In 1989, as an 8 year practitioner, I was angry at the state of politics in New York. Not being one to be idle, I was determined to right the ship, so a group of five professionals got together and had a decision to make. Should we infiltrate the current state organization and "right the ship," or should we create another organization, as the existing one was too flawed and would waste too much time and energy to correct?

Our arguments were compelling; there was verified corruption, a political machine that best served those in power and their friends and, worse, our reputation with state legislators was an embarrassment, as it was negatively affecting our political agenda. As a result, we five created an organization that is still quite vibrant and active in New York chiropractic politics.

I was a key figure in that organization and its activities for almost ten years, having served almost every position and having raised approximately $500,000 for the organization in a five year period. I was active in our state legislature; forging many relationships that served our profession well…. You get the picture.

During that same ten year period, the biggest problem I had was neutralizing the competitor’s organization, so it would not stand in the way of our legislative agenda. The result (the truth), I am a self-proclaimed political failure, as I raised the money, made the right political connections, hosted the right party’s fund raisers for candidates, got invited to the right events, was placed on the right committees and was recognized for being instrumental in helping candidates reach their goals. I was a hit for many years in New York politics!

Where did it get chiropractic in New York State? Nowhere! It has been twenty years since I first made that decision to "right the ship" and chiropractors in New York State have gotten virtually nowhere in those twenty years, with multiple organizations contributing to that failure, and I am personally accountable for that.

Last month, when the national debate was heating up on national health care reform, I searched both the ACA and ICA web sites for a way to communicate with my national legislators supporting chiropractic. As I am a member of both national organizations, I went to both web sites. The ACA’s www.chirovoice.com and the ICA’s www.adjustthevote.com are both great vehicles to support chiropractic. Both organizations have a program, and which one is more effective is not relevant to this conversation. The point is that both organizations paid to have the exact same service for the chiropractic profession.

The national organizations, just like the state organizations, have a political agenda to further chiropractic. How many senators, congressman and legislators get one meeting from each organization? Even if both organizations want the same thing, my experience is that there are two different messages delivered and that is confusing to a legislator who is hearing a third message from the opposition and sometimes multiple opposition messages.

The answer given to me by a New York State Senator still resounds in my head years later: "The biggest problem I have in supporting chiropractic is you can’t even get together within your own profession. Therefore, I get conflicting information that makes me lean towards the opposition."

He was right then, and still is today, because we have continued to send multiple messages nationally, and locally.

To help resolve this issue, the Chiropractic Summit was created to help give a unified voice legislatively on Medicare reform and national health care reform. The Chiropractic Summit now has forty different organizations with both national and local organizations participating. According to Dr. Lewis Bazakos, Chairman of the Chiropractic Summit, "It is a giant step towards unifying our message and critical to the success of the chiropractic legislative agenda, but it’s still not enough."

Dr. Bazakos is right and the nation should listen to him very carefully. Whether or not you like his politics, we owe a great debt of gratitude to doctors like him who have given back to the profession for their entire career through public service and we should go one step further. We should listen to him. His words scream for reform in order for chiropractic to succeed for generations to come.

This Chiropractic Summit is yet another forum of critical necessity because we are split as a profession. How much time and money is wasted because we have two national organizations?

The United States currently has a two party system to debate the issues and there are mechanisms of checks and balances in our Constitution that have served this country well since 1776 with one president. Not so for the chiropractic profession; we have two federal organizations that have no checks and balances. Each has its own president, constitution and agenda that has two directions, two messages and two sets of beaurocracies to fund. We have two of everything that this profession can ill afford to waste its resources on.

Look at the profit and loss statements of both national organizations. How much money is spent on duplicitous rent, secretaries, web sites, journals, newsletters, mailings, mail-in votes, etc.? How much longer can we keep squandering our resources while chiropractic is stuck in the mud politically and where a chiropractor isn’t considered worthy enough to take or order any imaging through Medicare?

I teach MRI interpretation and am certified by my state’s education department, in addition to being approved to render AMA Credits on teaching spine MRI interpretation through a medical school, yet I am not even allowed by the Medicare program to order an MRI, whereas dentists, who have no training, can order any imaging they want in the federal programs. Disgusting!

Every state only needs one organization. I have lived through that grievous error and, nationally, we, too, need only one organization. Within each organization there can be committees that serve the needs of every chiropractor in every state. Principled, straight, mixers, subluxation-based, structural based, wellness or pain-based practitioners; it’s all a bunch of nonsense.

Open your eyes and realize that a chiropractic organization is a political organization and nothing more. It exists to further the chiropractic profession and ensure that every chiropractor in your state or the country has the ability and right to care for every citizen of the United States. Its real purpose is nothing more than that. Under the umbrella of that organization is where individual agendas should exist regarding furthering issues such as extremity adjusting, nutrition, pediatric care, etc. It doesn’t matter the issue. In the end, supporting a separate organization will erode chiropractic. Ask me; I have lived through it.

In retrospect, back in 1989, in spite of the corruption, the cronyism, and the political machine that was not serving all of us, I should have worked tirelessly to get that organization "righted" instead of splintering the profession in my state. The result would have served chiropractic and our patients better. The following is a direct message to those who serve our national organizations: We support, applaud and appreciate your public service and owe each of you a large debt of gratitude. I, personally, know the sacrifices you have made with your family, practice, time and money to help me and the rest of the profession to ensure our rights to practice as we choose. However, in spite of the glorious history of both the ACA and the ICA, it is past time that we have one organization, one voice and a lot more money to further our profession. It is time to create one organization and merge.

Dr. Mark Studin is the President of CMCS
Management which offers the Lawyers Marketing Program,Family/MD Marketing Program and Compliance Auditing services. He can be contacted at www.TeachChiros.com or call 1-631-786-4253

Everyone knows that Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems are mandated under an assortment of Federal laws and Presidential edicts. Other than maintaining patient SOAP documentation and billing records, the better EHR programs include many marketing tools to build your practice and increase your income.

How much income did your computer create for you? Is your computer program capable of doing more than just one function, or is it limited to only billing or only documentation? In today’s world, it is critical for you to have and use a complete EHR computer program that is a multi-tasking, income generating machine.

Included in the marketing tools built into the computer software are letters, email capabilities, follow up reminders for staff and other functions and features that empower you and your staff to efficiently bring in new patients and referrals from attorneys, employers, diagnostic centers, and other doctors. Many of these same tools can be used to promote your practice to your existing and former patients, maintaining a high level of patient compliance with your recommendations.

Marketing the practice to attorneys, employers and other doctors requires that you build a list of each of these categories. Top of the line EHR software may label it differently, so look for lists, catalogues, directories, or registries for each category. Then enter the information in the system. Start with those attorneys, employers and doctors that are already connected to your patients. Next, have a staff member pull more names and addresses from your local phone book.

Once the lists are ready, depending on the software, you may have marketing letters already in your system, you may need to create your own templates, or you may want to revise and add to the letters from the software company. The marketing letters will have insertion fields that pull information directly from the lists, so that each letter is personalized to each attorney, employer or doctor. The final step is to print all the letters to each group and mail them. Doing this on a monthly basis gets the result of more referrals to your practice.

Patients love to be recognized and made to feel special. Sending personalized letters with regularity accomplishes this. Direct patient marketing educates patients as to why each needs to be consistent and follow through with the care you prescribe. Similar to the marketing to attorneys, employers and doctors described above, letter templates are in the EHR program that are specific for patients. These letters educate the patient about chiropractic care and encourage him/her about the benefits of not only therapeutic care but also the value of maintaining treatment after the symptoms are gone. Since each letter is personalized, the direct patient marketing builds rapport and trust with the patient. Letters in template format are easily merged with the patient list using search and sort criteria that you select. The bottom line is that your patient visit average (PVA) goes up, and so does your income and the referrals you get from patients.

Complete EHR systems that generate SOAP notes in dictation quality English and/or produce excellent narrative reports market your practice by building relationships with attorneys and other doctors.

With your patient’s written authorization, send a copy of your SOAP notes or narrative report to the patient’s other doctors. As long as it is easy to read, looks like it came from a professional, and lets the other doctor know what is going on, you will gain the respect of that doctor. As you demonstrate that you are part of the team working to get and keep the patient healthy, the other doctors will realize that they can work with you. Eventually, many will send referrals.

In a similar way, if you produce detailed easy to read narratives, attorneys will appreciate your work. The reason is simple. You are giving them the meat and potatoes that will win the case for the patient, meaning that the attorney makes more money. When you contribute to the attorney’s success, the attorney will frequently help to make you more successful.

Frequently, little things make a big difference. A mini-marketing tool in EHR programs is the ability to place messages on each billing statement or receipt that you send/give to a patient. These little messages can improve collections, increase patient visits, or engage each patient to be politically pro-active for laws that will benefit chiropractic in your state.

Although it is not commonly considered marketing, having an easy mechanism to follow up on missed appointments is recall and reactivation marketing. Thorough EHR software includes missed appointment tracking in an appointment scheduler as part of the system. If a patient misses an appointment, then that patient’s name remains on a missing patient list until the staff either reschedules the patient or purposely removes him/her for some other reason. The staff can set reminder pop up messages for specific times or days on which to call the patient. Another aspect of recall and reactivation marketing is a report for patients without appointments. If a patient canceled without rescheduling and never called again, you have the ability to track down and get that patient back in the office for the needed care. Your staff now has the tools to track down every patient that previously "slipped through the cracks" and not to let go until the patient has been rescheduled. Once again, proper marketing increases your PVA and collections.

Marketing on a consistent basis is the key to success. In order to make your practice the most successful, be sure to use every marketing tool at your disposal. EHR systems provide many marketing tools; be sure that your office software includes and that you are getting the maximum benefit from the marketing tools built into your practice management computer program.