Are they going to bury you at the office?

There may come a day when you don’t want to work all the time. 

Maybe, and just stay with me for a moment, you may actually want to slow down and start to do some other things.  

Are you ready for the next phase of your practice? To enjoy life and pass what you built to the next generation.  

Your quick answer is probably yes, but odds are pretty good that the real answer is no. Why? Because very few chiropractors are ready. The stories of bad deals, failed sales and ruined careers are too numerous to quantify but you’ve all heard them. 

Maybe your answer is, “I’m not going to retire.”  

That’s great. But life changes. 

That’s why we created the SIDECAR Successorship Planning system.  

We are chiropractors because we love what we do, which at its core is making people feel better. Do you still want to be adjusting when you’re 70? If you want to keep working, that’s great.  

Is that because you want to? Or because you have to? 

For most of us there comes a day when you don’t want to be in that grind. You’ll want to slow down and eventually retire. You can’t just turn over the keys to a young associate, get in your luxury SUV and drive to Florida.   

There is a path to a successful disengagement from the rigors of running a practice. You can create personal freedom and sustain financial independence. But your business has to be ready. You have to be ready. And your successor has to be ready. 

SIDECAR’s battle-tested Successorship Planning system of business analysis and strategy prepares you to bring a quality successor into your practice. We’ve gone through this personally and we’ve helped other doctors just like you.   

You’ll get…. 

  • Clarity: Are you ready? When will you be ready? What do you need to do to get ready?  
  • Strategy: How to find the right person to be your successor, including behavior testing, interviewing and selection. 
  • Execution: All the details and documents you need to execute the plan including contracts, timelines and a detailed, month-by-month guide to making it happen. 

Picture a day when you are free from the shackles of daily business. Picture a day when you are transitioning your brand and business to a doctor who is well-prepared for continued success. Picture that day when you are exploring the next phase of your life and all that it holds.   

Picture a day when you are free.  The road to a sustainable life of affluence is there if you follow it. There’s no substitute for our program. 

To learn more just click here or call 1-877-727-2705. 

SIDECAR Successorship Course
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Doc, could my mattress be the problem?

Chiropractors are sleep doctors. 

Patients don’t usually think of us that way but it’s true. As a chiropractor, you know how often you are asked about how a treatment may affect sleep. 

Or patients say they just aren’t sleeping well because of pain. 

In fact, according to the National Sleep Foundation, nearly one-third of people who have undergone a chiropractic adjustment say they experience an immediate improvement in sleep. 

The benefits of regular chiropractic care for patients with sleep issues include easing muscle tension that causes restlessness, relaxing the body, relieving pain and discomfort, stimulating circulation and blood flow, and improving the central nervous system function.  

Following a thorough evaluation, a skilled chiropractor can also provide advice on a better sleeping position, postural exercises, supportive mattress, and ergonomic pillow to help patients sleep well.   

Have you ever heard this question: “Doc, could my mattress be part of the problem?”  

Of course you have. Every chiropractor has because pain affects sleep. 

A good mattress is crucial in achieving good back health. Finding the right mattress that will give your patients a great night’s sleep involves getting both the right support as well as the right comfort level. 

At SIDECAR, we’re fans of BioPosture sleep products. The company works exclusively with health-care professionals like you because you’re on the front lines of solving people’s problems. 

There are many factors that affect back pain and how your patients sleep, but a good mattress is proven to make a positive difference. If they have the wrong mattress for them – or their once-suitable mattress is now old and tired – it may be aggravating the pain. 

Americans should purchase a new mattress every 10 years. But many patients are still sleeping on mattresses 15 to 20 years old, well past their effective life as a spinal support surface.  

Through BioPosture, you can prescribe the only American-made mattress that is available through chiropractors? Their products can be manufactured to order with a signed letter of medical necessity without federally mandated fire-retardant chemicals. BioPosture mattresses are finished with the patented fabric – Celliant – for clinically proven wellness benefits.  

Chiropractors know their patient’s body structural needs best and can prescribe the right support surface for that patient. In most cases, that is a mattress providing the optimum combination of firm support and comfort. BioPosture was designed to provide exactly that combination. 

Your patients can always make many lifestyle changes to help them get better sleep. Some of these include avoiding caffeine, alcohol, or technology use before bed. However, if they’re losing sleep regardless of those changes, it’s time for them to buy a new mattress. 

And as a sleep doctor, you can help them achieve this sleep that they’ve been dreaming of by prescribing BioPosture. 

Visit BioPosture
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Thank God it’s Monday!

Do you hate Mondays? 

We’ve all been there.  

It’s Sunday night and you start getting depressed or coming down from the weekend.  

You’re thinking, “Dang it. I have to work tomorrow.” Or something a bit stronger.  

How can we change this? 

Let’s start by remembering that Mondays are 14 percent of our week. Why would you want to hate 14 percent of your life? 

If you work five days a week, Monday is 20 percent of your work week. 

It’s 20 percent of your revenue opportunities and 20 percent of the time you have to affect people’s lives.  

Forget about “Thank God it’s Friday.” 

What about today? Develop the mantra of “Thank God it’s Monday.” 

Change your perspective and be ready for Monday when you roll out of bed in the morning.  

What’s your routine in the morning? Are you first-date ready when you get to work? It’s all in your perspective. 

While everyone else is bummed out, make a purposeful effort to enjoy Monday. 

Don’t go over the top. People hate over the top.  

Just be pleasant. Tell one person, “Thank God it’s Monday.” 

It’s a great reminder. Check your mindset before you cross the threshold of the front door. Be the best version of you for coworkers and patients.  

Have a great Monday! 

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There’s an opportunity out there you don’t know about – and they don’t know about you 

Guess what percentage of the population has a favorable opinion of chiropractors.  

Seventy-five? Eighty? 

It’s more like 50 percent, according to a recent poll by the Gallup organization.  

Which may lead you to think, “50 percent doesn’t like us!” What a disaster! 

But that’s not what the poll said.  

The question was whether they agreed with this statement: Most chiropractors are trustworthy. 

Only 9 percent said they disagreed with the statement. That’s pretty good. 

Fifty-two percent said they agreed with the statement. That’s not terrible, though we’d like it be better. 

But think about this: Thirty-nine percent of the people polled said they didn’t know or were neutral on the question.  

Almost four out of ten.  

That’s a huge opportunity for chiropractors.  

They need to hear our story. How we reach these people? Marketing. Branding. Advertising.  

Yes. But what works? You can throw money at the opportunity and never move the needle.  

We’ve distilled the foundational principles of marketing in our book, “Chrome.”  

“Chrome” is a concise guide to the basics of achieving affluence with your chiropractic practice by building a shiny brand. At the core are the twin pillars of the right marketing and designing a memorable patient experience. 

Let’s go back to the poll for a moment. 

These are the people who’ve never been to a chiropractor. They have no opinion on trustworthiness. But many of them have an impression. They are frightened or distrustful of anything new, or just don’t have the information. This is where we can shine. 

But we know this. You don’t start with spending a bunch of money on advertising.  

Radio, TV, print, online – they all have their place at the end of the process. Not the beginning. 

As we discuss in Chrome and reinforce in SIDECAR’s training, there a prescribed order to marketing.  

It starts with operations. The systems and procedures in your practice must be tight. Your teams must understand how they fit into the whole process. What are the expectations for them? What does that look like in your practice?  

That lays the foundation for designing memorable patient experiences. When you deliver on that promise, it leads to more and better referrals from your happy and enthusiastic patients. Those steps, properly executed, create your shiny brand.  

Only then is it time to use traditional advertising. Then you’re adding fuel to the fire.  

Without that shiny brand, you’re just burning money.  

Marketing Services
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Digital X-ray and Patient Compliance in the Modern Practice

A Case Study

Patient Jane Doe, age 42, entered the practice as an established patient that had not been seen for 9 months. Her new presentation of neck pain and headaches represented a different condition than her previously encountered lower-back pain.

She was seen for 3 visits involving spinal adjustments and electrical muscle stimulation, including some deep tissue techniques. She had some minor, temporary relief, but the condition was still significantly present on that third visit when she expressed some discontent on the continuation of her symptomatology and moderate pain with headaches.  She indicated her desire to seek medical attention and essentially was telegraphing that she was going to go to another provider along the medical route. She stated her husband was pushing her to go to their family medical doctor.

Although the DC explained cervicogenic headaches and the loss of range of motion, as well as the tight musculature and joint fixation found on the basic examination from her first visit the week prior, she seemed reluctant to continue with care even though it had only been three visits. The chiropractor had always been a successful communicator, and the majority of times patients would follow his recommendations – especially at this stage of care.

It was suggested to Jane that further diagnostics were required to determine the exact alignment in both the upper-cervical spine as well as the mid-cervical region, since her posture demonstrated forward head carriage. Since prior x-rays had not been taken on her cervical spine, it would help to get an accurate assessment of her spine to determine the exact involvement with her condition. She said she didn’t have time, but when it was explained that the entire process would take only five minutes, she agreed.

The x-ray findings demonstrated a severe reversed cervical curve with degenerative changes at the C5-C6 level with anterior osteophytes, and significant disc degeneration at the C5-C6 level. In addition, her C2 vertebrae was rotated significantly to the right side and counter-rotation on the C1 to the left, causing biomechanical alterations and cervicogenic HA causation involvement. In addition, significant loss of extension was also evident.

Some of these findings were previously unknown by examination. Utilizing annotations on the digital x-rays, we were able to illustrate for the patient a direct comparison between what her x-rays revealed in contrast to a normal cervical spine.

That day was significant for the patient. It changed her life. The digital x-rays, complete with those annotations, empowered her in a way simple explanations could not. She could literally see her condition, and after sharing the annotated digital x-rays with her husband, committing to the recommended care plan was a no-brainer.

Over the next 14 visits, more specific adjustments were provided to the patient. Specific corrective exercises were also provided with home instruction.  The headaches that had been ongoing the past several months had now abated 100%.  And the need for future care was better understood by the patient after having seen the x-rays.  Tellingly, preventative care was something the patient requested (before the DC even had the chance to suggest it), making reference several times to the digital x-ray findings.

The result after 5 weeks of care: the husband, who was the actual facilitator to go elsewhere, became a new patient to the clinic for his back complaints. The positive experience from both the husband and wife resulted in 2 other patient referrals over the next 6 months. And from a practice profitability standpoint, the net effect was $4,300 in total care revenue from Jane Doe, her husband, along with the 2 other referrals.

All of this because of one critical factor: digital x-rays and annotated line measurements gave the patient a perspective she could not otherwise have had – one that empowered her to make the right decision and complete her recommended care. Plus, the x-rays altered the approach to care from the provider, to a more specific approach that resulted in a better outcome for the patient.

Steven Kraus, DC, DIBCN, FIACN, FASA, FICC

Visit ChiroSight
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The story behind Chrome

The SIDECAR founders wrote Chrome a couple years ago to distill our principals on branding and marketing.

In reviewing the book, I had that flashback moment to the early days of my practice. It’s the experience I wrote about in the introduction. It’s always humbling and gratifying to rea

d it because it’s a reminder of how far we’ve come at SIDECAR and how fortunate I’ve been. 

At any rate, I wanted

 to share that experience with you from the introduction.  

Here you go: 

I wrote Chrome because I believe that your business can shine without advertising. Really shine. 

I know what you’re thinking: ‘That’s easy for you to say. You already have a successful practice.’ Trust me, it wasn

’t always that way. 

I can still remember the internal struggle I felt trying to convince myself to get out of the shower in the mornings. Faced with the challenge of piecing back together the mess I had made in my business and the struggles it placed on my personal life. 

I remember lying in bed at night and not sleeping, for days. The constant dialogue going on between my ears as I tried to find solutions to all the daily problems. 

I remember having an office full of billing staff; not making any money and being constantly barraged with problems we created. 

I remember thinking that the answer was an influx of new patients, and trying everything to accomplish that: doing spinal screenings, hosting dinners with the doctor, and pedaling every community event trying to spread my business. And while those new patients made me work harder – a lot harder – things didn’t get any better. 

I’ll never forget my wake-up call. 

I was confronted by the person I had abdicated my financial operations to with alarming news. He alerted me to the fact that we weren’t going to make payroll that week. I looked at him, a little bewildered, and told him that we would be ok, just let the line of credit take care of the short fall for the week. 

He told me the line of credit was maxed. 

My $200,000 line of credit was maxed out! 

After all the hard work – all the hours I had put into my business – I was $200,000 in the wrong direction. 

I realized at that moment that I had to change. Nothing was going to get better until I got better. That defining moment led to where we are today. 

The concepts are simple but that doesn’t mean the process is easy! The steps to build your brand and a world-class patient experience are simple, but the time and the hustle it takes to accomplish it isn’t easy! 

The steps to improve your communication skills with patients is simple, but the process of changing your behavior, leaving your agenda at the door, and connecting on an individual basis isn’t easy! 

But what I discovered is that doing it on your own is impossible. Chrome contains everything I’ve learned about branding, marketing, and advertising a chiropractic business. It’s the road map I followed to pay off my student loans, climb out of debt, impact my community, and enterprise my business to include several office locations. In short, it’s how I resurrected my chiropractic dream. 

I know it can do the same for you. 

 

Chrome

 

 

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Synchronicity Is Who We Are

Synchronicity is who we are. Full-Spectrum Hemp Oil is what we do. Synchronicity isn’t our name by accident. The perfect alignment of mind, body, and spirit is our ambition for ourselves, each team member, and every customer we are privileged to serve. We’ve set the standard for the highest quality Full-Spectrum Hemp Oil you can find anywhere. Our superior plant genetics, gentle hand pressed process, and two decades of industry-leading expertise deliver the most nutrient-dense oil and powerful natural benefits—so you can feel the full effect your body deserves. Synchronicity’s products are far superior to what is offered by many CBD isolate products.

Read More
Visit Synchronicity
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Is Successorship Right for You?

Is Successorship Right for You?
ByDaniel A. Shaye, D.C., C.C.S.P., F.I.A.M.A.

Most of us entered practice considering 3 basic ways to launch our careers:

  • Start a brand new practice from scratch
  • Work as an independent contractor
  • Work as an employee (associate)

There are risks and benefits to all three; but what if there were a way to harness most or all of the benefits, while limiting the risks? That’s where the Successor model comes in.

Established doctors have huge advantages, especially in terms of experience and inertia. Unfortunately, newer doctors often lack business experience and typically carry tremendous debt loads, making starting out difficult and risky–especially when they are also relatively unattractive to lenders. Down the road, working with or for another doctor too often means conflicting interests that result in acrimonious splits that are costly and disruptive, often requiring the junior doctor to relocate (non-compete clause) and the senior doctor to start the cycle over by hiringa new doctor. Too often, the classic “associateship” just doesn’t work long-term for anyone.

The Successor model was the brainchild of SIDECAR. SIDECAR recognized the challenges of starting out, as well as the senior doctor’s interests, and aligned all parties’interests using their proprietary systems. With the Successor model, the new doctor (“Dr. New”) is never the junior doctor. From Day 1, he or she serves as an equal, a partner, with multiple doctors serving a single patient base. This requires a very intentional match of styles, techniques, goals, and personalities. In the Successor model, doctors provide patients with similar or identical care within the practice’s trademark style, avoiding personality-driven care, patient preferences, and egos.1

The Successor model also protects Dr. New from the senior doctor’s whims and moods. In the classic “associate” model, too often the senior doctor discovers he(or she) is making good money off the energetic younger doctor and moves the goal posts for a buy-in/buy-out; or egos get in the way and the partnership becomes an unhealthy competition. With the Successor model, Dr. New has a contractual right to buy into the practiceupon achieving set benchmarks. This protects him or her, setting the goal posts from Day 1. The Successor model allows Dr. New to learn the ropes without the risks of starting a new practice, independent contractor status, or associateship. Dr. New learns from the senior doctor, and the senior doctor eagerly mentors in order to grow the shared practice towards its potential. From Day 1, the model is a true partnership.

The Successorship model isn’t only about practice transition and sale. The senior doctor may want to sell sooner, or later; but another valid reason (beyond transition planning) for diversifying and growing the practice is flexibility. Perhaps the senior doctor wants to be able to take some spontaneous time off –or even extended time off.  Perhaps the senior doctor wants to avoid working Saturday mornings, but the practice needs to serve that niche. The single practice, multiple doctor model that is Successorship offers all of these options and strengths. Another advantage of the Successorship model is financial. In addition to mitigating start-up costs for Dr. New, lenders will look favorably upon Dr. New when he or she applies for financing. A single practice served by multiple doctors means that Dr. New is purchasing a known, highly-lucrative, thriving business. Essentially, Dr. New is purchasing into his or her own practice at that point. The patients already know, value, and love Dr. New. Dr. New knows the staff, and they recognize him as their supervisor, boss, and respected mentor. Dr. New knows all the business systems and the books. It’s a seamless, relatively low risk path to practice ownership that allows the senior doctor to grow and/or pass on a legacy, and Dr. New to proudly carry that torch forward to new levels of success.

For more information contact Dr. Shaye at pchiro@performancechiropractic.com, or SIDECAR

1See also The E-Myth Chiropractor: Why Most Chiropractic Practices Don’t Work and What to Do about It by Michael E. Gerber and Frank R. Sovinsky, D.C.

 

 

 

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Protect your business from malicious hackers

Now that you know more about the real threats from hacker software, let’s talk a little about how SIDECAR I.T. can help stay secure. 

SIDECAR I.T. offers a combination of products and processes that provide a baseline – or the foundation – for I.T. risk management.  

I.T. risk management is a complex and dynamic discipline.  However, there are fundamental goals that give us a guide for security. 

  • Prevent: Avoiding attempts by malicious parties to create I.T. security incidents.   
  • Detect: Identify real or potential I.T. security threats as quickly as possible.  
  • Contain: Minimize the affect of any I.T. security incident.  
  • Restore: Return data and systems to normal following a security incident.  
  • Respond: Conduct the most appropriate internal and external activities in reacting to a security incident or event.  

SIDECAR I.T. has many protections in place meet each of those objectives.  

Learn more by watching Founder and President Joe Zueger. 

Many insurance companies are raising the bar for coverage, requiring their customers to meet certain security standards. The cost of that insurance also is rising as the consequences of security breaches expands worldwide. 

That’s a conversation between you and your insurance company. 

However, what you’ll find is that many of the topics we’ve outlined will overlap that insurance discussion. 

As the challenges have evolved, SIDECAR I.T. has identified several security threats they strongly recommend our clients consider addressing:  

  • Threat No. 1: The lack of persistent, structured employee security awareness training. 
  • Threat No. 2: Reliance on single-factor authentication  
  • Threat No. 3: Insufficient network traffic analysis and logging  

We’ll touch on each of these threats in our next post. 

Don’t worry, it won’t take you hours to go through them. They are succinct summaries of what you need to know. 

 

SIDECAR I.T.
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Listen, this is serious

This may make your eyes roll back in your head. 

The threats to your computer and technology system is real.  

That means the potential threat to your extremely value information is also real. 

And it could cost you a lot of money. 

Yes, this is about I.T. security, not something that a lot of us want to spend our time thinking about.  

But you must.   

You might be thinking, sure, I hear about big companies getting hacked, what does that have to do with me? 

Don’t think it can’t happen to you, because it can, and it likely will in some form. Which is why we are spending time, energy and resources to illustrate the steps we can take now to prevent it. 

Recently, we’ve had some sobering conversations with Joe Zueger, president of SIDECAR I.T. 

You can watch Joe here. 

The reality is that too many of us haven’t headed the warnings about the threats to the technology that underpins our businesses.  

It’s time to take action. 

The threats to your systems and users are real and growing. They are happening every day. 

Inaction could cost you money – a lot of it. 

The hackers aren’t just breaking in and poking around. Ransomeware is a 24/7 concern, among other risks we face daily.  

There is an entire underworld of people who will lock down your information systems, preventing you – and us – from accessing your vital data. 

Then they blackmail you. 

Pay up or it all gets deleted.  

It’s a no-win proposition that many, many organizations – small businesses, non-profits, local governments – have had to navigate. 

You know what they do? 

They pay the ransom – often tens of thousands of dollars. Too often there’s no other choice. 

There’s very little we can do once this happens. The best defense is prevention. 

If you agree, there are measures we can take now to give you the best possible security available. 

After talking with Joe, we feel a responsibility to make sure our SIDECAR family understands how serious this is. 

Yes, it will cost a little more money to protect your information. But the alternative is a risk we don’t want to take. 

We know you’re busy. But we believe it’s worth the time for all of us to have this conversation with SIDECAR I.T.  

We believe in Joe. We also like the SIDECAR I.T. flat-rate fee system, which removes much of the burden of dealing with I.T. problems.  

And in situations like these, when the threats have serious implications for our businesses, it’s reassuring to have a professional watching your back. 

In the next installment, we’ll talk a little about how SIDECAR I.T. helps businesses with security. 

 

SIDECAR I.T.
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