Donald M. Petersen Jr., BS, HCD(hc), FICC(h), Publisher
If you have $5 million lying around, you could purchase a 30-second spot for a commercial during the upcoming Super Bowl. For a measly $350,000, you could purchase 30 seconds during prime-time television on a major network. Bear in mind that this is the cost for a single, one-time television ad. You would need to buy enough time to run your commercial several times a day for a few weeks to make a significant impact. That also doesn't include the cost of creating the 30-second TV ad itself.
Needless to say, the cost of advertising on television exceeds the current budget of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, the organization responsible for creating national exposure for our profession. Even so, ask any group of DCs where we should be advertising the benefits of chiropractic, and most will tell you the same thing: "We need to be on TV."
There is something special about television that is unlike any other medium. The combination of audio and video in vivid 4K resolution has the power to capture your attention and communicate a message like nothing else.
You see it when people first walk in a room where a television is on. It doesn't matter what the program is; they stop and watch it at least for a few moments. It's as if they would be considered rude for disrespecting the "one-eyed monster" on the wall.
About 20 years ago, we began a program called To Your Health designed to educate patients and consumers about chiropractic and natural health. The program began with a website and a reception-area magazine that was included with Dynamic Chiropractic. And while the magazine was effective at informing patients just prior to their appointment, the cost of printing and postage became prohibitive.
At the same time, we also began the To Your Health e-newsletter program. These were sent every two weeks to doctors, their patients and subscribing consumers. The circulation of the TYH e-newsletter has now grown to almost 300,000 patents and consumers. (Please go to www.toyourhealth.com/connect for more information.)
Three hundred thousand patients and consumers is a good start, but it falls woefully short of the potential. At the end of the day, every patient and potential patient should be well-informed about the importance of chiropractic.
Fortunately, evolving technology empowers us in new ways to do new things. Over the past year, we have launched an extension of the To Your Health program called GoChiroTV. The goal of GoChiroTV is to harness the wasted time in your reception area that is generally spent reading non-chiropractic magazines, texting or watching a cooking channel. This time should be dedicated to learning about chiropractic, wellness and the array of service you offer.
GoChiroTV utilizes a very small media player to run short HD presentations designed to educate your patients every time they come to your office. The silent programming is updated every week and tailored to include the various additional services you offer in your practice (nutrition, orthotics, laser, etc.). Our goals are to:
Educate your patients about the importance and effectiveness of chiropractic
Encourage them to refer their family and friends to your office
Inform them about other services you provide
Inspire them to ask you about additional care they want and need
While we only began the program last year, we have already received great reports that the GoChiroTV content is driving more patients to request additional services from their doctors. In this way, the program is paying for itself.
Please take a look at some samples of the GoChiroTV content at www.gochirotv.com/sample. We have two formats: Chiropractic & Patient Health or Chiropractic Intense. If you like what you see, give us a call (888-748-3462) and we will set you up with a free trial without cost or obligation. If the program works for you, we'll give you a special rate just for trying it out. If it doesn't work for you, simply return the media player and cords.
I think you'll be amazed at how effective this new patient-education program is. Our goal is to educate millions of patients and consumers about chiropractic while promoting your practice. We've harnessed the power of TV to make this a reality. Please give chiropractic television a try in your office.
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.
