The New Patient Flood

By The New Renaissance | December 1, 2011

So, I was surfing the web and came across a video about getting new patients to FLOOD into your office.  Well, being from Massachusetts, I personally believe anything associated with “flood” is bad.  Floods create problems; it’s an excess of water (or whatever is flooding) that cannot be handled.  If you’ve been in a drought, contrary to what you might think, you do not want a flood to come…it’s going from one problem straight to another.

Kind of like Chiropractic…so you think you have a new patient problem?  So what happens when all these new patients suddenly and magically “flood” into your office?  What did you offer to get them there?  Is giving them a free exam or 1/2 off this and that really going to keep them in your office?  You see, you don’t have a new patient problem, it’s retaining the patients you do have.  So when these new patients arrive at your office, they’re probably getting some special deal, but when the deal or insurance runs out, BUH-BYE new patients!  It’s called a leaky bucket…sure, sure…pour all you want in, and yes, for a little while it stays in the bucket.  But it won’t be long before it has all leaked out and you’re left with the same dang problem you started out with.  A drought going to a flood, then drying back up to a drought again.

Get real, people…thinking you can find “secrets” online to drive new patients in is just plain crazy.  And I think deep down you know that, you just feel desperate and you so badly want to be a marketer instead of a DC.  Focus on your relationships, and referrals will happen.  Focus on your relationships, and compliance to your recommendations will happen, inside or outside of insurance coverage.  It’s not rocket science, but these days we think it has to be or it won’t work.

Don’t hide one problem by masking it with another…get to the root of it all and stop chasing new patients in and out your doors.  What would your life look like if new patients came to you, and wanted what you have because you were different than every other DC in your town?

Dr. Kevin