When a patient doesn’t come back for the second or third visit – we write it off as “not a good new patient.” Or “they couldn’t afford it.” Or those cruddy screenings don’t provide good new patients. When in fact it wasn’t the cruddy screening at all – it was the cruddy consultation! Because the TRUTH is – no matter how cruddy the new patient – after spending 10 minutes with you – you can convert ANYONE into a great new patient!!! You have everything you need – IF YOU DO IT RIGHT!
1st Step: Be Prepared! #
Preparation for the case history begins prior to greeting the patient. Before entering the consultation room, the Doctor should stop, mentally relax from the normal routine, and come into present-time consciousness with the patient now sitting in the consultation room. Check your clothing and hygiene to make sure you are ready to meet the new patient.
The Doctor should review the new patient form and become familiar with the patient’s condition, the patient’s past history, the patient’s name, and who referred them. As you enter the room, give the impression of already having some knowledge of the patient’s condition.
It is irritating to the patient when they have spent 30 minutes filling out a description of their health history and complaint and you come in knowing nothing. Why did they fill it out? Be prepared – your patient will be impressed!
2nd Step; Be Personable – Likable! #
As the Doctor opens the consultation door and upon seeing the patient, you should make direct eye contact, pause, smile and then move toward the patient. Give a firm handshake with a smile and introduce yourself. it is important that the patient LIKES you. If you listen to a patient describe a first office visit – they never say – “The doctor is really educated.” If it was a positive experience they always say, “I really like her!” If it wasn’t a good experience they say, “I just didn’t like him.” Be likable! How?
3rd Step: Establish a COMMON BOND. #
After introducing yourself to the patient, it is really helpful to create a common bond with the patient so that the patient will feel comfortable in the office. The most typical common bond is the patient who referred them. After inviting the patient to be seated, use dialogue similar to the following, “I understand you know Bill Hadley.” “How do you know Bill?” The patient’s response, “I play tennis with him on Tuesdays and Thursdays.” The Doctor’s response, “Bill’s a good person.” “He has done very well under chiropractic care and has sent a lot of people here, and we appreciate him for that.” Or it may be discussing the fair where they were screened or the job where you did the lunch and learn.
If the patient has not been referred by someone you know, other common bonds include their place of work, the area of the city in which they live, or any other similar interests you have with the patient.
If there is a common interest that you and the patient share, your bond will be stronger.
# 4th Step: Be a Good Listener. Pay Attention!
After creating a bond with the patient, you will enter the listening phase where the Doctor listens to the patient discuss his or her problem. Obviously, before going into the listening phase, the Doctor has to establish the patient’s problem. If the patient has an area of pain, establish the location of that problem or discomfort. Then, sit back and ask the patient to tell you about their problem.
You are about to hear a problem that you have heard a thousand times. Don’t look like it or act like it. Listen as though their problem is a unique problem – because to them it IS. CARE! Respond to what they say. Nod your head. Lean forward at times. Be involved. Be engaged. Being a good listener makes you Special – a lot of times even their own spouse doesn’t listen to them. The proper statement is, “MRS. SMITH, I HAVE READ THE INFORMATION YOU HAVE FILLED OUT FOR US AND THAT WAS VERY HELPFUL – BUT IT IS HARD TO WRITE EVERYTHING YOU ARE FEELING – I WANT YOU TO TELL ME EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR CONDITION.” The patient will speak from ten seconds to a minute. After a short explanation of this condition, the patient will pause. That pause is the indication to the Doctor that the patient feels he has adequately described his problem.
5th Step: Make their condition a BIG DEAL! It should be a PROBLEM that needs to be dealt with! #
Remember, you will be recommending that they come back some 20 times – taking off work – driving to your office, etc. they are not going to do that for a SMALL deal. The IMPORTANCE of dealing with their condition MUST be established in this consultation so they come back! How? RAPID QUESTIONING
After the patient has completed his talking and the Doctor has listened, it is time for the Doctor to gain control of the consultation. To do this, the Doctor must ask questions about the patient’s condition that can be answered either with a yes or no or with a very short answer. Obviously these questions should be the questions that are necessary to obtain the information needed for a case history but also necessary to establishing importance. While questioning, the Doctor should word his questions about the patient’s condition so that (1) he works from the central area of pain into the peripheral area of pain; (2) from the simple condition to the more complex manifestations of that condition; (3) from the current problem to future problems that may occur if care is not rendered. After an adequate time of questioning, and when all the questions have been answered, she should move to the next step.
6th Step: WRITING THE INFORMATION #
This is actually another step toward communicating the GRAVITY or seriousness of their problem. Don’t be afraid of the silence while you write. You will be tempted to write while they are talking – don’t do it! They will feel as if you are now not listening to what they are saying. Instead, look at them and react while they are talking – then you will write down their information after they have finished. So after the Doctor has gained the information she needs from the question and answer phase, she should move into the writing phase. To do this, she should use this statement, “LET ME WRITE THIS DOWN, MRS. SMITH, SO WE HAVE IT FOR OUR RECORDS.”
At this time, and not before, the Doctor should start to write down the information given by the patient. He should write in silence. Do not be afraid of having the
patient wait on you for 35 to 45 seconds. While the Doctor is writing, the patient realizes that he is recording information that is important because it is about him.
7th Step: Read it back to them! REVIEWING THE SYMPTOMS #
After the Doctor has completed filling out the case history form, he should look back at the patient and say, “NOW, LET ME REVIEW THIS, SO I AM SURE I UNDERSTAND YOUR CONDITION COMPLETELY.”
With that, he should read through the material and reiterate it back to the patient. If the patient has any corrections, additions, or deletions, the Doctor should correct the information at that time.
This helps the patient to focus on the importance of their health issue – it adds to THEIR concern as well as knowing that YOU are concerned. Remember that reviewing these symptoms again establishes the bond between the Doctor and the patient. The patient feels the most comfortable with the Doctor who keeps the best records.
8th Step: Finish Strong! THE CLOSING #
After the Doctor has reviewed the information with the patient, the final step is to close the case history. A good closing sentence is, “MRS. SMITH, THIS APPEARS TO BE A CHIROPRACTIC PROBLEM. AGAIN, I AM DR. XXXX and THE NEXT STEP WE SHOULD TAKE IS TO DO A GOOD CHIROPRACTIC EXAM. ARE YOU READY TO GET STARTED?”
Notice, in the above statement, that the Doctor presented his name again. He told the patient what the next step would be and got the patient’s commitment before he left the consultation room.