COVID-19 Prepare With the End in Mind
PERSPECTIVE
William Owens
DC
I would like to personally thank you for taking the time to read this important letter. It is a letter to the profession as much as a letter to every practicing Doctor of Chiropractic in the country. I am reaching out with a desire to motivate you to reach out in support of one another and in support of our patients. I am writing this share with you what I am doing personally during this unpredictable and unprecedented time in our nation’s history. Presently I am in private practice in Buffalo NY, I have been in the trenches for the last 23 years. My clinic has, including myself, four Doctors of Chiropractic with five support staff, we see patients five days per week. I have seen a lot, but nothing like this.
There are many issues going through my head as I write, they include making payroll, paying rent, being there for my patients, ensuring everyone in my clinic is safe and that I am abiding by all State and local mandates. I am thinking about my family, my friends and our future together. There is no doubt you are all thinking the same thing. It is difficult to know what to do when each area of the country is experiencing this pandemic differently, each State and county has slightly different information, plans and responses. Planning becomes a challenge, due to the uncertainty that lies ahead while considering it is human nature to dwell on the uncontrollable. I am here to provide a small voice to share that I chose to focus on the controllable portions of this experience, to reside myself to putting my attention on what is at my feet day to day, while surrounding myself with positive energy from people that understand that this too shall pass. We are given an innate ability to triumph over adversity, to help those in need and lead the way as health care providers. I would like to share with you what I have put in place for my clinic, my employees and my family.
My first concern as a clinic owner is with supporting my staff and their families. Often times we are reminded that whether we have one employee or twenty, they depend on our practice to provide them security and dependability. These are not easy decisions and although we have information from many sources, I chose to act quickly to ensure everyone’s security. Some may disagree with this strategy, but it was the one that I felt worked best for the future of the practice and certainly removed the uncertainty from the long-term equation. I have kept my providers, office manager and collections staff on regular salary and put the remainder of my staff on unemployment. Those on unemployment were placed there for security of consistent income as well as their safety. Underling health issues and new children were part of the reason I chose to do that right away. My two other staff members are working from home, using our internet phones to stay connected to the office. I have aligned my practice volume goals to ensure that payroll is met, and we can meet necessary expenses, particularly rent. These decisions and goals are considered on a daily basis, updated weekly and the plan is that they will last sixty days.
"The “ramp up” period is going to be a make or break scenario for every single Chiropractic practice."
The next concern is keeping my clinic open, viable and busy. As this scenario was unfolding, I realized that to ensure we stay busy, it is critical that patients and referral sources understand and know that we are open, taking proper social distancing and disinfecting protocols. This requires a team of communicators working toward a common goal. We employed and currently are employing a variety of methods to “get the word out”. My first step was to call every professional referral source that had send a patient to our practice since November. That gives us virtually five months of sources. We included every primary care physician, spine surgeon, pain management doctor, physical therapist, massage therapist, acupuncturist and lawyer. I personally reached to my contacts in the medical community including walk in clinics, emergency rooms and hospitals. The goal is to share our concern for their safety, remind them we are open and what measures we are taken to ensure the safety of patients.
Step two was to split our patient base into two sections, the first being those patients that are healthy and not afraid to come into the office for treatment. The second group were those that were ill, quarantined or were not willing to venture into the community. The first group was reminded of our precautions and that we were screening patients, our schedule was “spread out” as was the reception area to help ensure social distancing to the extent that we can. The second group was immediately scheduled into our telemedicine software for a visit with our providers. It was one visit and scheduled at a time which was convenient for the patient. It was communicated that this was necessary to assess their situation and create a home-based care plan. The long term goal was to ensure constant contact between my office and our patients throughout the pandemic, offering them reassurance and evidence-based information. This ties right into my goals for volume, consistency and our practice philosophy of supporting doctors, staff and patients. We are calling and talking directly to each patient onon-one, which is no easy task. Personal communication is at a premium right now in the community, so we are not using faxes, emails, texts or social media posts. We are doing this daily. Call your patients, call your referral sources, talk to them and keep marching. Day by day, week by week.
My ultimate concern and the final reason for doing all of these small tasks is to be ready when this pandemic is finally over. The “ramp up” period is going to be a make or break scenario for every single Chiropractic practice. Being prepared cannot be overstated, it will require a solid continued work ethic, a positive mindset and avoidance of a “give up” attitude. Systems will need be in place to fill the treatment rooms and care of those patients that are in need. A communication system will be required to connect with patients, referral sources and your community. What you put in place now will determine where you end up later, this is true whether your clinic is now open or closed. Every single one of us will see reduced volume, every single one of us will have a ramp up period as we emerge. Choose to take control, distance yourself from the uncontrollable, be there for your communities and come out of this situation stronger than you went in.
Dr. Owens is presently in private practice Chiropractic practice in Buffalo NY and generates the majority of his new patient referrals directly from the primary care medical community.
His offices and 3 additional chiropractors focus on the diagnosis and management of spinal dysfunction without the use of drugs or surgery. He is an Associate Adjunct Professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences as well as Adjunct Post-Graduate Faculty at Cleveland University - Kansas City, Chiropractic and Health Sciences. He also works directly with Doctors of Chiropractic to help them build relationships with medical providers in their community. Dr. Owens is a 2016 graduate of the Royal College of Physicians, Certified Physician Educator Program. He can be reached at drowens@mdreferralprogram. com or 716-228-3847
