March 9, 2025 • 22 mins
Welcome to the KC CHIROpulse Podcast.
This week’s topic: What does it feel like when your schedule is empty?
The KC CHIROpulse Podcast is designed for Chiropractic professionals ready to elevate their practice to new heights, and is hosted by Kats Consultants coaches Dr Michael Perusich and Marisa Mateja. Michael and Marisa are both seasoned experts in Chiropractic business development. This podcast provides invaluable insights and actionable strategies to help you create a flourishing and sustainable Chiropractic business.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Why your schedule is empty
- How difficult it is to predict your cash flows when you aren’t scheduling
- How much time your staff spends scheduling individual patient visits
- The cumbersome aspect of chasing patients who aren’t scheduled
- Simple strategies to implement for advanced scheduling that work
- …and so much more…
In each episode of KC CHIROpulse, we delve into crucial aspects of building a successful Chiropractic practice, covering topics such as establishing a strong foundation, adopting a patient-centric approach, mastering marketing techniques, achieving financial fitness, fostering effective team building and leadership, integrating technology and innovation, and navigating common challenges in the field.
Whether you're a seasoned chiropractor or just starting your practice, the KC CHIROpulse Podcast offers a wealth of knowledge and personalized practical advice to help you navigate the intricate world of Chiropractic business. Join us on this journey as we explore proven strategies, share success stories, and connect with industry experts to empower you in your pursuit of building a thriving Chiropractic practice.
Don't miss out on the latest insights and expert guidance. Subscribe now and unlock the secrets to taking your Chiropractic practice to the next level. Your success is our priority at Kats Chiropractic Business Advisors.
DISCLAIMER: The information presented in this broadcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended to offer legal, investment, accounting, or medical advice, and represents the opinions of the speakers. Seek the consultation of a professional for advice in those areas. And remember…your results using this information may be different than described.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Michael Perusich (00:09):
Doctors, picture this.
You walk into your practice onMonday morning, you'll look at
the schedule.
There's nobody on it.
Nobody's called.
Nobody's coming in the door.
How does that make you feel?
Hi everybody.
Welcome to the KC ChiroPulsepodcast brought to you by Kats
Consultants and ChiroHealth USA.
I am your host, Dr.
Michael Perusich, and I'm joinedby my co host today, Marisa,
(00:32):
Mateja, I almost said doctorbecause usually you are a
doctor.
Marisa Mateja (00:35):
Oh, I only play one on TV.
Dr. Michael Perusich (00:37):
We're on TV.
Marisa Mateja (00:39):
How are you?
Dr. Michael Perusich (00:40):
Definitely almost slipped out of there.
I'm great.
Thanks for being here today.
Okay.
So you and I banter this all thetime.
What does it feel like when youlook at your schedule and
there's nobody on it?
It's a little
Marisa Mateja (00:54):
scary, right?
Dr. Michael Perusich (00:56):
It should be It should be scary.
It should be, but unfortunatelywe see doctors doing this all
the time.
They're not scheduling theirpatients.
Yeah.
They're telling their patientswhat?
Nails on a chalkboard.
Come back when you need to.
Come back.
When
Marisa Mateja (01:08):
you need to.
Yep.
Dr. Michael Perusich (01:09):
Because every patient has this inborn,
innate ability to know whentheir next chiropractic visits
should be.
Not the doctor,
Marisa Mateja (01:18):
right?
I think that's always, yeah.
I think that's always thefunniest concept is come back
when you need me.
When is that?
I don't know when I need you asa patient.
If you're not telling me ordirecting me or leading me to
what the best route is, I haveno idea.
It may be five years from nowbefore I come back, patients
just don't know.
(01:39):
It's a bad scenario to get into,
Dr. Michael Perusich (01:42):
it's terrible.
Okay.
So we're going to take a reallyshort break here.
Hear a word from our sponsor,but here's what we're doing
today.
We're diving to this idea ofwhat does it feel like to have
an empty schedule?
So doctors while we're on breakI want you to listen to our
sponsors, but while we're onbreak real quick, look and see
how far out are your patientsbooked.
We'll be right back.
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Dr. Michael Perusich (03:12):
All right, everybody.
Welcome back to the KCAchiropulse podcast.
We are talking today, we'reexploring this whole idea of
what does it feel like to havean empty schedule?
And before the break, Isuggested, real quickly, go look
at your schedule, how far outcan you see, and think about
this from a business standpoint,if you can only see patients on
the books for the next few days,or even a couple of weeks, what
(03:35):
is your revenue going to looklike in a month?
Two months, three months.
How do you predict that cashflow?
And so there's a whole bunch ofthings to think about here.
But I think what we need toexplore is what's the cause of
an empty schedule.
Marisa Mateja (03:50):
Yeah.
I'd say you've got one of twothings.
I think you have lack oftreatment plans being given
either by the doc and notexplaining to the patient well
enough, what those treatmentplans look like.
Or you have treatment plans, butyou have employees or staff that
Aren't taking those treatmentplans and doing something with
(04:11):
them.
That means scheduling them youhave you know, one of two
problems there
Dr. Michael Perusich (04:18):
Yeah, and we hear Those things and all
points in between from doctorsall the time Some doctors are
really good about making therecommendations to the patients,
but they never share theinformation with the staff So
the patient gets up to the frontdesk and the comment is always
what'd the doctor tell you?
When does he want to see youback?
Marisa Mateja (04:38):
So to me, that's just being not prepared for your
day, so
Dr. Michael Perusich (04:42):
exactly.
Which is funny.
You brought that up.
Cause we're just studying thatin one of our masterminds here
recently.
Marisa Mateja (04:47):
Yeah.
I think being prepared for yourday is huge.
Do you spend the time to talk toyour employees in the morning
about.
What is it that we need to getdone today?
What's on the schedule?
How are we going to handle thosepeople when they come in?
What communication are we goingto use?
What are those things that helpus succeed in our day?
And if we're not having thoseconversations, we're leaving it
(05:10):
to chance.
Dr. Michael Perusich (05:12):
Yeah.
We don't want to leave anythingto chance in business ever.
We want to try, you can, notthat you can control everything,
but we want to try to control asmuch of the business as we can
and Doug on it, scheduling isone of the places you have
control.
Marisa Mateja (05:25):
It is.
And there's good news.
There's a way around it.
We avoid those questions like,when did the doctor tell you to
come back?
Because the patient's nevergoing to tell you the full
story, number one.
Especially early
Dr. Michael Perusich (05:38):
on in care, they don't remember.
Marisa Mateja (05:40):
If, as an employee, you're relying on
getting your information fromthe patients that are coming up,
you leave yourself in a positionof only being able to schedule
one visit at a time.
And that's never going to beenough.
If we're looking to fill ourschedule, number one, number
two, to be able to look out.
(06:00):
at any length of time to be ableto predict what's the practice
going to be able to do.
So there's plenty of things thatcome in there, but the best
thing you can do is advancemultiple schedule your patients.
It's give them a schedule, letthem understand what they're
supposed to be doing and don'trely on them to either tell you
or you to say, when would youlike to come back?
(06:23):
That's like nails on achalkboard for me.
That's one of the biggestmistakes.
I see offices doing one of thebiggest,
Dr. Michael Perusich (06:32):
but Marisa hold the bucket right there.
You're telling me, I know theanswer to this, but you're
telling me that patients willactually schedule out their
treatment plan.
Marisa Mateja (06:43):
Oh my goodness.
I always find this questionhilarious because it's born out
of not spending the time totrain on these things one, but
it's also born out of, I'vealways done it this way and I
don't want to do it any otherway.
And so I'm just going to tellyou that patients won't do it.
But in reality, patients willreally follow our lead.
(07:06):
If.
We give them the right verbiageand we explain to them and we
talk to them with transparency.
So I think it's important tonote that, I never had an issue
with patient scheduling minus, Iwill say I had two or three
patients that never wouldschedule out because they wanted
to talk to me.
And so if they were scheduledout, they didn't have.
(07:29):
A major reason to stop at thefront desk.
And so I found that those werethe couple patients that didn't
have a lot of people in theirlives and they were older and
they really valued justvisiting.
Yes, you may have a few patientslike that and that's okay, but
Dr. Michael Perusich (07:47):
those patients were the ones that
always came in more often thanwhat we would try to schedule
them anyway.
Marisa Mateja (07:52):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
So I think there's a thing therethat you have to understand who
your patients are and thosekinds of things, but for your
working class of patients, Iwould say for the most part,
they like to know And be able toschedule around things, right?
So it's a value to them to beable to put, get put on your
(08:14):
schedule.
I had a lot of our patientsscheduled a year at a time.
I only had to talk to them onetime a year about their
schedule.
That didn't mean that I wasn'tbuilding the relationship with
them all the other times that Ivisited with them, but I wasn't
stuck just doing a task withthem.
Dr. Michael Perusich (08:31):
Okay.
I think you just bleweverybody's mind out there.
I can hear the cars driving downthe highway listening to the
podcast and their headsexploding.
You scheduled our patients outfor the entire year.
Marisa Mateja (08:45):
Yeah.
And we're talking.
Dr. Michael Perusich (08:46):
No, I want to.
Yeah, hold on.
I want to clarify that because Idon't want people to think my
acute care plans were a yearlong.
No, my, yeah, my acute careplans were, traditional 12
business 18, but whatever thepatient needed.
But we would also schedule alltheir maintenance care and our
(09:08):
maintenance care patientsweren't once a month.
They weren't every six weeksThere were every one to two,
maybe three weeks Yeah, and theywould schedule out for the
entire year and I hear doctorssay this all the time I have
certain patients who don't wantto schedule I don't disagree
that you'll have a few.
Think about it, Docs.
Who doesn't put things on theircalendar, especially if they're
(09:32):
of regular occurrence?
Marisa Mateja (09:34):
I prefer if I go to my massage therapist, if I go
to my hairdresser, I'd ratherthem just schedule me out for
the year.
I know that I go every fiveweeks to get my hair trimmed,
like clockwork.
I prefer that just to be agiven.
I don't want to sit there everysingle time and spend the time
right there going, okay.
Yeah.
Let me count five weeks.
Yep.
That's where I want to be.
(09:54):
I'd rather her just say, Hey, Inoticed you come in every five
weeks.
Let's just go ahead and savethat spot for you.
Great.
Because I like a specific timeon a Friday.
I know exactly when I want to beon their schedule.
So I prefer them to just say,Hey, I noticed that this is your
time.
Dr. Michael Perusich (10:14):
Yeah, exactly.
Marisa Mateja (10:15):
I want to take my time.
So I think it's important toexplore that option in your
practice for many purposes.
One for being able to predictthe future of your practice and
not be stuck in the 30 daycycle.
I think That's another factorthat we start
Dr. Michael Perusich (10:32):
over
Marisa Mateja (10:32):
every single month.
And I've never understood that.
Dr. Michael Perusich (10:34):
It
Marisa Mateja (10:36):
makes no sense, right?
So you can schedule staff thatare listening.
You can schedule beyond 30 days.
It's okay.
And I feel like that's alwaysbeen a crip up in this
profession.
Is only scheduling within that30 day window.
And I think that's somethingthat we can avoid.
Dr. Michael Perusich (10:57):
So we need to take another break.
But when we come back, I want totalk a little bit about how we
create that mind shift, if youwill.
Not only in the practice, butwith our patients as well.
So we're talking about what doesit feel like if you have an
empty schedule?
It doesn't feel good as we'vealready explored and we talked
about a few of the reasons why.
So when we come back, we'regoing to talk about this
(11:18):
further.
So hang in there.
We'll be right back.
Kats Consultants (11:20):
Kat's Chiropractic Consultants your
partner in chiropractic success.
We are dedicated with one on oneguidance to bring you all your
practice management needs.
Let's supercharge your practice.
Give us a call today.
Dr. Michael Perusich (11:47):
All right, everybody.
Welcome back to the KC KyraPulse podcast.
We are talking about having anempty schedule and how to avoid
how that feels because it doesnot feel good.
Marisa we've talked a little bitabout how that happens.
And so much of it goes back tocommunication strategies.
And when we're talking aboutstrategies, in order to put good
(12:10):
strategies in place, we firsthave to plan, then we have to
train, then we have to rehearseand make it a habit.
So it's a four step process.
And so you can't just walk inone day Docs and tell your
stuff.
Hey, I want all my patientsscheduled out for the entire
year.
It won't happen You've got tohave the right communication
(12:31):
strategies.
So let's just walk through someof that, Number one doctors when
you are making recommendationsfor patients, how are you going
to communicate that to yourstaff?
Marisa Mateja (12:42):
Yeah You've got to find out whether it's on
paper, if it's on dry erase, ifit's Right.
Dr. Michael Perusich (12:50):
How's it going to happen in your
practice?
Is
Marisa Mateja (12:52):
it in your notes?
Is it in a Is it
Dr. Michael Perusich (12:54):
in a chat box?
Marisa Mateja (12:55):
Yeah.
Where is it at?
How do you communicate?
That's number one.
Dr. Michael Perusich (12:58):
Yeah.
And then, what is the staffgoing to do with that?
What's going to be theircommunication process?
There may have to be someinternal communication with
staff.
about scheduling.
Maybe you have patients who geta lot of therapy and your
therapy department needs to beinvolved in the scheduling as
well as the front desk people.
So we need coordinatedcommunication there.
(13:20):
And then how's the staff goingto communicate it to the
patient?
And do it in a way that's notonly efficient, but the patient
understands the value of it.
That's one of the most importantparts.
Marisa Mateja (13:33):
Absolutely.
The value for the patient isit's their time.
It's their space.
They, we have reserved this forthem, and the value for them is
a time saving.
They don't have to spend all oftheir time at the front desk,
just scheduling an appointment.
It's going to be.
Efficient for them because nowthe visits are on the schedule.
(13:56):
And guess what?
They come in, they get adjustedand they leave it's quick.
It's easy for everyone,including the practice.
Dr. Michael Perusich (14:03):
Yep.
And one of the biggestmisconceptions, you just made me
think of this, one of thebiggest misconceptions about
advanced scheduling is staffgets it in their mind that it
takes too much time.
Marisa Mateja (14:14):
Oh gosh.
Don't you think if you add it upall the time that you spent
scheduling a person each timethat they came in, okay, I'm
going to guess you're into threeor four minutes every single
time.
Our software nowadays allows youto advance mobile schedule very
easily.
Very
Dr. Michael Perusich (14:32):
easily.
Marisa Mateja (14:32):
You can pick the day how, what the frequency is
and all of those kinds of thingsand click a button and it
populates everything.
So you're talking maybe fiveminutes the first time, but each
additional time that they comein, you're talking three or four
minutes.
That's a lot of time added upfor each individual patient.
(14:53):
So instead of spending yourentire day only scheduling
people.
Or making phone calls to followup on people who didn't show up,
that's the other factor, whenthey know that they've got that
treatment plan, they understandit, the transparency of it is on
black and white paper, whetherthat be emailed to them or
(15:14):
printed out or however you getthem that schedule.
The reality is it's right infront of them and because they
see that frequency and they seewhat is expected of them, it
makes it easier for them to makethose appointments.
Dr. Michael Perusich (15:28):
So you just made a great point.
It's a great retention tool, butit also keeps patients engaged
in their care plan so that staffisn't have to be having to
constantly chase patients down.
I don't understand how you keeptrack of patients who are
supposed to be on a care plan ifyou don't schedule them.
(15:48):
Because number one, thepatient's not getting a
reminder.
Number two, they're not on yourschedule.
So now your schedule could justbe this haphazard, crazy,
maniacal thing to try to managein the day.
If everybody wants to come inbetween four and five 30, all of
a sudden, and you don't have theschedule spread out.
So it makes sense that now youmay be creating capacity issues
(16:10):
around certain parts of the day.
And we all have.
Busy times of the day.
And what about that patient whocan only come in between five
and five to 30?
Are we going to make it so thatthere's a hundred patients in
the clinic when they try to comein and they get frustrated and
quick care because they can'tever get seen in a timely
manner?
Or is it better to tell thatpatient, Hey, that's a really
(16:32):
popular time of day.
I'm going to go ahead andreserve that on Tuesday and
Thursday, every week for therest of your treatment plan or
every week for the rest of theyear, whatever it might be.
Yeah.
How great is that?
What a great services that
Marisa Mateja (16:46):
it is a great service and it makes our
patients feel valued in ourpractice and they feel special.
Not to mention, it's probably acost saver for the patient.
So think about the patient thatcomes in two or three times,
drops out of care.
And then you don't see themagain for three or four months,
but oh gosh, we have to gothrough a full exam again
(17:08):
because you didn't continue withyour treatment plan and we got
to see what you have been doingand where you're at, where your
body's at.
We're starting all over withpatients when we do that.
it costs patients extra moneyand time if we aren't careful.
So I think it's a cost saver forthem as well.
Dr. Michael Perusich (17:27):
It's huge.
And today's patient there, theylead busy lives.
They need to put things on theircalendar.
I think you'll find most of yourpatients will tell you, I need
to put things on my calendar.
My gosh, look at our calendars.
I live by my calendar.
I live by it.
And have to, and if somethingdoesn't make my calendar, A lot
(17:47):
of times it gets missed.
So we, you, this is not as hardas you think it is.
It's really pretty simple.
So first off you have to addressyour strategy.
How are you going to plan yourstrategy to make it work?
Then you talk to your staff youdevelop that plan, you train,
(18:07):
you practice it, and then justtry it on a few patients.
You don't have to try it oneverybody day one, just try it
on a couple of patients.
let you and your staff get thehang of it and then go wholesale
with everybody.
Marisa Mateja (18:22):
Absolutely.
Dr. Michael Perusich (18:23):
Pick a few patients that you know, and your
staff will know docs, your staffwill know exactly who these
people are.
They're going to be the peoplethat pull their phone out or
their paper calendar out.
Every time they're in theclinic, they plan everything.
Those start with a handful ofthose and just Get used to the
idea and see how it feels andyou have to understand your
(18:44):
scheduling system in your EHRprogram as well because it can
really be a valuable toolbecause I know you, you would
tell patients, okay, I'm goingto build out your schedule.
I'll have it for you next time.
You didn't do it in front of thepatient, you would spend.
Three, four, five minutes,putting it together, you'd print
it out and you'd have it for himnext time
Marisa Mateja (19:03):
or emailed it to him, or I made sure that their
first visit was on before I leftthe practice and I emailed it to
him before they came back in andthen when they came back in, I
reiterated, Hey, I put togetherthat full treatment plan.
Did you get that?
Yep.
I got it.
Great.
It's already on my calendar.
Excellent.
That's all we needed.
That, that's the way theconversation goes.
It's Simple.
So use your tools for sure,because you do have scheduling
(19:26):
options within all of those EHRsystems that allow us to do this
advanced model scheduling veryeasily.
So I definitely do that.
Dr. Michael Perusich (19:36):
Yeah.
Marisa Mateja (19:36):
One of the things I would say is that here's a
little statistics for you.
I know Dr.
Fuchs loves statistics,practices that are using the
AMS.
Typically report an increase in30 percent of repeat visits
within three months.
Dr. Michael Perusich (19:54):
Wow.
Marisa Mateja (19:55):
That's a big
Dr. Michael Perusich (19:56):
step.
That's substantial because 30percent more patient visits also
probably means 30 percent ormore revenue.
Marisa Mateja (20:05):
I'm just saying there's the benefits.
Dr. Michael Perusich (20:09):
And your patients are going to love it.
So 30 percent retentionincrease, 30 percent collection
increase.
The patient retention with thisis insane.
The time saver that it is foryour staff and the level of
communication that you create tome, this is one of the biggest
things that coordinatedcommunication.
Now your staff knows what thetreatment plans are.
(20:29):
So they're helping to supportthe value of your chiropractic
care with the patient.
Marisa Mateja (20:34):
Absolutely.
And that goes back to thatinitial point that we had is
Howard.
Are your employees getting thecommunication about what the
treatment plans look like,making sure whether it's written
down verbalized in a huddle,whether it's, I've got some
people that have laminatedsheets that they just dry erase
every day on.
I don't care how you do it.
(20:55):
Just get the information in theappropriate hands so that
they're not.
In a position of having to askthe patient when do you need to
come back?
What did they tell you?
Because the minute we do that,we look very ill prepared.
We look like we don't know whatwe're doing and we have no idea
why or when the patient shouldbe coming back when we're doing
(21:18):
that.
So it puts.
staff in a position of lookinglike they don't understand
chiropractic care and we neverwant to put them in that
position.
Dr. Michael Perusich (21:28):
Exactly.
Exactly.
So the benefits are huge.
It's a win for the clinic.
It's a win for the patient.
It's a win for your staff.
There's not a reason to startimplementing something like this
in your practice.
And if you need help with it,this is one of the big things
that we do at Kats Consultantsis we help doctors implement.
strategies so they're efficient,they're effective, and they
(21:51):
increase your profitability andreally help to streamline your
practice.
So if you need help, give us acall.
Let us talk through how we mightbe able to help you in your
practice.
Marisa Mateja (22:00):
Absolutely.
And don't forget to share andcomment.
We appreciate you doing that.
That helps our viewership growso other people can use this
information as well.
Dr. Michael Perusic (22:10):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Marisa anything else to add?
Marisa Mateja (22:14):
Nope.
I think that's it.
Dr. Michael Perusich (22:15):
Okay.
Very good.
All right, everybody.
Thanks for tuning in to the KCChiroPulse podcast.
I've been talking all day.
Brought to you by KatsConsultants as well as
ChiroHealth USA.
We appreciate all of youlistening out there.
We'll see you next time.
Doctors, picture this.
You walk into your practice onMonday morning, you'll look at
the schedule.
There's nobody on it.
Nobody's called.
Nobody's coming in the door.
How does that make you feel?
Hi everybody.
Welcome to the KC ChiroPulsepodcast brought to you by Kats
Consultants and ChiroHealth USA.
I am your host, Dr.
Michael Perusich, and I'm joinedby my co host today, Marisa,
(00:32):
Mateja, I almost said doctorbecause usually you are a
doctor.
Marisa Mateja (00:35):
Oh, I only play one on TV.
Dr. Michael Perusich (00:37):
We're on TV.
Marisa Mateja (00:39):
How are you?
Dr. Michael Perusich (00:40):
Definitely almost slipped out of there.
I'm great.
Thanks for being here today.
Okay.
So you and I banter this all thetime.
What does it feel like when youlook at your schedule and
there's nobody on it?
It's a little
Marisa Mateja (00:54):
scary, right?
Dr. Michael Perusich (00:56):
It should be It should be scary.
It should be, but unfortunatelywe see doctors doing this all
the time.
They're not scheduling theirpatients.
Yeah.
They're telling their patientswhat?
Nails on a chalkboard.
Come back when you need to.
Come back.
When
Marisa Mateja (01:08):
you need to.
Yep.
Dr. Michael Perusich (01:09):
Because every patient has this inborn,
innate ability to know whentheir next chiropractic visits
should be.
Not the doctor,
Marisa Mateja (01:18):
right?
I think that's always, yeah.
I think that's always thefunniest concept is come back
when you need me.
When is that?
I don't know when I need you asa patient.
If you're not telling me ordirecting me or leading me to
what the best route is, I haveno idea.
It may be five years from nowbefore I come back, patients
just don't know.
(01:39):
It's a bad scenario to get into,
Dr. Michael Perusich (01:42):
it's terrible.
Okay.
So we're going to take a reallyshort break here.
Hear a word from our sponsor,but here's what we're doing
today.
We're diving to this idea ofwhat does it feel like to have
an empty schedule?
So doctors while we're on breakI want you to listen to our
sponsors, but while we're onbreak real quick, look and see
how far out are your patientsbooked.
We'll be right back.
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Dr. Michael Perusich (03:12):
All right, everybody.
Welcome back to the KCAchiropulse podcast.
We are talking today, we'reexploring this whole idea of
what does it feel like to havean empty schedule?
And before the break, Isuggested, real quickly, go look
at your schedule, how far outcan you see, and think about
this from a business standpoint,if you can only see patients on
the books for the next few days,or even a couple of weeks, what
(03:35):
is your revenue going to looklike in a month?
Two months, three months.
How do you predict that cashflow?
And so there's a whole bunch ofthings to think about here.
But I think what we need toexplore is what's the cause of
an empty schedule.
Marisa Mateja (03:50):
Yeah.
I'd say you've got one of twothings.
I think you have lack oftreatment plans being given
either by the doc and notexplaining to the patient well
enough, what those treatmentplans look like.
Or you have treatment plans, butyou have employees or staff that
Aren't taking those treatmentplans and doing something with
(04:11):
them.
That means scheduling them youhave you know, one of two
problems there
Dr. Michael Perusich (04:18):
Yeah, and we hear Those things and all
points in between from doctorsall the time Some doctors are
really good about making therecommendations to the patients,
but they never share theinformation with the staff So
the patient gets up to the frontdesk and the comment is always
what'd the doctor tell you?
When does he want to see youback?
Marisa Mateja (04:38):
So to me, that's just being not prepared for your
day, so
Dr. Michael Perusich (04:42):
exactly.
Which is funny.
You brought that up.
Cause we're just studying thatin one of our masterminds here
recently.
Marisa Mateja (04:47):
Yeah.
I think being prepared for yourday is huge.
Do you spend the time to talk toyour employees in the morning
about.
What is it that we need to getdone today?
What's on the schedule?
How are we going to handle thosepeople when they come in?
What communication are we goingto use?
What are those things that helpus succeed in our day?
And if we're not having thoseconversations, we're leaving it
(05:10):
to chance.
Dr. Michael Perusich (05:12):
Yeah.
We don't want to leave anythingto chance in business ever.
We want to try, you can, notthat you can control everything,
but we want to try to control asmuch of the business as we can
and Doug on it, scheduling isone of the places you have
control.
Marisa Mateja (05:25):
It is.
And there's good news.
There's a way around it.
We avoid those questions like,when did the doctor tell you to
come back?
Because the patient's nevergoing to tell you the full
story, number one.
Especially early
Dr. Michael Perusich (05:38):
on in care, they don't remember.
Marisa Mateja (05:40):
If, as an employee, you're relying on
getting your information fromthe patients that are coming up,
you leave yourself in a positionof only being able to schedule
one visit at a time.
And that's never going to beenough.
If we're looking to fill ourschedule, number one, number
two, to be able to look out.
(06:00):
at any length of time to be ableto predict what's the practice
going to be able to do.
So there's plenty of things thatcome in there, but the best
thing you can do is advancemultiple schedule your patients.
It's give them a schedule, letthem understand what they're
supposed to be doing and don'trely on them to either tell you
or you to say, when would youlike to come back?
(06:23):
That's like nails on achalkboard for me.
That's one of the biggestmistakes.
I see offices doing one of thebiggest,
Dr. Michael Perusich (06:32):
but Marisa hold the bucket right there.
You're telling me, I know theanswer to this, but you're
telling me that patients willactually schedule out their
treatment plan.
Marisa Mateja (06:43):
Oh my goodness.
I always find this questionhilarious because it's born out
of not spending the time totrain on these things one, but
it's also born out of, I'vealways done it this way and I
don't want to do it any otherway.
And so I'm just going to tellyou that patients won't do it.
But in reality, patients willreally follow our lead.
(07:06):
If.
We give them the right verbiageand we explain to them and we
talk to them with transparency.
So I think it's important tonote that, I never had an issue
with patient scheduling minus, Iwill say I had two or three
patients that never wouldschedule out because they wanted
to talk to me.
And so if they were scheduledout, they didn't have.
(07:29):
A major reason to stop at thefront desk.
And so I found that those werethe couple patients that didn't
have a lot of people in theirlives and they were older and
they really valued justvisiting.
Yes, you may have a few patientslike that and that's okay, but
Dr. Michael Perusich (07:47):
those patients were the ones that
always came in more often thanwhat we would try to schedule
them anyway.
Marisa Mateja (07:52):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
So I think there's a thing therethat you have to understand who
your patients are and thosekinds of things, but for your
working class of patients, Iwould say for the most part,
they like to know And be able toschedule around things, right?
So it's a value to them to beable to put, get put on your
(08:14):
schedule.
I had a lot of our patientsscheduled a year at a time.
I only had to talk to them onetime a year about their
schedule.
That didn't mean that I wasn'tbuilding the relationship with
them all the other times that Ivisited with them, but I wasn't
stuck just doing a task withthem.
Dr. Michael Perusich (08:31):
Okay.
I think you just bleweverybody's mind out there.
I can hear the cars driving downthe highway listening to the
podcast and their headsexploding.
You scheduled our patients outfor the entire year.
Marisa Mateja (08:45):
Yeah.
And we're talking.
Dr. Michael Perusich (08:46):
No, I want to.
Yeah, hold on.
I want to clarify that because Idon't want people to think my
acute care plans were a yearlong.
No, my, yeah, my acute careplans were, traditional 12
business 18, but whatever thepatient needed.
But we would also schedule alltheir maintenance care and our
(09:08):
maintenance care patientsweren't once a month.
They weren't every six weeksThere were every one to two,
maybe three weeks Yeah, and theywould schedule out for the
entire year and I hear doctorssay this all the time I have
certain patients who don't wantto schedule I don't disagree
that you'll have a few.
Think about it, Docs.
Who doesn't put things on theircalendar, especially if they're
(09:32):
of regular occurrence?
Marisa Mateja (09:34):
I prefer if I go to my massage therapist, if I go
to my hairdresser, I'd ratherthem just schedule me out for
the year.
I know that I go every fiveweeks to get my hair trimmed,
like clockwork.
I prefer that just to be agiven.
I don't want to sit there everysingle time and spend the time
right there going, okay.
Yeah.
Let me count five weeks.
Yep.
That's where I want to be.
(09:54):
I'd rather her just say, Hey, Inoticed you come in every five
weeks.
Let's just go ahead and savethat spot for you.
Great.
Because I like a specific timeon a Friday.
I know exactly when I want to beon their schedule.
So I prefer them to just say,Hey, I noticed that this is your
time.
Dr. Michael Perusich (10:14):
Yeah, exactly.
Marisa Mateja (10:15):
I want to take my time.
So I think it's important toexplore that option in your
practice for many purposes.
One for being able to predictthe future of your practice and
not be stuck in the 30 daycycle.
I think That's another factorthat we start
Dr. Michael Perusich (10:32):
over
Marisa Mateja (10:32):
every single month.
And I've never understood that.
Dr. Michael Perusich (10:34):
It
Marisa Mateja (10:36):
makes no sense, right?
So you can schedule staff thatare listening.
You can schedule beyond 30 days.
It's okay.
And I feel like that's alwaysbeen a crip up in this
profession.
Is only scheduling within that30 day window.
And I think that's somethingthat we can avoid.
Dr. Michael Perusich (10:57):
So we need to take another break.
But when we come back, I want totalk a little bit about how we
create that mind shift, if youwill.
Not only in the practice, butwith our patients as well.
So we're talking about what doesit feel like if you have an
empty schedule?
It doesn't feel good as we'vealready explored and we talked
about a few of the reasons why.
So when we come back, we'regoing to talk about this
(11:18):
further.
So hang in there.
We'll be right back.
Kats Consultants (11:20):
Kat's Chiropractic Consultants your
partner in chiropractic success.
We are dedicated with one on oneguidance to bring you all your
practice management needs.
Let's supercharge your practice.
Give us a call today.
Dr. Michael Perusich (11:47):
All right, everybody.
Welcome back to the KC KyraPulse podcast.
We are talking about having anempty schedule and how to avoid
how that feels because it doesnot feel good.
Marisa we've talked a little bitabout how that happens.
And so much of it goes back tocommunication strategies.
And when we're talking aboutstrategies, in order to put good
(12:10):
strategies in place, we firsthave to plan, then we have to
train, then we have to rehearseand make it a habit.
So it's a four step process.
And so you can't just walk inone day Docs and tell your
stuff.
Hey, I want all my patientsscheduled out for the entire
year.
It won't happen You've got tohave the right communication
(12:31):
strategies.
So let's just walk through someof that, Number one doctors when
you are making recommendationsfor patients, how are you going
to communicate that to yourstaff?
Marisa Mateja (12:42):
Yeah You've got to find out whether it's on
paper, if it's on dry erase, ifit's Right.
Dr. Michael Perusich (12:50):
How's it going to happen in your
practice?
Is
Marisa Mateja (12:52):
it in your notes?
Is it in a Is it
Dr. Michael Perusich (12:54):
in a chat box?
Marisa Mateja (12:55):
Yeah.
Where is it at?
How do you communicate?
That's number one.
Dr. Michael Perusich (12:58):
Yeah.
And then, what is the staffgoing to do with that?
What's going to be theircommunication process?
There may have to be someinternal communication with
staff.
about scheduling.
Maybe you have patients who geta lot of therapy and your
therapy department needs to beinvolved in the scheduling as
well as the front desk people.
So we need coordinatedcommunication there.
(13:20):
And then how's the staff goingto communicate it to the
patient?
And do it in a way that's notonly efficient, but the patient
understands the value of it.
That's one of the most importantparts.
Marisa Mateja (13:33):
Absolutely.
The value for the patient isit's their time.
It's their space.
They, we have reserved this forthem, and the value for them is
a time saving.
They don't have to spend all oftheir time at the front desk,
just scheduling an appointment.
It's going to be.
Efficient for them because nowthe visits are on the schedule.
(13:56):
And guess what?
They come in, they get adjustedand they leave it's quick.
It's easy for everyone,including the practice.
Dr. Michael Perusich (14:03):
Yep.
And one of the biggestmisconceptions, you just made me
think of this, one of thebiggest misconceptions about
advanced scheduling is staffgets it in their mind that it
takes too much time.
Marisa Mateja (14:14):
Oh gosh.
Don't you think if you add it upall the time that you spent
scheduling a person each timethat they came in, okay, I'm
going to guess you're into threeor four minutes every single
time.
Our software nowadays allows youto advance mobile schedule very
easily.
Very
Dr. Michael Perusich (14:32):
easily.
Marisa Mateja (14:32):
You can pick the day how, what the frequency is
and all of those kinds of thingsand click a button and it
populates everything.
So you're talking maybe fiveminutes the first time, but each
additional time that they comein, you're talking three or four
minutes.
That's a lot of time added upfor each individual patient.
(14:53):
So instead of spending yourentire day only scheduling
people.
Or making phone calls to followup on people who didn't show up,
that's the other factor, whenthey know that they've got that
treatment plan, they understandit, the transparency of it is on
black and white paper, whetherthat be emailed to them or
(15:14):
printed out or however you getthem that schedule.
The reality is it's right infront of them and because they
see that frequency and they seewhat is expected of them, it
makes it easier for them to makethose appointments.
Dr. Michael Perusich (15:28):
So you just made a great point.
It's a great retention tool, butit also keeps patients engaged
in their care plan so that staffisn't have to be having to
constantly chase patients down.
I don't understand how you keeptrack of patients who are
supposed to be on a care plan ifyou don't schedule them.
(15:48):
Because number one, thepatient's not getting a
reminder.
Number two, they're not on yourschedule.
So now your schedule could justbe this haphazard, crazy,
maniacal thing to try to managein the day.
If everybody wants to come inbetween four and five 30, all of
a sudden, and you don't have theschedule spread out.
So it makes sense that now youmay be creating capacity issues
(16:10):
around certain parts of the day.
And we all have.
Busy times of the day.
And what about that patient whocan only come in between five
and five to 30?
Are we going to make it so thatthere's a hundred patients in
the clinic when they try to comein and they get frustrated and
quick care because they can'tever get seen in a timely
manner?
Or is it better to tell thatpatient, Hey, that's a really
(16:32):
popular time of day.
I'm going to go ahead andreserve that on Tuesday and
Thursday, every week for therest of your treatment plan or
every week for the rest of theyear, whatever it might be.
Yeah.
How great is that?
What a great services that
Marisa Mateja (16:46):
it is a great service and it makes our
patients feel valued in ourpractice and they feel special.
Not to mention, it's probably acost saver for the patient.
So think about the patient thatcomes in two or three times,
drops out of care.
And then you don't see themagain for three or four months,
but oh gosh, we have to gothrough a full exam again
(17:08):
because you didn't continue withyour treatment plan and we got
to see what you have been doingand where you're at, where your
body's at.
We're starting all over withpatients when we do that.
it costs patients extra moneyand time if we aren't careful.
So I think it's a cost saver forthem as well.
Dr. Michael Perusich (17:27):
It's huge.
And today's patient there, theylead busy lives.
They need to put things on theircalendar.
I think you'll find most of yourpatients will tell you, I need
to put things on my calendar.
My gosh, look at our calendars.
I live by my calendar.
I live by it.
And have to, and if somethingdoesn't make my calendar, A lot
(17:47):
of times it gets missed.
So we, you, this is not as hardas you think it is.
It's really pretty simple.
So first off you have to addressyour strategy.
How are you going to plan yourstrategy to make it work?
Then you talk to your staff youdevelop that plan, you train,
(18:07):
you practice it, and then justtry it on a few patients.
You don't have to try it oneverybody day one, just try it
on a couple of patients.
let you and your staff get thehang of it and then go wholesale
with everybody.
Marisa Mateja (18:22):
Absolutely.
Dr. Michael Perusich (18:23):
Pick a few patients that you know, and your
staff will know docs, your staffwill know exactly who these
people are.
They're going to be the peoplethat pull their phone out or
their paper calendar out.
Every time they're in theclinic, they plan everything.
Those start with a handful ofthose and just Get used to the
idea and see how it feels andyou have to understand your
(18:44):
scheduling system in your EHRprogram as well because it can
really be a valuable toolbecause I know you, you would
tell patients, okay, I'm goingto build out your schedule.
I'll have it for you next time.
You didn't do it in front of thepatient, you would spend.
Three, four, five minutes,putting it together, you'd print
it out and you'd have it for himnext time
Marisa Mateja (19:03):
or emailed it to him, or I made sure that their
first visit was on before I leftthe practice and I emailed it to
him before they came back in andthen when they came back in, I
reiterated, Hey, I put togetherthat full treatment plan.
Did you get that?
Yep.
I got it.
Great.
It's already on my calendar.
Excellent.
That's all we needed.
That, that's the way theconversation goes.
It's Simple.
So use your tools for sure,because you do have scheduling
(19:26):
options within all of those EHRsystems that allow us to do this
advanced model scheduling veryeasily.
So I definitely do that.
Dr. Michael Perusich (19:36):
Yeah.
Marisa Mateja (19:36):
One of the things I would say is that here's a
little statistics for you.
I know Dr.
Fuchs loves statistics,practices that are using the
AMS.
Typically report an increase in30 percent of repeat visits
within three months.
Dr. Michael Perusich (19:54):
Wow.
Marisa Mateja (19:55):
That's a big
Dr. Michael Perusich (19:56):
step.
That's substantial because 30percent more patient visits also
probably means 30 percent ormore revenue.
Marisa Mateja (20:05):
I'm just saying there's the benefits.
Dr. Michael Perusich (20:09):
And your patients are going to love it.
So 30 percent retentionincrease, 30 percent collection
increase.
The patient retention with thisis insane.
The time saver that it is foryour staff and the level of
communication that you create tome, this is one of the biggest
things that coordinatedcommunication.
Now your staff knows what thetreatment plans are.
(20:29):
So they're helping to supportthe value of your chiropractic
care with the patient.
Marisa Mateja (20:34):
Absolutely.
And that goes back to thatinitial point that we had is
Howard.
Are your employees getting thecommunication about what the
treatment plans look like,making sure whether it's written
down verbalized in a huddle,whether it's, I've got some
people that have laminatedsheets that they just dry erase
every day on.
I don't care how you do it.
(20:55):
Just get the information in theappropriate hands so that
they're not.
In a position of having to askthe patient when do you need to
come back?
What did they tell you?
Because the minute we do that,we look very ill prepared.
We look like we don't know whatwe're doing and we have no idea
why or when the patient shouldbe coming back when we're doing
(21:18):
that.
So it puts.
staff in a position of lookinglike they don't understand
chiropractic care and we neverwant to put them in that
position.
Dr. Michael Perusich (21:28):
Exactly.
Exactly.
So the benefits are huge.
It's a win for the clinic.
It's a win for the patient.
It's a win for your staff.
There's not a reason to startimplementing something like this
in your practice.
And if you need help with it,this is one of the big things
that we do at Kats Consultantsis we help doctors implement.
strategies so they're efficient,they're effective, and they
(21:51):
increase your profitability andreally help to streamline your
practice.
So if you need help, give us acall.
Let us talk through how we mightbe able to help you in your
practice.
Marisa Mateja (22:00):
Absolutely.
And don't forget to share andcomment.
We appreciate you doing that.
That helps our viewership growso other people can use this
information as well.
Dr. Michael Perusic (22:10):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Marisa anything else to add?
Marisa Mateja (22:14):
Nope.
I think that's it.
Dr. Michael Perusich (22:15):
Okay.
Very good.
All right, everybody.
Thanks for tuning in to the KCChiroPulse podcast.
I've been talking all day.
Brought to you by KatsConsultants as well as
ChiroHealth USA.
We appreciate all of youlistening out there.
We'll see you next time.
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