Nothing is more exciting than hearing the laughter and buzz of a busy office with music playing in the background and various conversations going on between patients. The movement of people of all ages coming and leaving the office and the overall feeling of healing taking place creates an atmosphere that is not only enjoyable but rewarding as well. These are the joys of family practice.
From checking little babies and small children, to teenagers, to hard-working patients who are close to or already in their retirement years, family practice involves everyone. Chiropractic can be specialized for sports performance, geriatric care and children’s care, but realistically, everyone that has a spine and nerve system should have a spinal check-up to make sure they are living and performing at their peak levels.
Think about the magnitude of your practice if everyone that came into your office brought their children, parents, spouses and all of their friends for a spinal check-up. Statistically, most people who come to your office know between 35 and 48 people. Let your new patients know that you offer them an opportunity to have family members checked at the clinic’s expense for the first two weeks of their care. Chiropractic is a family affair, and it is our duty and obligation as doctors of Chiropractic to help as many people as possible.
I’m not expecting you to do a free examination, X-rays, report of finding, adjustment and chicken dinner. You are the one that has to determine what a check-up means in your clinic. It should be a simple consultation, postural check with full spine palpation and education so that the person you are checking understands the what, where, how, why, and when of chiropractic health care.
Having specialized classes in your office on osteoarthritis, backpack safety, stress management, posture and exercise, whiplash injury, carpal tunnel syndrome and more gives you a wider patient demographic. If you don’t have the time or desire to do these various health talks yourself, someone should be utilized or hired to teach these classes in your office. There are several hours a day that your office is not in operation. Use it for speaking engagements in the evenings, or allow other types of professionals to come in and rent space to teach relaxation techniques, yoga or Pilates. Have an assistant create classes for patients and their family who want to learn stretching exercises or stress relief. A dormant office on the weekend could be used one Saturday a month to show movies to children or to check children under 10 or spouses over 60.
Doing something that continues to cause interest in all age groups will help you to expand your practice. Expanding your office hours and developing an extra-curricular calendar of events would maximize your office hour capacity while building your practice without you even being there. If you want a practice for all ages, you have to appeal to all ages. The best way to do that is by making sure that everyone is represented and included in your practice. Information centers have a variety of topics pertaining to different kinds of health problems that reach all ages and health types.
The larger your practice becomes without a bunch of gimmicks or lures of freebies, the more people will see that you have a genuine care for each individual that visits your office. Their age doesn’t matter when they feel like they are in right place getting the care they want and more importantly need.
