The 100 Year Lifestyle
Learn about The 100 Year Lifestyle, a lifetime of health and wellness from the author himself.
Put a Stop to Memory Management and Missed Visits For Good!
How Do You Keep Track of No Shows for Your Chiropractic Practice? A Chiropractic Practice relies on separate reports and paper notes for following up on patient no shows. Who’s responsible to call the patient when they miss their appointment. Do they call right away or do they put it off? Who follows up with that person to make sure that they did it? Imagine never using a report to find out who missed their appointment. Imagine a tool that tells your staff exactly who to call and for what reason. Imagine that this process was automatic. Imagine 100% follow-up with every patient. Imagine the increased revenue for your Chiropractic Practice when you re-schedule every no show. Well, imagine no more. The tool is called Genesis Workflow and you can learn about it in this 20 minute webinar. It will be time well spent.
The Loss that Led Me to Focus on Patient Experience in Chiropractic
In chiropractic school, we are taught to examine, identify problems, create care plans, and to adjust patients. A lucky, or more prepared, few of us may have taken outside seminars to learn about strategies to bring more patients into our office, billing tactics to increase revenue, or practice management techniques. Yet, for all that we learn, the hours and years we put in to become Doctors of Chiropractic, we are never taught the most important part of having a truly successful business. We’re never taught to focus on the patient experience. Just out of chiropractic school, I was no different. I was running what I believed was a successful practice. I was helping a lot of patients and making a lot of money.. At the same time, I was trying to wear too many hats – business owner, staff manager, doctor. Things were falling through the cracks without me knowing until it was too late. I will never forget the day one of my patients came in and told me he was thinking of killing himself. No doctor is every really prepared to hear something like this, much less, a young doctor, still learning. My patient’s name was Chris and he had come to see me for low back pain, something chiropractors see every day. He had received his report of findings, had proceeded with care, and was getting great results and relief from the pain. At his words, I felt shock. I asked what had happened. The story he told me was incredible. After coming to the class that I held for new patients, he had decided to turn his life around. Hearing the chiropractic message and learning how his health affected every aspect of his life as well as his family’s life, he had made a life-changing decision. He quit drinking. He quit drugs. He was going to get healthy for his wife and children and he was going to do it cold-turkey. But now, he felt like taking his own life. After listening to Chris’ story, I was amazed that he had been affected so deeply by the chiropractic message and thankful that he had truly understood it to the point that he was determined to change his health to improve the future for himself and his family. And, I’ll admit, I was proud that my class, my words, had been good enough to change a man’s life. Yet, how could someone who had understood the message on such a deep level now think of killing himself? Chris and I spoke about what he was feeling and how, after the years of punishment his body had been through, it was natural to have difficulty trying to achieve homeostasis again. I explained how the chemicals in his system had been affecting his whole life, including his thoughts and how things were now trying to balance out as his body fought to move toward health. He understood. He got it, just like he did the chiropractic message, and we continued care. Then came the day when I realized that Chris had not been in for a visit in a while. Chris had understood the chiropractic message so completely that he should have been a patient for life. I pulled his chart to find out what had happened. That is when it became clear that once again, something important had fallen through the cracks. Chris had missed appointments, yet we had not followed up with him. His care plan had expired and his billing was not in order. These things that are so vital to patient retention had been missed. I immediately called Chris to find out how he was and to set up an appointment for a follow-up. That is when I found out that Chris was dead. He had taken his own life, just like he had talked to me about. That is when I knew with complete certainty that the systems we had in place were not enough. We tried to call patients who missed appointments, follow-up on care plans, pre-arrange billing with patients, and so many other tasks every single day. Yet, sometimes, my staff became overwhelmed or simply forgot. Other times, they would give up calling a patient who had not responded. And, so many of our systems relied on memory, leaving my staff and I to juggle all of the responsibilities, hoping no one dropped the ball. We only knew to follow-up with patients when I or one of my staff realized someone had not been in to see us for a while. We only knew to check on insurance claims when someone remembered we had not been paid. I knew that other industries used different technologies and software to manage the customer experience. Yet, the Chiropractic profession had no software to manage the Chiropractic patient experience effectively. There were many chiropractic software companies and practice management softwares available. However, not a single one broke down the patient experience into manageable tasks. And, not one offered one simple daily report to let the doctor know whether the necessary tasks had been performed. Instead, they all forced the doctor to wade through piles of reports, to check each individual aspect of the practice, an ineffective and time-consuming chore, at best. To find a solution, I had to go outside of the chiropractic profession, to find out what big businesses use to manage the customer experience. Since that time, I have dedicated myself to finding a better technology to break down and manage every aspect of the patient experience and making it available to chiropractors. And, so that I would never forget the man who first opened my eyes to the necessity of managing the Chiropractic patient experience, I named my son Christian in his honor.
Documentation | All Facets of Patient Care
Right at Your Fingertips Will Dr. Ben be thrilled with the Genesis Travel Card … or overwhelmed? “So did you finally get to see your friend, Steven?” asked Luisa on Thursday morning. “Yes, I did – we’ve both been so busy for the last few months and it was great to have a chance to catch up,” said Dr. Ben. “In fact, he told me about the new software they’re using at his practice. It’s helping them with their patient notes in particular – the entry is fast and accurate, and the system lets them know if there are any problems or areas of concern with the patient’s record.” Luisa regarded Ben hopefully. “So I expect you’ll be making a phone call to our good friend Charlie today?” she asked. Charlie was their Genesis coach. “You bet I will be,” said Ben. “Right after I get my coffee!” A few minutes later, Ben called Charlie and, after some small talk, they settled down to business. Charlie directed Ben to the test system, and after giving his screen a quick glance, Ben was ready to learn more. “So my friend Steven was raving about how his office has managed to cut down on their time entering patient notes all while increasing their accuracy,” Ben said. “I’d like to see how this might work for us.” “Of course, Ben, I’ll be happy to take you through it,” Charlie said. “To begin, I’d like to emphasize that our system takes all the facets of patient care and enables you to see it just as you would look at your patients. Just as you wouldn’t just only one symptom of a complex medical condition, we wouldn’t want your practice to see just one part of your patient’s record at a time. You can treat a patient most successfully if you can see his or her care plan, visit notes, appointments made and/or missed, where in the insurance cycle the patient is … with Genesis, you can really have every detail at your fingertips.” “That certainly sounds good – can you show me around a bit?” “Of course – let’s have a look around the Travel Card!” Charlie said. “First, you can see a column of patient visits down the left side. You know what’s really cool? Missed appointments are marked in red and that’s extremely valuable information to have at a glance.” “Have you ever had a patient who completely flummoxed you? Perhaps they’re not getting better, or maybe they’re getting worse – and you’re starting to think that maybe it’s your fault?” continued Charlie. “Well, if you were using Genesis, you’d see easily that, perhaps, this patient was missing one or two appointments each week, or month. Maybe you don’t realize it because you’ve got a lot of patients and because memory management doesn’t always kick in until there’s an issue.” “Sure, with our patient load I don’t always know how often a patient is supposed to be coming to see me,” admitted Ben. “If I don’t have an easy way to see if they’re showing up or not, I won’t know if they’re getting the care I think they need.” “Right! Now look at the bottom left-hand side of the screen. There’s a button you click when you need to add a picture or file,” Charlie said. “Now look at the top for the billable codes: ICDs on the left – we recommend that method if you use XMR notes to enter a diagnosis using the assessment tab – and CPTs on the right.” “Well that seems pretty straightforward,” said Ben. “It sure is! If you’re not going to use XMR notes, you just have to go to the diagnosis tab, select the area on the left and then choose the diagnosis code you need. Same for procedures – select the area or type on the left, and the procedure code from the right.” “Mmm hmm,” Ben said. He was surprised how easy this was to follow. He had expected to be more intimidated. “Now when you bill, if there are any issues, you’ll get a message in red and a pop-up alerting you to possible problem, maybe with validation, or perhaps the service date is out of the care plan date range,” Charlie said. “We even color code the billing section so that you’ll know if you’re in the insurance phase, cash phase or if the visit is free.” “But is there a place where I can enter notes that are for my own purposes?” asked Ben. “What if I have a conversation with my patient that I don’t need to document for insurance purposes – I just want to make sure I have important information readily available?” “If you look to the right of the screen, you’ll see rectangular boxes – we call them ‘sticky notes,’” said Charlie. “They’re like Post-It Notes where you can document reminders for yourself, personal information the patient shared with you or perhaps even some thoughts for the next phase of the patient’s care.” “This is incredible,” said Ben. “By having all of this information right at my fingertips I feel like I could really maximize my time with my patients and much less time in the system.” “That’s the whole point,” said Charlie. “By connecting all facets of a patient’s care, scheduling, billing, personal notations, history … all of that is critical to ensuring that patient gets the best care possible.” “Well let’s not waste any more time,” said Ben. “We’re ready to put your system to work for us!” Dr. Ben is ready to launch his next Genesis adventure! Disclaimer: For HIPAA compliance, all characters appearing in this post are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons or actual events is purely coincidental.
Chiropractic Software Patient Education Promotes Compliance
Getting Past No Can Dr. Ben get past the negativity and work out a solution for his patient education needs? Carmen was helping Jonathan with his homework when Ben arrived home from work. He hadn’t expected kindergarten to have homework — but he also hadn’t expected the meeting at his practice to go so badly. Ben gave a feeble smile over Jonathan’s head as the little boy excitedly told him all about his day, and Carmen responded with a concerned look. Ben was able to set aside the workday as Jonathan described the wonders of kindergarten to him, and the whole family finished up the homework and put it carefully into Jonathan’s backpack. “He’s really enjoying school,” Ben observed as Jonathan ran outside to play. “I know! It’s such a relief — I was worried that he wouldn’t like it,” said his wife. “And of course he’d have to go anyway.” Ben nodded gravely. “Looks like you didn’t really enjoy work today,” Carmen prodded. “And I had to go anyway!” Ben chuckled. “Actually, it was great up until the meeting at the end of the day. I hate meetings.” “You were so well prepared! How come it didn’t go well?” “Actually, the partners had some good points,” Ben admitted. “I guess that’s why I’m so frustrated by it. Somehow when we get together, we just end up in one big negative group mood, listing all the reasons ideas won’t work. I left pretty convinced that my idea won’t wor “So you went in and told them that patient education would increase compliance, and that you need some kind of tool that’s more versatile than a skeleton. Then what?” Ben leaned in. “They said that the body is a very complex system, and we all went to school for years to know what we know. Our patients can’t expect to understand it more fully than they do, and no special tools are going to make it completely clear.” Carmen frowned. “There’s a difference between being a doctor and being an informed patient. Just because patients don’t always fully understand the explanations they’re getting right now, that doesn’t mean that they couldn’t understand enough to help them see the value of adhering to their treatment plan. Especially with some kind of visual or hands-on support. I know those things make a difference when I’m training new workers.” “That’s a good point,” said Ben. “I guess just deciding that it’s hopeless doesn’t make a lot of sense.” “What else did they say?” Ben sighed. “At one point someone said that our patients should just trust us, and that it was all the fault of the internet.” Carmen laughed. “I know it sounds funny, but at the time, we were all getting into that discussion. Some of us are more committed to patient education than others, but even I joined that complaint fest. It does seem as though noncompliance is getting worse.” “So patients with a little information are deciding that they don’t have to do what their doctors say?” Carmen scoffed. “Even if that’s true, the solution surely would be more education, and more accurate information. You can’t stop people from finding information online, but you can be the most trusted source of information.” “You’re making a lot of sense here,” Ben said. He was feeling more cheerful. “I think I can go back with these points, once everyone has had a chance to think about it. I guess a lot of the negative reaction was just about change.” “Change is stressful,” Carmen agreed. “Even if it’s going to be better, it’s more trouble to change than to keep doing what you’re doing.” “What we’re doing isn’t working as well as it should,” Ben said. “I guess I went in with an idea and no real solution, and when everybody went into the usual naysaying, I got swept up in it.” “That’s probably why you hate meetings,” Carmen suggested. “But sometimes people just automatically shoot down an idea even though, with more thought, they’d see the value. I think you should go ahead and identify the tools you need. Make sure they’ll fit into the practice’s regular routine, and bring it up again.”
Chiropractic Software Easy Patient Education
What Do You Really Want? Is knowing what he wants a good enough starting point for Dr. Ben’s patient education program? “I know you’re all about systems,” Ben began, pouring a cup of coffee for his wife. “You know it,” she said, breathing in the heady aroma. “So I’m going to lay this out in a completely systematic way. First, patient noncompliance is a big problem, not just for us but for medical professionals all over the country. I hear that noncompliance costs the U.S. $290 billion a year.” Carmen raised her eyebrows. “Beyond that, patients who follow through on their treatment plans and show up for their appointments and make the lifestyle changes we recommend–” “Compliant patients, in other words,” Carmen said. “Those patients see better results, are happier, and are less likely to go elsewhere for future treatment. In fact, having patients who adhere to their treatment plans leads to a more efficient and cost-effective healthcare delivery system. It also means less patient churn and more professional satisfaction for us.” Carmen nodded. “Very clear so far. Patients who do what you tell them are a good thing.” “Point two is that patients who really understand what’s going on are more likely to cooperate with us and follow through on the things they’re supposed to do.” “Ergo, patients need to be educated.” “Ergo makes it sound especially important. Do you mind if I use that when I pitch this to my partners?” Ben smiled and Carmen returned his smile. “So I think we need a clear, systematic way to educate our patients,” Ben continued. “It needs to be something all of us can use everywhere in the office, and ideally our patients should be able to share it at home, because we know that home support makes a lot of difference.” “Then you need to be able to email it to them, whatever it is,” Carmen suggested. “That’s the easiest way to share things.” “Right. And people respond best to visual information, so it can’t just be a letter or something like that.” “Hmmm.” Carmen pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I’m sold on the idea that you need to educate your patients to increase compliance, and that you need some kind of tools to accomplish this.” “Good,” said Ben, sipping his coffee. “Now what? Is it time for the big sales pitch where you show me a set of encyclopedias?” “I don’t think encyclopedias will do it. In fact, I don’t know what will do it.” “At least you know what you’re looking for,” Carmen said. “That’s what I figured. I have a clear idea and I can go out and find a solution.” “If you explain it that systematically,” his wife suggested, “your partners might even help you.” “Especially if I say ‘ergo,’” Ben finished with a wink. Is knowing what he wants a good enough starting point for Dr. Ben’s patient education program? Disclaimer: For HIPAA compliance, all characters appearing in this post are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons or actual events is purely coincidental.
Chiropractic Software Patient Education Increases Compliance
Personal Growth Could patient education help reduce Dr. Ben’s exasperation with compliance? Ben pulled a weed viciously. His wife looked at him with raised eyebrows. “What did that dandelion ever do to you?” “I guess I’m just exasperated,” Ben said, tossing the weed into a wheelbarrow and starting in on another. “You can take out all your exasperation on these weeds,” Carmen laughed. “But tell me what you’re upset about.” “Another no-show this afternoon!” Ben said, pulling more weeds with more force than was absolutely necessary. “I’m just getting sick of it.” “I thought you had worked out –” “Oh, we have a good system in place now, as far as the practice is concerned. But I still hate it. This particular patient skips half her regular adjustments, and then comes in with pain and emergencies that she probably wouldn’t have if she just followed her treatment plan. It’s frustrating to know that I can’t do my best for her because she won’t cooperate and be in compliance.” Carmen nodded sympathetically, digging out a stubborn root. “I sometimes think,” Ben went on, sitting back on his heels, “that they don’t really get what we’re doing.” “Maybe they don’t,” Carmen suggested. She reached across to help their son with a tough weed he was trying to pull. “They act like what you do is magic. They don’t know why it works, they just feel happy that it does.” “But you see, that attitude means that they don’t follow through with my recommendations.” “You explain things clearly, I know,” Carmen assured him. “I’ve heard you do it.” “Better sometimes than at other times,” Ben admitted. “It depends how busy I am, and which room I’m in — some have better visual aids than others.” Carmen laughed again. “I hadn’t thought of that, but it’s true. Plus, you’re not always the one giving the explanation. It’s not really systematic, is it?” “I guess it’s not,” Ben agreed. “We all just answer questions and give explanations as needed — office staff, too. And of course we work together on patient cases, or with other health care professionals. There can be a lot of people involved in a single medical decision, and we don’t all end up sharing the same information.” “I don’t do a lot of education in my business,” Carmen said, “but I know that anything that doesn’t use a good system ends up taking more work, more time, and more trouble than it needs to.” “Hmm.” Ben stood up, brushing dirt from his knees, and hoisted the wheelbarrow. “It sounds like non-compliant patients are my fault.” “That’s not how I meant it,” objected Carmen. Jonathan scrambled up into the wheelbarrow, shouting that he wanted a ride. “I’m just going with what you said — they don’t always get what you’re doing. Then they might not realize the importance of doing their part.” “I’m doing my part,” Jonathan announced. His parents assured him that he was, and Carmen lifted him down from the wheelbarrow so Ben could tip the weeds onto the compost pile. “A little patient education might do wonders,” Ben said. “I hadn’t really thought about it, but I’m sure the patients would be more cooperative if they understood the value of follow through.” Could patient education help reduce Dr. Ben’s exasperation? Disclaimer: For HIPAA compliance, all characters appearing in this post are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons or actual events is purely coincidental.
Something for the Pain
By Kathleen Casbarro Simplifying coding issues can relieve practice tension How can software make a difference in the ICD-10 changeover? “Doctor!” The box on Ben’s desk squawked. Pam always sounded professional, but Ben knew her well enough to hear the tension in her voice. Ben hesitated for just a moment over the stack of paperwork he’d been plowing through, but decided he should respond to Pam’s obvious stress. As he neared the front desk, he heard raised voices. “You’ve already been to the doctor!” a young woman shouted at an older man whose face was set in pain… or perhaps in stubbornness. “He’s already been to the doctor!” she repeated in Pam’s direction. “Maybe I can help,” Ben offered. “I was in a car accident–” the older man began. “My dad has been to the doctor and to the hospital,” the young woman said firmly, “and they told him it was back pain and it would get better in time. They gave him pain medication to take and he won’t take it. Now he’s insisting on coming here, and I don’t think his insurance will pay. I just want to take him home.” Family altercations weren’t as common in Ben’s chiropractic clinic as they were in hospitals, but he recognized the situation. The daughter was worried that her dad wouldn’t be able to pay, the old man was still in pain, and their worries were showing up as anger. “Let me take these good people back and have a little chat,” he said calmly to Pam. Getting the shouting out of his waiting room was the first priority. He’d get them calmed down, explain the situation, and then bring them back to Pam for intake, and the paperwork — well, it looked like he’d be working late again. It was hours later when Ben had a chance to discuss the event with Pam. “I’ve been thinking about the man who’d had a car accident,” she said. “We’re always careful to avoid using the ICD-9 code 724.5 for back pain because it tends not to get paid. We make sure to use the most specific code we can so the patient’s insurance will be able to pay.” Ben nodded. “I realized that I don’t have that knowledge about the new ICD-10 codes,” Pam continued. “We’re always focused on the people we treat, but the paperwork is what allows us to keep the doors open and take care of those people. I’m worrying that the new insurance reporting codes will get in the way.” “I think we may have a solution,” Ben said. “I’ve been talking with the people at Genesis — the new practice management software. They had a really sensible approach to it. Three things: assessment, documentation, and implementation. That’s better than focusing on the 70,000 new codes, right?” “It might be,” Pam said uncertainly, “If I knew just what that meant.” Ben laughed. “Fair enough,” he said. “What I get is that the software will cluster the codes into groups so we can drill down to the right one, instead of trying to memorize everything. We’ll be able to see the relevant ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes on the billing screen, along with which payers are using each set, and we’ll have a crosswalk that will let us learn and train before the deadline.” “All on the billing screen?” Pam sounded excited. “That sounds workable.” “Workable,” Ben repeated. “That’s it exactly. It’s like when we get a patient having a meltdown in the front office — we may feel a little stress, but we have workable systems in place to handle it, and it turns out well.” How can software make a difference in the ICD-10 changeover?
Dr. Sandy Haas wins Best Patient Story Contest
Congratulations to Dr. Sandy Haas for winning our Genesis Best Patient Story Contest in October. Check out her inspiring story below. “There’s been so many impactful stories. One story is a story of a young lady that happens to be in the office right now. Her name is Jenny and she is a remarkable young lady. When I first met her and she came to our office, a patient actually brought her in and said I’d like to take care of this patient and I’d like to help her get care and she wanted to help financially support this particular patient get care. She was on so many meds that she could hardly look me in the eyes. She could hardly communicate with me. She looked broken. She looked sad. She looked like nothing about her life was enjoyable. To know Jenny and what she’s done today, she did the work and we just provided her the pathway to get there. But, she’s done probably over forty I.V. nutrients to detox her off of over a dozen plus medications that was just creating such toxicity in her which was shaping the way she thought, the way she felt and shaping her emotions. Now she’s out there and she just laughs, she assists other patients, she’s almost kinda like a volunteer. Even though she’s still coming in for treatments. It’s a remarkable story. She’s lost 125 pounds. Her spine does not look remotely like it did on the very first day. Her story is huge! All I have to ever think of when the day gets, can get stressful and there’s a lot happening in one day, all I ever have to do is just remember a Jenny story.”
Learn How To Turn Your Patients Into Lifetime Cancer Killers!
In September 2010 Dr. Charles Majors was diagnosed with an incurable bone marrow cancer that metastasized to his brain. He chose to leave conventional medicine, and applied the same principles he had been teaching for years to reverse his own disease. Dr. Majors is now in full remission, and lives in Plainfield, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, with his beautiful wife Andrea and their four children. In his book, Dr. Majors not only tells his own story about beating one of the most deadly cancers in the world, but he also adds instructions and real-world solutions for people trying to beat cancer naturally. “Tumors grow fast and spread in a low-oxygen environment. As a tumor grows, it can no longer supply oxygen to the center of the tumor. That low level of oxygen in the cell, really called hypoxia, actually further activates the oncogenes, the cancer promoting genes. So the carcinoma begins spreading like wild fire! One of the major protocols here is to immediately get on a high fat, low carbohydrate (vegetables), minimum protein diet. Measure your blood glucose every day and stay under 75.” – Dr. Charles Majors Genesis Chiropractic Software caught up with Dr. Majors and asked him what he did to beat his cancer, and how he shares the message of health, wellness, and Cancer Killing with his patients. Click the link below to learn more about the Cancer Killers, and how you can give these practice-growing, life-changing Workshops in your office.
