemed that the father was in pain. The doctor asked the father what was wrong because he looked like he was hurting. Long story short, he was sparing with his daughter and she kicked him in the ribs. There was a contusion on the right side at the level of T7-10 that was tender to palpation. This doctor sent him for x-rays and it turned out he fractured ribs T8 and T9 AND there was a fracture line through the vertebral body of T8. I asked him what he did next and he said, “I called the father’s primary care MD to give him a verbal report.” This DC will be on the mind of the primary MD forever. I told him to make sure the report he sends over includes the same information that they discussed on the phone and I will be working with him to help.
This doctor will be partnering up with our group here in Buffalo to reach out to the MDs through proper reporting, research reviews and continuing medical education seminars. Being the best of the best is important, but building a team of the best of the best is critical to secure referrals and to dominate an area. MDs will always feel better referring to a network of doctors, especially since many MDs have patients from a wide geographic area. Working together, we can all hit MD offices in our local areas and promote the larger group.
In closing, remember that proper communication with MDs is going on all around you. This program will give you the confidence to do that PLUS it will add years of experience to accelerate the process. MDs do refer and we need to find the right ones for you to work with. It only takes 1-2 MD offices for your practice to explode, but you have to report and stay in front of them to do it. The new graduates understand this…
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!