This original article was featured in the December 2021 issue of The Chiropractic Assistant

The long-term goal for the patients in our practice is to get them to a state of optimal health and wellness and maintain it. This is referred to as Wellness Care. However, before they reach that point, they must first complete their personalized Corrective Care program. 

Patients who transition from Corrective Care to Wellness Care are referred to as loyal patients. What does that mean? That means that these patients have loyalty to the practice. Their loyalty is key to both the success of the practice and for patient health outcomes.

So how do we successfully have a patient follow through and complete the Corrective Care program and transition to Wellness Care? 

First, let’s discuss some of the most common reasons that patients drop out of care:

• Their pain goes away 
• Their insurance benefits have been exhausted
• It’s time for them to pay again

To avoid patients from dropping out of care and not becoming loyal patients on a lifetime wellness care program, we focus on them having a successful patient journey. In order to achieve this there are four specific things that we continuously work on that we refer to as “The Four F’s”:

1. Feedback
2. Forecasting Care
3. Frictionless Payments
4. Frequent Contact  

Feedback

At every exam, the patient is given feedback that is simple for them to understand how it relates to them achieving the long-term goal of optimal health and wellness. We use letter grades (like in school) in order to clearly communicate this information. For example, at their initial report of findings, we present them with a report card based upon their exam that grades their overall health and wellness. If their grade is a D, we would say to the patient, “John, based upon everything we measured in your exam, your overall health and wellness is a D.”

Using language like this changes the conversation from the patient asking, “Doc, what do I have to do to get rid of this neck pain?” to “Doc, what do I have to do to get an A?”

As the patient progresses through corrective care and their pain goes away, they’re focused on the goal we outlined for them of optimal health and wellness (a grade of an A) instead of wondering why they’re still coming in for care when the pain is gone.

Forecasting Care

When it comes to the patient’s treatment plan outlined by the doctor’s clinical findings, it must be professionally presented and reviewed with the patient. In all of the communication with the patient, we start with the end in mind…meaning we work backward when explaining care to them.

Related: Communicating with Patients IS Marketing

For example, we refer to the “Road to Recovery” chart from Patient Media or one similar and say to the patient,  “John, when you’re well, and as good as we expect, we will only need to see you once per week and it could be as little as once per month. But to get you well we will need to see you twice per week. And during this time I will be re-examining you every month. John, we’ve been doing this for many years and have taken care of thousands of patients just like you. We know exactly how well you should be doing at each progress exam. As long as you’re reaching the goals that we anticipate, we will stick to this exact treatment plan. However, if for some reason you’re not making the progress we anticipate, we’ll figure out why and make appropriate changes at that time”.  

Forecasting care in this manner helps the patient understand what to expect which leads to better follow-through and successful outcomes.

Frictionless Payments

Once the patient has said yes to the treatment plan, we present them with a professional care plan that’s properly calculated and offers them affordable payment options. And if the patient has any insurance benefits, we add that into the payment plan right from the start. Doing this avoids the patients from dropping out of care when the insurance is exhausted.

Not only does the financial plan with affordable payment options make a great impression on the patient, but it also gives them the confidence they need to feel comfortable and enroll in the initial program of care. 

When they choose the payment option that works best for them (monthly payments are the most popular) we then make the payment frictionless. This means that we automate the payment process. We want to avoid having the patient touch their wallet when they’re in the practice, because the more often people have to think about the money, the more likely they are to drop out.

Frequent Contact  

Patient education needs to be consistent and ongoing. This means that we’re not only assigning an educational email campaign to the patient to help them understand the benefits of chiropractic care, but we’re also staying in frequent contact with them in other ways. 

For example, we’re posting regularly on social media, we have TVs on in the office educating the patients, we have material that we hand out when they’re in the practice, and more! 

With all of the distractions people have in front of them these days, frequent contact from the practice in a variety of ways is key to a successful patient journey.

Transitioning to Wellness Care

Now that the foundation of the Four F’s has been laid and the patient has completed their Corrective Care plan and achieved the desired results, we’re ready to transition them to a Wellness Care plan.

We now get to deliver the great news to the patient that the original grade of a D is now an A and they’re now ready to transition to Wellness Care!  And with this, their payments are going down! 

For example, we say, “John, the initial score of your overall health was a D and now that you’ve completed the Corrective Care program, you’ve achieved an A! And now that we will be seeing you once a month, your monthly payment will be lower. Stop at the front desk to authorize the new lower payment. Congratulations!”

When we combine good clinical news with good financial news, it makes it very easy for the patient to continue with a Wellness Care plan.

And when we do this with a lot of patients, we have a practice full of lifetime wellness patients. In other words, we essentially have a practice full of loyal patients! 

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