Practice Management \ Leader, and Best Selling Author, Dr. Eric Kaplan D r. Eric Kaplan is the CEO of MBA Inc., one of the nation's largest Multi-Specialty consult- ing companies. A graduate of New York Chiropractic College, as a practicing chiropractor, Dr. Kaplan ran and operated five of his own clinics in Palm Beach County, FL, sometimes seeing over 200 patients per day. He is the best selling author of Dr. Kaplan s Lifestyles of the Fit and Famous. Dr. Kaplan has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC and The Fox Network, as well as being featured in USA Today for working with The President's Council on Sports and Physical Fitness, while working with then Attorney General Dr. Joycelyn Elders. In an interview with The American Chiropractor (TAC), Dr. Eric Kaplan shares some of the insights, philosophies and advice that are responsible for his tremendous success as a business consultant, speaker, and motivator. TAC: Dr. Kaplan, tell us about your experience running a chiropractic practice. Kaplan: My experience running a chiropractic clinic was based upon three formulas: Educate, Educate, Educate. Building a practice is like using a combination lock, only with more numbers. If you turn the right numbers in the right sequence, the lock will open for you. It's not a miracle, nor does it depend on luck. It does not matter who you are, as long as you have the right numbers. Applying this metaphor in your practice, you could say, the practice consists of a combination of thoughts and actions. B.J. Palmer said, "Everything you think, say, or do will affect the lives of millions of people tomorrow." Tomorrow, when you go to the office, what will you think, what will you say, what will you do? It is these components that will affect your practice. I was in practice for seventeen years and had five separate and distinct clinics. At that time, I would see in excess of two hundred patients a day at my primary office and, collectively, our offices would do over a thousand patient visits per week, and over two-and-a-half-million dollars per year. It was during this time that I decided to author my first book, which became a best-seller: Dr. Kaplan's Lifestyles of the Fit and Famous, nationally recognized because of its endorsement by Donald Trump, who called it the "Taj Mahal of health books". It was also endorsed by people like co-chairman of the President's Council on Sports and Physical Fitness, Tom McMillan; Mark Victor Hansen, who wrote Chicken Soup for the Soul; Rev. Norman Vincent Peale, and numerous athletes and entertainers. Now we are in negotiation with people who want to reprint the book in Chinese. TAC: What prompted you to write your first book? Kaplan: Everything that I am, have, and will ever have is due to my success in the chiropractic field. Dennis Waitley, psychologist and author, expresses time in the following statement: "Time is an equal opportunity employer; each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people cannot buy more time to spend time another day. Time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you wasted in the past, you still have all of tomorrow. Success depends on using it wisely; by planning and setting priorities. The fact is, time is worth more than money, and by killing time, we are killing our own chance for success." I have spent my time over the last twenty-five years embracing chiropractic. I disagree with many consultants that say chiropractic is a philosophy, an art and a science. I believe that chiropractic is a science and an art that embraces a philosophy—a philosophy on which I have based my entire life. It is because of this philosophy that I had the opportunity to "► write a book and to have the success that I've had with the book, and to appear on almost every good morning television show in our country. Today, we live in a world that is confused with regard to wellness. My belief is that there has never been a better time for chiropractic than there is today, and it is our job to use our time as professionals to embrace the empirical formula that enhances chiropractic. Chiropractors, today, should be the leaders in alternative health care. Yet, in the world of Alternative Healthcare you read about numerous authors, like Andrew Weil, M.D., and Dean Ormish, M.D., that are receiving all the publicity for wellness. We must stand up and speak out. This falls under Kaplan's First Law: Educate your community, educate your patients, and educate your family. This, alone, is a fulltime job you must commit to, to be successful. We, the chiropractors, must lead the Crusade of Wellness. When I was in school, we were taught the paradigm that chiropractic was first, drugs were second and surgery was last. After years of chiropractic experience, I am now enlarging that paradigm. It is now chiropractic first, alternative medicine second, drugs third, and surgery last. Chiropractic is no longer just a philosophy, art and science. The new paradigm defines chiropratic as a science, an art, and a philosophy. Science, today, clearly documents the subluxation complex and chiropractic's efficacy on its treatment. We must now educate the world. It is our responsibility, as committed practitioners, to make a difference, to educate people. Why do I spend time writing books? Because I believe that that is one way to make a difference. TAC: Your success in practice led you to creating your own practice management company. Tell us about your practice management philosophy. Kaplan: My father used to say, "If you want a place in the sun, prepare to put up with a few blisters." Being a chiropractor means, at some level, accepting rejection; and being a chiropractor also means being a teacher. We must educate people on the benefits of our profession. Regardless of the occasional rejection, I look at every person as a potential patient and every patient as a referral source. We, as chiropractors, must have the courage to educate the masses on the importance of the subluxation complex. As a practice-building consultant, presently, I'm the CEO and president of a multidisciplinary practice building company called MBA, Multidisciplinary Business Applications. The reason I named it MBA is because, although we have our DC degrees, most of us don't have business degrees. Fifty percent of my consulting clients are integrated, fifty percent are not, and people want to know why many consultants that integrate get in trouble. The answer is very simple. There is no right way to do the wrong thing. In everything in life, there are rules and protocols that must be followed and abided by. I am amazed that such a large number of doctors integrate their practices by just winging it. Integration is like an obstacle course. At each level, there are new challenges. To successfully integrate your office, you need a complete team including a coach, attorney, and an accountant, all working together to make your model compliant. Is integration for everyone? No, it is only for the strong of heart, only for those willing to dot their "i's" and cross their "t's"; and only those who are committed to playing by the rules set down by the healthcare authorities. Why integrate your office? Simply because someone moved your cheese! Imagine a one-stop shop of healthcare. This model is conducive to the community at large. Partnering with a medical doctor offers you many advantages beyond the economic ones. When you have twice as much to offer, you can expect twice the results. Don't sit there and whine because someone moved your cheese. It is time to do your research. Expand your vision and expand your model. If done properly, this will in no way dilute the importance or philosophy of chiropractic. It will only enhance it. It is my belief that we, as a profession, must rally behind and understand the idea that we should be allowed to work with whomever we desire. W. Clement Stone says, "There is little difference among people, but that little difference makes a big difference. That little difference is attitude; the big difference is whether it's positive or negative." I consider myself to be a positive thinker. One of the secrets of success is to make a public commitment. Many people make a commitment to something, but are not committed. Example: Someone makes the commitment to lose weight, then, two days later, sits and eats dessert. They made a commitment, but they weren't committed. The secret to maintaining a high volume practice is that commitment—first, to your profession and, secondly, to your patients. Are you willing to be the best doctor you can be? Are you willing to look in the mirror every day and ask yourself, "Have I done the best job that I can today? Have I educated people on the benefits of chiropractic today? Am I willing to make a difference?" Your motivation should not be based upon your checkbook, but upon your commitment to others, upon your purpose. ♦ It is not unusual for my clinics to double their practices. Recently, one of my good friends who is assisting me with new practitioners, Dr. Robert Schwartz, talked about how chiropractors today don't know how to succeed and someone needs to teach them. Dennis Waitley says, "Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success. We need to experience failure to understand the road to success." M. Scott Peck, M.D., author of The Road Less Traveled, opened his book with the sentence, "Life is difficult." As a practice consultant, I begin my practice consulting with these three words: "Practicing is difficult." Nobody ever promised that it would be easy; but, if you follow the paradigms outlined in this article and utilize them within my principles of practice, you will find that the difference between a 300-hitter and a 200-hitter is only one more hit every ten times at bat. What we do not see, though, is what it took that player to get the extra hit. A 300-hitter has the ability to reach the Hall of Fame. He makes millions more that the 200-hitter because he gets only one more hit per ten times at bat. The 300-hitter might practice harder, prepare more, but it is worth it. Today, chiropractors are counting on the home run, that one ad, the one gimmick that will grow their practice. There are no more home runs in healthcare. Go for the singles and you will succeed. It might take one little difference in your practice, but that difference can bring you up to 150 to 200 people a week. This will take hard work and extra effort. The great hitting practitioners don't work a three-day week; success is a full time 24/7 commitment. Your goal should be to grow one percent per week. If you could do that you would grow fifty percent over the next year. Inch-by-inch, it is a cinch. TAC: What single piece of advice would you give a doctor struggling to develop a high volume practice? Kaplan: The secret to success is referral fever. ■■■-.. Why don't patients refer? When I asked numerous people why they didn't refer, the most common answer was they didn't know how. When I recently asked one of my doctors, "Why don't patients refer?", he said, "Because I don't ask them." "We must understand that positive word of mouth advertising is the most important kind of advertising. Probably the most visible business that depends on the referral process is the film making industry. The movie industry spends millions of dollars on movie trailers, talk show appearances by actors to show film clips, and so on. Hollywood has learned that no amount of advertising can compete with positive word-of-mouth advertising. Whether a movie soars to the top of the chart or is quickly transferred to videos and rental is based upon moviegoers who tell their friends, who tell their friends, who tell their friends. TAC: Where should the doctor begin in the effort to get referrals? Kaplan: My advice to the doctor is introduce yourself. Letters of reference and testimonials are also important. There are numerous ways to educate the public. We need to make sure that our literature stacks are filled and current. Lectures are inexpensive ways to market within our profession, except most doctors don't want to spend the time. I built up my practices doing lectures. Weekly and regularly, I did dinner programs. It was not unusual for me to get forty new patients in my offices on a weekly basis, as a result of doing dinner talks. It was not unusal for me to do two per week; all you need is to be commited. Face it, there are tons of flip charts in chiropractic offices, all purchased with the intent of teaching the benefits of chiropractic care. You do not have to be an expert speaker to be involved, you just have to be willing to spend the time to educate. There are a lot of tremendous videos out there, too. Videos were a tremendous asset in my waiting rooms and as a part of my practice. To this day, I always recommend the Back Talk videos. I also recommend newsletters, tabloid marketing, radio, and television. We need to educate the people that we, as a profession, can make a difference. When you do that, you will unlock the huge profits that already exist inside your patient files. TA C: Who are some of your mentors? Kaplan: During my active chiropractic career, I ran five clinics and saw over 200 patients a day in one office. While I did all this, I was never without the services of a consultant. I applaud and am grateful for the advice given to me by Dr. Larry Markson, Dr. David Singer, Dr. David Kats, Dr. Dominick LaForte and Dr. Donald Gutstein, just a few of our nation's top consultants. I am proud to say that I worked with each of them and learned from all of them. All of these doctors are great coaches who I highly recommend and who helped me with my practice. My area of expertise is the multispecialry practice, the DC/MD model. I practiced in one of the first multidisciplinary practices in our country, in 1987. There were no MD/DC consultants back then. I learned the hard way and I paid my dues. Many doctors today wing it. That is the reason for the negative publicity, for there are rules and protocols that need to be followed and abided by. My clinics grow without cutting corners and by following the rules. TAC: Tell us about your upcoming book. Kaplan: In my upcoming book, Awaken the Wellness Within: A Comprehensive Guide to Alternative Medicine, A thru Zinc, I have done my best to define all the different disciplines and utilize chiropractors as the leaders. This is what my chiropractic career was based upon and my offices throughout Palm Beach County, Florida. It is due to my belief in the expression of chiropractic that I have been able to work with athletes from the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, Montreal Expos, Toronto Blue Jays, California Angels, Boston Celtics, NY Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, and I could go on and on about the professional athletes I've worked with from the PGA to the LPGA. But all of this was based upon the handling of one component, and that is the professional sub-luxation or kinesiopathology. In our time as doctors, we should embrace the moment in which we live, in a world, and in an environment where the people are confused about healthcare and wellness. It is our time to take a step forward. The secret to success is educating people to understand the need. The purpose of my books is to try to educate people and let them know that chiropractors are truly the leading physicians in wellness. And we, as a profession, should take a back seat to no one. My new book will be one that every doctor can utilize in his or her practice as a reference guide, as well as in educating patients. This book will provide a step-by-step, alphabetized mechanism on alternative health care. Whether you want to look up chiropractic under the letter C, or acidophilus under the letter A, any area or arena that you would look for in alternative health care will be defined. There is no other book like this. I am hoping that this user-friendly guide to alternative health care will again awaken the wellness within our country, to educate the people on the fact that there is a difference, and where this difference starts. It is my goal for this book to become a reference guide that will be utilized by chiropractors, medical doctors, and physical therapists throughout the country. I believe that this educational tool will help influence present patients, as well as their children, and their children's children. We, as chiropractors, must make the opportunity to make a difference. That is why my goal is not be be a 200-hitter, but to spend the time in the cage, doing whatever it takes to be committed to my own success and that of my profession. Hopefully, Awaken the Wellness Within will fill a void. TAC: Tell us about your consultation with LPG-Endermologie. Kaplan: Recently, I went to Europe with my friend Dr. Gerald "► Mattia. We went to investigate Endermo Therapy. In Europe, doctors treat many connective tissue disorders, including burns, using the revolutionary machine Cellu M6, which provides Endermo Therapy, which offers a host of adaptors, which provide numerous assisted modalities using an entirely new technology. The machine has been internationally recognized for the treatment of connective tissue disorders. Many injuries today are due to Repetitive Tissue Strain (RTS) resulting in in hypermobility. This revolutionary machine provides tissue repair through fibrosis and fibrotic repair. Research at UCLA, Vanderbilt University and University of Milan, among others, clearly document this. The research is outstanding, which is why their equipment is FDA approved. I was first introduced to this by my friend, Dr. Gerald Mattia, the President of the ICA's Council on Sports. Dr. Mattia, while treating professional golfer David Peoples, achieved significant improvement in a short period of time, treating an intercostal rib injury. This injury, which can often disable athletes for three to six months, was treated using the Cellu M6 in Dr. Mattia's office. Dr. Mattia had David Peoples back on the course in one week, and he not only competed* but finished in the money. Initially, David Peoples was concerned he would be out for a major portion of the year. Dr. Mattia and I spent time in Europe visiting Nice, Valence, Monaco and Bologna—reviewing every facet of this equipment. We spent days working with medical doctors, osteopaths, physical therapists and European chiropractors on its usage and protocols. In Europe, the medical community was synergistic in its efforts to create a natural model for tissue repair, increased range of motion, reduced muscle spasm. Wow, what a concept! MD's and DCs working together, naturally, for the benefit of the patient. It appears EndermoTherapy could be the most natural, cost effective and efficient treatment for soft tissue and sport injuries. The action of the machine produces instantaneous surface changes, with depth and intensity of stimulation specific to each area, each problem, each individual injury. After our trip, our mutual thoughts were shared. EndermoTherapy and EndermoSport will change the face of soft tissue treatment in the world. We are excited about this effective paradigm for many common ailments. Best of all, it is FDA approved and, if applied properly, is reimbursable. European doctors add in excess of $ 100,000 a year cash to their practices. This is without third-party reimbursement. People will pay for results. This is the essence of the European model. Heal the patient and they will pay. Clearly, I was impressed. Last year, in our country, we had 120,000 hospitalizations and 17,000 deaths, at a cost in excess of $ 100 million on non-ste-roidal anti-inflammatory drugs. These over-the-counter medications for common injuries have put many people under the ground. Working with medical doctors, chiropractors, osteopaths and physical therapists abroad was exciting. In Europe, like the United States, doctors are looking for noninvasive treatments. Our conclusion: Good Bye, aspirin and Advil; Hello, EndermoTherapy and EndermoSports. Our objective: To have the chiropractors of this country not only align with doctors of the world, hut, be recognized the world over as the leaders in sports injuries, connective tissue disorders and alternative therapy. TA C: Any final words for our readers? Kaplan: There are many negative people out there. I call these people the robbers of success. Negative thoughts are also the robbers of positive thoughts; negative emotions are the robbers of the emotions of life. They are the cause of sickness and disease, the root of both under-achievement and failure. They are the carriers of all illness. They make the physically fit physically ill; the happy, unhappy; the certain, uncertain; the strong, weak; the content, discontent; and the tall, small. Negative emotions are the parasites of men and women; they steal the joy a person might get from achievement; they are the enemies of human happiness. On my quest for the secret of life, I came to the realization that all the problems of life, in one form or another, are rooted in negative emotions. It became clear to me that the elimination of negative emotions would make a wonderful life, a world at peace. Now, in this time of crisis in the Middle East and other parts of the globe, we can understand that these crises, these problems, are rooted in generations of negative emotions. We know this unrest only as images on a television screen, not the cold hard reality that confronts the men and women of those ravaged lands on a daily basis. They put their lives on the line for causes that must seem utterly hopeless at times. We sit in the comfort of our offices with infinitely more insignificant problems, and act as if the troubles of the world are ours. A positive attitude and mindset is the antidote for negative emotions. Peace of mind is the pinnacle of human existence. Peace of mind can only exist in the absence of negative emotions. Just as you cannot smile and frown at the same time, you cannot host positive and negative thoughts simultaneously. The elimination of negative emotions is the key for anyone who aspires to great success and achievement.
