The New Chiropractic Movie
INTERVIEW
FEATURE
“The Calling - A True Story”
Interview with Executive Producer, Dr. Miles Bodzin
The American Chiropractor
Over the past decade Dr. Miles Bodzin (MB) has quickly established a reputation of being a savvy businessman and entrepreneurial guide for chiropractors that may feel otherwise overwhelmed when attempting to tap into how to run the business side of a chiropractic clinic. Without the proper systems in place, and team to support you, your clinic can quickly become a rudderless ship, guided by good intentions. Dr. Bodzin set out to take control of the ship, and he shares his journey in the movie, "The Calling" available for streaming at TheCallingMovie.com. If you're a chiropractor, you may even choke up while watching the familiar story Miles shares. Read on as to see what Dr. Bodzin has to say about his first experience as a producer.
TAC: Why did you make a movie to tell your story?
MB: As far as why I wanted to tell my story, it’s pretty simple. I recall being interviewed years ago where I publicly told my story for the first time. To my surprise, chiropractors from all over the world were reaching out to me telling me how inspired they were. That they could really relate to being called to become a chiropractor and the mission to serve.
That was the spark that got me thinking, “Hey, one day I need to get my story out there. If my story can inspire just one future chiropractic student, help a struggling practice to grow or give a sense of hope to someone feeling lost, then I have to get this message out.”
When I made the decision to tell my story, originally I was going to write a book. As fortune should have it, my good friend and former patient, Rich Varville, approached me about doing a movie. He’s an up-and-coming, award-winning movie producer who knew my story and thought it would make a great film. We collaborated and ended up cowriting the script along with contributions from my associate producers, Holly Jensen and Amber Shepherd.
TAC: I think your background is something many chiropractors can relate to. How has this movie been received by chiropractors?
MB: The feedback has been tremendous. A chiropractor who had been in practice for over forty years told me, “I was crying halfway through the movie. It was so inspiring. It was as if I was watching my own story.”
Another chiropractor called us to say, “I haven’t practiced in over three years. After watching The Calling, I have hope! I’ve decided to go back into practice.”
It blew me away when another chiropractor told us she had the movie playing in her office’s reception room. She said her patients really enjoyed the uplifting message.
We’ve also received a lot of wonder-
ful feedback from chiropractic assistants. They’re the backbone of our practices and work with as much passion to serve as we do, and it seems they’ve been just as inspired by seeing a CA’s calling in the storyline. They see themselves in the role that Holly (my CA) was in and how fulfilling a career in chiropractic can be.
Hearing feedback like this is very humbling. I’m grateful that my true life story has made such an impact on people of all types.
TAC: So, in the movie, it looked as though you were on your way to an engineering career, then made a hard right turn into chiropractic. Would you do it again? What would you do differently?
MB: Yes! I would 100% do it again! I absolutely love being a chiropractor and helping people through the miracles of chiropractic care. No question about it. I also needed to go through those struggles and find meaning in them so that I could become the person I am today.
As far as what I would do differently? I would have spent more time working for other chiropractors for the first couple of years. If you know engineers, most of us think we can solve every problem on our own. And to some degree, there’s a bit of truth to that. I also eventually figured things out through a lot of trial and error.
I know I could have avoided most of the struggles I had if I had reached out and asked for help. It never dawned on me to get help from other chiropractors. I did attend some great practice management seminars. The turning point was when my friend and fellow chiropractor, Dr. Shawn Miller, sat on the beach with me and casually shared the idea of doing monthly payments with patients. That is a pivotal scene in the movie. Who knew such a concept could allow me to help more people afford chiropractic care!
TAC: How do you see the public’s perception of chiropractic changing from when you were in school to where we are today?
MB: When I opened The Chiropractic Wellness Center in 1994, the perception of chiropractic was you go to a chiropractor for back pain or when you have a car accident. I mean, if you opened the Yellow Pages back then and looked at the ads for chiropractors, it was either a picture of a man bent over with a lightning bolt flying out his back, with the eight danger signals, or it was an ad showing a car accident. All the ads back then were messages about pain.
To make matters worse, nine out of 10 patients who came to see me had an HMO or PPO insurance that I was not part of. The biggest challenge for me was the patient’s perception was completely out of alignment with the perception of what I wanted to provide—wellness care. Nobody had insurance they could use with me. It was a real struggle.
How is it different today, you ask? Not a lot. True, the ads and the message has changed. We’re not seeing many chiropractors put as much focus on back pain and car accidents. The message seems to have evolved to be more on health, kids, etc. But when I speak with fellow chiropractors, they still tell me that most people initially come to see them for pain relief. And as far as insurance, deductibles being so high, it’s as if the patients have no insurance at all.
As a profession, we have a lot of work to do if we’re going to change people’s perception, and I am hopeful this movie will help in some way. In the movie’s storyline, we purposely told the story of a patient who came in to get help with headaches and share how her overall health improved with chiropractic care. We also show how her daughter no longer got ear infections once she started to receive care as well. And lastly, we purposely show the patient paying for the care themselves and not depending on insurance.
My hope is that it will get the public to think of chiropractic for more than just pain relief and know it’s something they’ll have to pay for themselves.
TAC: What is the biggest barrier you see to patients receiving chiropractic care?
MB: Honestly? Chiropractors themselves. Listen, we all went to school to learn to be chiropractors. Unfortunately, so many of us graduate from chiropractic college not really getting what chiropractic is all about.
Bottom line, you can’t sell what you don’t own. In order for patients to receive chiropractic care, they have to buy it. And if the chiropractor can’t sell it, nobody is buying it.
Now when I say “sell” it, I don’t mean you have to use sales tactics or do anything shady. In fact, that is the worst thing you can do. What I mean is, you have to understand that when a patient is “buying,” they’re giving you their time and money in exchange for a result. That is a key concept most chiropractors fail to understand.
Chiropractors need to be able to clearly communicate the result they can accomplish. And if the chiropractor is not clear on what that is, guess what the patient assumes the result they’re buying is? Pain relief. Get clear on what you’re selling and more and more patients will buy. It’s really that simple. I like to use the analogy of going to an orthodontist. You don’t go to the orthodontist for braces— you go for the result of straight teeth. So if you graduated from chiropractic college not really getting what chiropractic is all about, you need to get that figured out first and foremost. Because if you’re confused, nobody is going to buy your confusion.
TAC: Are there any other important tips for a chiropractor starting out, or a student who may be considering going directly into clinic ownership?
MB: I have to say I am very impressed with many of the students I speak with today. They share some pretty exciting ideas, and they seem to have a lot of passion for chiropractic. And that is very important.
However, it takes way more than just ideas and passion. It takes rolling up your sleeves and doing the work. It takes a strong work ethic. There’s a ton you have to learn after you graduate to be a successful “business owner.” Most businesses fail, and I was almost one of them.
But for some real practical advice, you have to master the process of taking a new patient through the enrollment process. This is where I see most chiropractors fall on their face. They never become experts at signing new patients up for care plans.
No matter how long you’ve been in practice. If you’re new or been at it for decades, nothing will burn you out faster than spinning your wheels. Getting traction in your practice starts with successfully enrolling patients. I can’t emphasize that enough.
Without spoiling the movie, we tell the story of how offering patients care plans led to greater patient enrollments and was pivotal in achieving success in practice.
TAC: Any chances of a sequel?
MB: There are no plans as of yet, but my story has not ended yet, so there could be something in the works down the road. I’ll have to see if my wife is on board too! (See her reaction at the end of the movie about producing this one!)
TAC: Did the movie show in any theatres?
MB: We did host a red-carpet premiere and party at a local San Diego movie theatre. It was a lot of fun to have all the actors, the film crew, family, friends, and so many local chiropractors come to see the movie. We even had a few chiropractic VIPs fly in for it.
TAC: What do you hope to accomplish with producing this movie?
MB: I have several hopes. First, I’m hopeful it will inspire chiropractors to fulfill their own calling to serve humanity with the miracles of chiropractic care. That if they feel lost, confused, or alone, that they can overcome and succeed.
Second, my hope is for people to be inspired to become chiropractors. Every chiropractic college should be packed with students, and I truly believe this movie could be used to fill the schools. In fact, I believe the schools should be showing this to prospective students and to the students about to graduate.
Third, I hope The Calling wifi inspire the public to see chiropractic in a positive light and inspire people to call upon chiropractors for more than just pain relief. If you ever have a patient come to you from seeing the movie, please be sure to let us know!
And last, but certainly not least, I want chiropractors to see the story of where my company Cash Practice Systems came from. To know that what we do to help chiropractors comes from real-world experience. That Cash Practice was founded by a chiropractor, and the software is based on solving real-world challenges faced in practice.
TAC: Where can readers view the movie?
MB: When we initially released it, it was on Amazon. However, we decided to make it available to everyone online. You can stream it for free online at www.TheCallingMovie.com.
TAC: Anything else you want to leave our readers with?
MB: Go watch it and tell your friends to watch it too! And a big thank you to The American Chiropractor magazine for taking the time to interview me. EZS3
In addition to being founder and CEO of Cash Practice Software & Training, Miles Bodzin, DC, is the executive producer and cowriter of “The Calling - A True Story. ”
To view the movie, visit TheCallingMovie.com. For more information on the movie or Cash Practice, call (877) 343-8950.
