Operating a successful practice is dependent upon making the right decisions, but it can be a challenge to make the best decisions without adequate information. Solving this dilemma is the impetus behind our new "Face Off" feature: getting you complete information about your choices so you can make an informed decision. After all, you can't make the best choice until you know what your choices are.
In this first article in the series, some of the top laser companies provide information about your choices for a therapeutic laser. The information is provided in a format that lets you make side-by-side comparisons between products and the companies that provide them. Your choices are presented in the order the company provided the information to us, which may give you a sense of how motivated they are to share the information with you.
Each company answers a series of questions that gives them the opportunity to differentiate their laser and explain why it is superior to their competitors. They also explain how their laser can benefit your practice and patients, and provide information about pricing.
In addition to the written responses, each company was asked to provide a video presentation of their laser, which several did. The video presentations include information you need to choose your laser wisely:
Special Features
Product Advances
Clinical Applications
Treatment Protocols
Financing Options
These videos aren't accessible on the printed page, of course, but you can view them with the DC Practice Insights app on your iPad, Android tablet, Kindle or laptop. More information about this app-only feature, as well as instructions on how to download the free app, appears at the end of this article.
Face Off will be featured in every issue of DC Practice Insights. While you may not be considering each product for your practice right now, you will want to save these issues (or access them in you app library) for future reference. That way, when you need to make a purchasing decision, you'll have access to the information you need to make a smart choice.
This Month's Questions
Why is your laser better?
What is the most important aspect doctors need to know about your laser?
Multi Radiance Super Pulsed lasers are the best-selling lasers in the world. Hundreds of clinicians a month and thousands of clinicians a year choose Multi Radiance. The MR4 is unique in that it is the world's most sophisticated technology, and also the safest and simplest to use.
Multi Radiance is committed to the skills transfer and practice integration of your laser. We offer free monthly webinars, regional seminars, live clinical support and a Medical Advisory Board. We can tell you thousands of success stories. Would you like to hear one – or be one?
In a recent Scientific Monograph titled The Pillars Paper, Multi Radiance technology was validated in vitro, in vivo, in controlled laboratory studies and in clinical studies. The core of the MR4 Super Pulsed laser utilizes the most proven, researched wavelengths. It features a pulsing 640nm red LED, an 875nm broadband infrared LED and a 905mn gallium arsenide Super Pulsed laser. Beyond the core, the MR4 has proprietary features that allow clinicians to achieve the best patient outcomes.
The LaserStim with TARGET and DOSE technology allows clinicians to quickly identify areas of treatment and automatically delivers the correct dose. The LaserSweep technology allows the best tissue absorption, as it delays the tissue's adaptation response.
Multi Radiance lasers are rated 1M. The classification of lasers does not imply efficacy. It is meant to warn users of their potential hazards. The higher the number, the more potential hazards. MR4 lasers are in the safest category.
Multi Radiance offers superior value at any price point. Imagine owning the world's best clinical laser and the world's best portable laser for under $12,000. The price of the "Champion's Package," as shown in the product picture, is $11,995. We offer a variety of financing programs.
Hot lasers have side effects and very low-power lasers are often ineffective. It is not uncommon to cause injuries with a hot class 4 laser. Apollo is the only cool class 4 laser. That means you get robust power, fast results, with no worries about side effects or injury. With very low-power lasers, those that have 1,000 mW or less, the treatment times are so long that most doctors cannot spend the time to hold the laser on the spot long enough to get great results. Apollo is the only laser with the power of a state-of-the-art class 4 laser, but the safety of a class 3. This makes the Apollo easy to use and effective, because there is no worry about safety or efficacy.
The Apollo allows you to treat every problem that enters your office. Acute problems, sports injuries and chronic conditions all respond rapidly. There is even a special laser acupuncture probe for pain, nervous-system complaints and the pain of addictions. How many class 4 lasers are safe enough to treat the head and face? How many lasers have a special attachment to treat trigger finger, ganglion cysts, trigger and acupuncture points? Only the Apollo has the power and versatility to treat everything that enters a doctor's office.
We have been classified by the FDA as a class 4 laser based on power and performance.
The Apollo is approximately one-half to one-third the price of many of the popular class 4 lasers! Thus, with the Apollo, you get power, performance, versatility and ease of use at a price you can afford. And even though it s very strong, proven and reliable, you get a two-year warranty on parts, providing peace of mind.
We offer seven laser units to choose from, ranging in price from $3,495 (Apollo Hand Held unit with 2,000 mW laser) to $8,541 (Apollo Desktop 2-Channel Desktop unit with 5,000 mW laser). We do not offer financing.
The CUBE 4 is lightweight and can operate on battery power, yet is durable and powerful enough to treat the deepest conditions. Our team has examined current laser therapy literature and studies, along with conducting depth-of-penetration studies, to develop the most effective protocols. This makes it very easy to deliver K-Laser treatments from day one – maximizing your return on investment.
K-Laser treatments have a track record that is unmatched. Patients often notice improvement via pain reduction, reduced inflammation, improved range of motion and mobility within three treatments; sometimes after the first. This validates the value of the treatment and creates steady referrals.
The K-Laser is easy to use thanks to the intuitive software. Treatments are easy to deliver and are comfortable and relaxing for the patient.
Patients suffering conditions from head to toe, superficial to deep, and acute to chronic, have been helped. Pain and loss of function due to sinus headaches, neck pain due to trauma, frozen shoulder, low back pain, arthritic knees, plantar fasciitis and many more conditions can be helped with the K-Laser.
All K-Laser models are class 4 therapy lasers, meaning they are higher in power, yet still extremely safe. Power is important in laser therapy to deliver therapeutic dosages of infrared laser light to large volumes of tissue and to deeper targets in a clinically expedient period of time.
Prices range from $17,000 to $25,900, and a variety of accessories are available. Doctors can purchase using a variety of financing options, or use the newly introduced K-Laser On Demand program. This program installs a CUBE-series laser at no charge, with no credit check, no down payment, and the unit is always under warranty. Doctors purchase treatment credits for the use of the machine, and the return on investment is immediate.
Erchonia lasers are built in the United States, have undergone rigorous studies before being made available for sale, and have more 510(k) FDA market clearances than all other low-level lasers combined. The patented line-generated delivery system assures the proper energy is being delivered for the greatest clinical result. The biggest advantage to doing several Level 1 clinical trials is that we don't have to guess at what protocols to use; they have been proven in a placebo-controlled study.
We were not only the first company in the world to receive FDA market clearance, but we also have been committed to advancing the science of lasers to assure our customers they are getting the most researched and updated products on the market that have been validated by research [10 FDA 510(k) market clearances], and not just anecdotal evidence.
The first thing that needs to be stated about laser classification is that it is used to measure risk, not efficacy. Erchonia has class II and class III lasers. We have tested many different wavelengths and power during our 20 years in business ,and proven time and time again that lower power is not only safer, but also administers a greater clinical result. Those that state you need more power have done no actual Level 1 studies to back this claim, and you can see by their very clearance from the FDA that those devices are approved for topical heating.
Erchonia has lasers that can fit every budget and terms that range from 90 days same as cash up to 60-month financing.
More About Face Off
Think of having a representative from each company lined up outside your office. As they walk in, you give each three minutes to tell you why their laser is the best and why you should be using it in your practice.
The app version of this month's Face Off feature includes video presentations by several of the laser companies who participated in this issue. To access the videos, along with all the content from this and future issues of DC Practice Insights in an interactive-rich digital format, just go to www.dcpracticeinsights.com/app on the device you want to download the app to, making sure you have a copy of this print issue (January 2015 issue) handy when doing so (information from your mailing label is required to complete the free registration process).
Future installments of Face Off will provide information and a wide selection of choices regarding other products and services relevant to your chiropractic practice. Upcoming issues will focus on these and other topic categories:
Topicals
Practice Management
Anti-Inflammatories
Weight Loss
TENS Units
Multivitamins
Software
Herbs
Tell Us What You Think
We look forward to receiving your questions, comments and suggestions to make Face Off an effective tool to help you make the best decisions for your practice and patients. Email your comments to editorial@mpamedia.com.
Some doctors thrive in a personality-based clinic and have a loyal following no matter what services or equipment they offer, but for most chiropractic offices who are trying to grow and expand, new equipment purchases help us stay relevant and continue to service our client base in the best, most up-to-date manner possible. So, regarding equipment purchasing: should you lease, get a bank loan, or pay cash?
Some pundits say that the upcoming presidential and congressional races, and many local races, might be the most consequential in our country’s history. We do not have the choice of sitting on the sidelines and hoping our patients will carry our water. Unlike other medical professions such as physical therapists, podiatrists, nurses, etc., the health care class (AMA) will not protect us. We must be in the game.
The most common condition affecting the shoulder is rotator-cuff disease. From acute tears to chronic tendinopathy, it’s common and needs a thorough workup. In fact, even asymptomatic shoulders can have full-thickness rotator-cuff rears in up to 40% of instances. Let’s look at additional conditions that can present to the office with weakness, loss of motion and pain in the shoulder beyond rotator-cuff tears.
