April 6, 2025 • 26 mins
Welcome to the KC CHIROpulse Podcast.
This week’s topic: The Keys to Building Long-term Patient Relationships
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:
- How important it is to practice success to understand the principles of building relationships
- Why the doctor is the last point of contact in building patient relationships
- The value of developing staff as part of your patient loyalty strategy
- How every point of contact with patients is about building relationships
- …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):
How do you build strong patient
relationships when the doctor isthe last point of contact?
Hi everybody.
Welcome to the KC ChiroPulsePodcast, brought to you by Kats
Consultants and Chiro HealthUSA.
I'm Dr.
Michael Perusich, and I'm joinedby my co-host today, Marisa
Mateja.
Marisa, this is an interestingtopic because it's one
Marisa Mateja (00:30):
of my favorites.
I know,
Dr. Michael Perusich (00:31):
right?
As the ca let's back up As thedoctor.
We're usually the last person,the last point of contact in the
clinic.
When a new patient walks in thedoor or when a new patient calls
the clinic, they don't talk tothe doctor.
So our staff has to be on pointto help us build those great
(00:51):
patient relationships.
From the very first moment theyhave contact with patients.
Marisa Mateja (00:56):
Yeah.
They're the ones that start thatpatient experience.
You know it, it's finding outwhat's going on with them.
It's really talking to them.
It's showing empathy.
It's all these things.
Having good communicationskills, all of these things
matter.
For creating that experience forthe patient from that first
moment that you talk to'em allthe way through till, years down
(01:20):
the road, hopefully when they'restill in your practice.
So it, it's definitely somethingthat we start with our cas and
so we have absolutely, we haveto be very intentional about
building strong patientrelationships in our practice
because that's the retentionfactor
Dr. Michael Perusich (01:40):
I.
When you just use my favoriteword, intentional
Marisa Mateja (01:44):
retention,
Dr. Michael Perusich (01:45):
I probably over use it.
Yeah.
Intentional retention.
That's an interesting topic.
Yeah.
Intentional retention.
We'll have to remember that.
It doesn't happen by accident.
Yeah.
So you have to break down thecommunication process and not
only understand it, but trainand develop on it so that it
becomes habit.
Otherwise, we as humans have atendency to just fall into old,
(02:07):
usually bad habits.
Yeah.
And we're not building thosestrong patient relationships and
we're missing a huge opportunitythere.
Marisa Mateja (02:16):
Absolutely.
I was talking to a clinic thismorning and we were talking
about the fact that you alwayshave to be looking to improve
your efficiency.
You always have to be looking toimprove what you're doing in
your practice.
And building strong patientrelationships is definitely one
of those places that you alwayshave to be improving upon.
(02:36):
And it's because patients comein and they compare us not only
to.
Other chiropractors, but other,other physicians, other
dentists, other experiences thatthey have, whether it's a
restaurant or a car wash orwhatever it may be.
We're being compared to thosethings, so we constantly have to
(02:58):
be looking for the better way toimprove, to stay on top of.
Okay.
Build our patient relationshipsand make'em really strong so
they continue to come see us andstay under our care.
Dr. Michael Perusich (03:11):
Yeah, you bring up a good point.
We know this from our studies ofconsumer buying habits that we
are judged, every business isjudged by every customer service
point.
The patient in our case or theconsumer.
Has come in contact with, so ifthey, if your patient just came
back from a, I don't know, makesomething up, a trip to Disney.
Yeah.
Where customer service isusually over the top, they're
(03:34):
comparing your service to whatthey just received at Disney.
So I wanna dive into this alittle bit more and break this
down.
We need to take a quick break,but we're talking about
developing staff.
Into really success partners,basically.
To help us build those stronglifetime patient relationships
(03:56):
with our patients and ourpractices.
So we're gonna talk about moreabout this.
We're quick word from oursponsor.
I can't talk today.
Quick word from our sponsor.
I'm so excited.
We'll be right back.
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Dr. Michael Perusich (05:19):
All right, everybody.
Welcome back to the KCChiroPulse podcast.
We're talking about cas beingthat frontline contact to help
us start building patientrelationships from the get go.
'cause that usually doesn'tstart with the doctor.
Yeah.
And Marisa, I wanna break thisdown a little bit.
I, if we talk about the basicsof communication, we can talk
about active listening,empathetic listening.
(05:42):
It's basically the same thing.
And while that concept may seemsimple it actually isn't really
intuitive.
And so it, it's really somethingthat you need to drive and build
a habit out of.
And so I wanna talk about theimportance of all that.
It, it starts with making goodeye contact with people now.
Absolutely.
First point of contact doesn'tallow for eye contact because
(06:04):
it's usually the telephone.
Yeah.
So we've gotta replace that lossof eye contact on the telephone
with some really goodcommunication skills.
Marisa Mateja (06:15):
Yeah.
When we're listening, it's alsoreaffirming that we heard.
Exactly.
So I think that's one big pointthat a lot of cas miss because a
lot of times our offices give usa script.
And we've gotta follow thescript and we've gotta make sure
that the script, is in our headand we're telling all the things
that are on the piece of paper.
(06:36):
And when we do that, wesometimes miss the opportunity
to be an active listener, right?
I had this happen to me a coupletimes, calling different offices
and things to schedule, and theperson on the other end
completely missed the fact thatI had just told her the
information that she was nowasking me.
(06:57):
That's not active listening.
You don't, active listeningwould be reiterating the fact
that I said, oh, I've been underchiropractic care for 20 plus
years.
Have you ever seen achiropractor?
Yes.
Yes, I have.
I've actually worked one withone for a very long time.
She totally missed theconversation instead of, yeah,
she was
Dr. Michael Perusich (07:16):
going by a script.
Marisa Mateja (07:18):
Because she was so ingrained in what she had to
do, we were missing the patientbuilding relationship
opportunity.
So you have to go back toanswering and listening and
having statements like, oh gosh,I hear you.
I've been there.
Or you know it, it's that.
(07:40):
I completely can sympathize withwhat you're telling me.
I have empathy for what you'regoing through, and guess what?
You've called the right placebecause we're gonna help you
through this.
It's giving them thatreassurance so they may not see
you, but you can definitelysmile and they can feel that
they
Dr. Michael Perusich (07:58):
can, you
Marisa Mateja (07:59):
can, you can definitely have an encouraging,
exciting voice on the other endthat's telling them, I hear you.
I understand what you're goingthrough and you've called the
right place.
We're going to help you throughthat.
That must be frustrating.
We're gonna help you, ourdoctor's really good about
sitting down with you and goingthrough everything that you
(08:21):
have.
Make sure you bring your MRIresults with you.
Make sure you bring your X-rayresults with you.
It's these little things thatgoes over the top and they can
feel that.
So even it's, even if it's overthe phone for that first point
of contact there's ways aroundthat.
Dr. Michael Perusich (08:37):
So you mentioned the reassuring
comments, which are soimportant.
But let's contrast that with avery mechanical phone call.
'cause somebody's trying tofollow a script or there's a
bunch of distractions aroundthem at the time, and so they're
really not paying close enoughattention.
And can you hear the differencewhen, hi, this is Smith
Chiropractic Clinic, how can Ihelp you?
(08:59):
Great.
I.
Yes we have chiropracticappointments.
We can get you in tomorrowafternoon at three.
Be sure to bring your insurancecard, blah, blah, blah.
Absolutely.
This is very mechanical asopposed to, oh my gosh, I know
you're suffering from that lowback pain.
It sounds horrible.
I've been there.
I completely understand how itfeels, and I can tell you one
(09:21):
thing, our doctors are great andwanna be great when we can get
you out of pain too.
Marisa Mateja (09:26):
Yeah you're giving an affirmation statement
right there.
You're having the patient agreewith you immediately.
That puts them on a differentlevel with you, and then when
they come in, you've alreadymade some sort of connection
with them.
There's already a moment thatsays, we're here to help.
So when they walk through thatdoor and you're saying, you must
(09:48):
be Bob Smith, we're so glad tosee you.
Can't wait to help you with thatlow back pain.
Oh my gosh.
That's huge for them.
They're not a stranger walkingin the door having no idea
what's gonna be on the otherend.
They already have a feeling thatit's going to be okay.
Dr. Michael Perusich (10:04):
Yeah.
And how frustrating is it to apatient when they call up and
say, I'm having low back pain, Ineed to get in to see you.
And they give you all thisinformation over the phone and
you probably, it probably getsrecorded on a piece of paper or
something.
Yeah.
And then they come into thefront desk and you act like
you've never heard of thisperson and they have to repeat.
Absolutely everything.
(10:24):
They just gave over the phoneand then they go to the exam
room and they have to repeatabsolutely everything that they.
Now have told twice.
Now it's three times.
So we And filled out on
Marisa Mateja (10:36):
paperwork.
Dr. Michael Perusich (10:36):
And filled out on paperwork.
Exactly.
So we, they've given it to youfour times and yet we're not
paying attention to it.
That's not active listening.
That's passive listening.
And it's really not listening atall.
Marisa Mateja (10:49):
And it's poor communication on our end.
It ends up making the patientfeel unheard, unseen.
Unwelcome.
And those are not things thatany of our chiropractic offices
ever want a patient to feel.
We know that we have to havereally good, effective
communication.
And it starts with activelistening.
Dr. Michael Perusich (11:10):
It does.
It does.
And you brought up effectivecommunication that's that next
step is what are we doing withthe information?
How are we communicating back tothe patient?
Are we.
Being positive.
Are we maintaining a positivetone or are we being very stoic?
And as doctors, we have to becareful about throwing out the
big 50 cent words that we know,we've gotta make it so it's
(11:32):
clear and concise to the patientso they understand it because
why are they there?
They're not there to hear aboutyour education.
They're not there to hear abouthow dramatic the subluxation can
be on your health.
They're there to find out if youcan help them with their
problem, and do you have asolution?
Yeah.
And if we don't lead them downthat path, then we're not
(11:56):
effectively communicating withthe patient.
Marisa Mateja (11:59):
Yeah.
And then you jump over to the caportion of that and it's, can
you schedule me when I want youto, and.
Can I afford what you're doing?
And us being able to effectivelycommunicate all of those points
are huge for patients, and whenyou come in prepared and you're
actively listening to what theyneed and you can watch them,
that's the other thing I thinkis important with, effective
(12:21):
communication is watching themnow that they're in front of
you, do they have their armscrossed in front of you?
Are they, what's their posturetelling you?
Because you can pretty much pickout those people that have money
concerns or scheduling issues oranything like that, before it
even happens.
'cause they're telling you.
If we're paying attention, wecan effectively maneuver around
(12:45):
those things and get them undercare and have them scheduled out
and have them paying for careand all of those kind of things
with that effectivecommunication.
Dr. Michael Perusich (12:56):
Yeah.
And sometimes we have patientsthat just don't want to open up.
I, maybe they've been to a wholebunch of other doctors, nobody's
helped them.
They're not sure why they'rehere or if you're gonna be able
to help.
And that's honestly one of thebiggest reasons why people are
tentative about going to thedoctor.
'cause they don't know if it'sgoing to help.
They don't know what it's goingto cost.
They don't know how long it'sgonna take and all these things.
(13:16):
So we've gotta make sure thatour communication is effective
enough that we're answeringthose questions, but we've gotta
bring empathy into the picture.
All the way.
So the patient starts to feel aconnection to us and that's how
we sometimes open up thosepatients that maybe are a little
tough or maybe they have somereservations or, maybe it's just
(13:38):
a difficult patient.
Yeah.
We've had that before.
I can remember doing a secondopinion exam on a PI case one
time and I walked into the examroom you had prepped me'cause
you had just walked out andsaid, this patient won't talk
about.
Their condition at all.
And I walk in and, arms folded,scowl on the face.
I'm not telling you anything.
(13:59):
And you've gotta learn how to beable to break those people down
just enough to get them to openup.
And so in those situations, youhave to stay calm and
professional.
I can remember many timessomebody coming in with their
bill in their hand wanting torant and argue about, a few
(14:19):
dollars that they might owe ontheir account.
And it, and that's fine.
People do that and more power to'em.
If they think they sh they owesomething different, then we
need to take care of that.
We need to help them with that.
But you would immediately.
By staying calm andprofessional, break that person
down into not being angry andwilling to give you the time to
(14:40):
research what was going on andhow can we help.
And that's the kind of attitudeyou have to deliver.
We offer solutions.
That's what we do in ourclinics, and I don't care if
it's.
Solutions regarding patientoutcomes for their condition and
their pain, or if it's solutionsabout payment options solutions
about a bill that they got fromus solutions about a test that
(15:02):
we send them for.
That's what we do.
We absolutely, we give solutionsfor people and we have to
remember that.
Marisa Mateja (15:11):
Yeah, I think it's important, keeping somebody
calm.
Is huge for the practice.
Number one.
Other patients are aroundpotentially and can see that and
hear that and those kind ofthings.
So we always want to put a goodface on and make sure that we're
just helping, Hey, I'm here.
I'm on your side.
I'm here to help you.
(15:31):
Let's do this and give them aplan of action that you are
going to do.
To resolve it.
That's the big thing is that'sall they're looking for is some
kind of resolution to theirproblem.
And especially with a difficultpatient, you mentioned ones that
came in for second opinions orthose kind of things, they're
(15:51):
already feeling frustration.
They're already upset and guesswhat?
It's not at us, it's.
Somebody else that they went towho didn't give them the answers
that they were looking for.
And I don't know how many timesI remember you sitting down with
people and saying, let's just goover the MR mri.
Let's just look, let's just readthe report together.
Let's just do these things andsee if we can't come to what's
(16:13):
going on, what your best optionsare and what's gonna be the next
step for you.
Yeah.
And a lot of times when we dothose kind of consultations with
patients.
It could be a referral.
Yep.
And that's okay.
But you found them a solutionand I think that's important for
people to realize is.
(16:34):
Handling those difficultsituations.
You may not keep every patient,but guess what?
You found them the solution, soyou are going to be somebody
they refer to.
Yeah.
There's still a win-winsomewhere down the line for the
practice, so sometimes we haveto remember that.
I think when we're looking forall of our communication factors
to build those relationships,sometimes the building of the
(16:54):
strong relationship may not beeven someone you treated.
Dr. Michael Perusich (16:58):
And I'll give you a great example.
We had a, a grumpy old guy onetime, and I don't remember what
the condition was or anything,but
Marisa Mateja (17:04):
I think we had multiple grumpy old men.
Dr. Michael Perusich (17:05):
Yeah, probably.
And he just, he didn't wanna bethere, which, I understood.
And he didn't wanna go throughcare.
He didn't really have anythingto do necessarily with, he
didn't believe in it.
He just didn't want to do it.
And so I said, you know what andyou mimicked this at the front
desk.
We told him, you know what?
That's not a problem at all.
(17:27):
You know what's going on.
You know what your options arenow.
So if you want to think aboutit, if you don't wanna do it,
whatever.
If you wanna call us down theroad, that's totally fine.
And the guy left, we nevertreated him, and he referred
probably 20 patients into us.
And I saw him out in thecommunity one day and I said,
Hey, I just want to thank youfor the referrals, but.
(17:47):
Explain.
I never treated you.
You never knew what kind ofoutcomes we get for people.
You know what he said?
He said, you're the only peoplethat ever listened to me.
Marisa Mateja (17:57):
Yeah.
Dr. Michael Perusich (17:58):
And I just appreciated it.
Marisa Mateja (18:00):
It's amazing when you just stop and, you mentioned
something earlier aboutdistractions.
And I think that we're alldistracted anymore by the little
block that we carry around withus called the cell phone.
So I think we have, I dunno
Dr. Michael Perusich (18:15):
what you're talking about.
Marisa Mateja (18:16):
I think we have to be careful in our practices
to not let those kind of thingsbe seen by patients either, I
still think it's important tomake sure, we used to get text
messages on a phone up front, acell phone, and I would always
make sure a patient knew, justone second.
This is a patient messaging.
Let me, finish with this realfast.
(18:37):
I didn't want them to ever feellike I wasn't there for them
because I was doing somethingpersonal.
I.
Dr. Michael Perusich (18:44):
Right.
Marisa Mateja (18:44):
You always want 'em to make sure that they know
you are handling something forthe practice and those kind of
things.
I think it's important for themto see those things and
understand that sometimes eventhough those phones can be
distractions and those kind ofthings, it could be that you are
actually giving good listeningskills to a different patient at
the time.
Dr. Michael Perusich (19:05):
Exactly.
Exactly.
So this is all great stuff.
We need to take another break,but when we come back, Marisa, I
want to talk a little bit abouthow do we train and develop our
team into being this highlyeffective, personable
relationship buildingcommunication machine.
So we're talking aboutcommunication and we'll be right
(19:27):
back.
Kats Consultants (19:33):
Kats 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 (20:00):
Welcome back to the KC ChiroPulse
podcast.
We're talking about utilizingcommunication in an effective
way, active listening way, sothat we build strong patient
relationships.
And we said when we came backfrom the break, that we were
gonna talk a little bit abouthow do we train and develop our
team to be this amazingcommunication machine.
Marisa Mateja (20:21):
I will say this, I hear a lot we've always done
it this way, so it's fine.
And
Dr. Michael Perusich (20:25):
It's my favorite thing.
Marisa Mateja (20:26):
I know, right?
So one of the things thatbothers me with that is if you
have that mindset or you have astaff person that has that
mindset, the problem with thatis you're never gonna be able to
grow properly because.
You have to have the mindsetthat you are always learning,
you're always evolving, you'realways looking for ways to be
(20:50):
more efficient.
You are looking for how doestechnology help our practice?
I don't know how many times Ihear doctors say oh, I do not
wanna use a computer.
Oh, I don't want to.
There are so many good tools tohelp your practice, and if you
are closed off to those things,I'm just saying you're missing.
(21:10):
Some of the opportunities thatmay lie in front of you, and
growth is one of those things.
So we have to be open tocontinuous learning to help us
continuously grow.
And I think that's important.
I know in our practice we wereconstantly doing things like
rearranging the clinic orwhatever to see can we be more
efficient if we do this?
(21:30):
Yeah, we add a kiosk to thefront for, patients just to sign
in.
I saw this happen at a hospitalthe other day.
I went in for some lab work, andin their diagnostic imaging, you
walk in and the first thing youdo is you type in your phone
number and that's how you're.
Put in queue, basically.
Sure.
And then you get called to thefront desk to talk about
(21:53):
anything that you might need to,but you're already in queue.
You're already, the people inthe back already know you're
there.
They're already working to getyou in and get you seen.
So there's just.
Tools out there that I think wehave to remember can help the
practice.
And help you be more efficientin everything you do.
So learning is, number one, islearning what's out there, what
(22:16):
do you have that you can,become.
Better at, are you reading allthe industry publications?
Are you watching podcasts?
Are working with the managementteam?
Are what are you doing to helpnot only yourself, but your cas?
Dr. Michael Perusich (22:31):
And you can't do a lot of this by your,
just by yourself.
You've gotta have opportunitiesto plug into tools and things
and coaching and mentors and youknow it.
And I'll give us a shamelessplug.
That's one of the things that wedo at Kats Consultants is we
really help train teams on thisgood, effective, proper
communication to build thosepatient relationships.
But there are a lot ofopportunities out there too.
(22:52):
Just taking your team out oncein a while to.
A high-end department store, forexample, and just paying
attention to the customerservice they deliver and how are
they talking to their patronsand what are the kinds of things
are they saying?
And you pick up a lot of goodtools when you do that.
Pay attention to when you go toa restaurant, how are the
(23:13):
servers, are they reallycommunicative?
Are they really diving intowhat.
What maybe is on the menu thatmight interest you and those
kind of things.
So you can pick up a lot ofreally good tools.
Banks are great too.
Just by paying attention in yourcommunity to other companies and
businesses, and then.
You can plug into to books oncommunication and do an office
(23:37):
read, for example.
Maybe you find a great book andtogether you read it and you
talk about it in your weeklystaff meetings.
Those are great ways to justcontinue that learning process
all the time and then practice.
A lot of this requires.
Role playing in practice.
If you have scripts, great.
Use them to learn, but make surethey're not being read over the
(23:59):
phone because that pulls youback into that mechanical
aspect.
And, patients are like dogs whopick up on fear.
Patients understand when you'renot being genuine in your
communication, and they cansense it even over the phone.
So you have to make sure thatyou're really practicing these
kind of things and alwaysworking towards that mastery.
Of the process so that you getbetter and better over time.
Marisa Mateja (24:22):
Absolutely.
And everything that you dothrough continuous learning
helps build strongerrelationships with your
patients.
Because the more you train yourcas, the longer they're gonna
stay with you, the moreconnections they're gonna make.
All of these things tietogether.
It's one big, full circle backto the practice in a positive
way.
Dr. Michael Perusich (24:41):
Very much very much Marisa, I think we've
covered this topic incrediblywell.
Yeah, I know there's a lot ofdoctors out there that really
could use some assistance withthis.
So go and check usout@Katsconsultants.com and see
all the great things that we'redoing for doctors.
One of the things that we do.
I almost said do.
One of the things that we do iswe do complimentary
consultations for doctors.
(25:02):
If you wanna jump on ourschedules when you go to cats
consultants.com, you can see mycalendar, you can see Marisa's
calendar, jump on our schedule,let's talk about your practice.
What's going on?
How might we be able to plug inand help you with some of the
resources that, that we offerthrough our consulting and
coaching.
Marisa Mateja (25:18):
Absolutely.
There's just a little button atthe top that says, let's chat.
That's all you have to do isclick that and you can pick one
of us to chat with.
Yes,
Dr. Michael Perusic (25:25):
absolutely.
So it's very
Marisa Mateja (25:26):
easy,
Dr. Michael Perusich (25:27):
no reason not to do it.
But in the meantime, weappreciate all of you listening
to the podcast.
We have grown like crazy andthat's because of you out, you
listeners out there.
So remember to subscribe, share,let everybody know that this is
a great podcast to tune intobecause we're talking about the
business principles of makingyour practice successful.
Marisa, anything to add?
Marisa Mateja (25:48):
No, I think that's great.
Just get out there and buildthose strong relationships.
Dr. Michael Perusich (25:51):
Awesome.
All right, everybody.
On behalf of Kats Consultantsand Chiro Health USA, we
appreciate you tuning into theKC ChiroPulse Podcast.
We'll see you next time You.
How do you build strong patient
relationships when the doctor isthe last point of contact?
Hi everybody.
Welcome to the KC ChiroPulsePodcast, brought to you by Kats
Consultants and Chiro HealthUSA.
I'm Dr.
Michael Perusich, and I'm joinedby my co-host today, Marisa
Mateja.
Marisa, this is an interestingtopic because it's one
Marisa Mateja (00:30):
of my favorites.
I know,
Dr. Michael Perusich (00:31):
right?
As the ca let's back up As thedoctor.
We're usually the last person,the last point of contact in the
clinic.
When a new patient walks in thedoor or when a new patient calls
the clinic, they don't talk tothe doctor.
So our staff has to be on pointto help us build those great
(00:51):
patient relationships.
From the very first moment theyhave contact with patients.
Marisa Mateja (00:56):
Yeah.
They're the ones that start thatpatient experience.
You know it, it's finding outwhat's going on with them.
It's really talking to them.
It's showing empathy.
It's all these things.
Having good communicationskills, all of these things
matter.
For creating that experience forthe patient from that first
moment that you talk to'em allthe way through till, years down
(01:20):
the road, hopefully when they'restill in your practice.
So it, it's definitely somethingthat we start with our cas and
so we have absolutely, we haveto be very intentional about
building strong patientrelationships in our practice
because that's the retentionfactor
Dr. Michael Perusich (01:40):
I.
When you just use my favoriteword, intentional
Marisa Mateja (01:44):
retention,
Dr. Michael Perusich (01:45):
I probably over use it.
Yeah.
Intentional retention.
That's an interesting topic.
Yeah.
Intentional retention.
We'll have to remember that.
It doesn't happen by accident.
Yeah.
So you have to break down thecommunication process and not
only understand it, but trainand develop on it so that it
becomes habit.
Otherwise, we as humans have atendency to just fall into old,
(02:07):
usually bad habits.
Yeah.
And we're not building thosestrong patient relationships and
we're missing a huge opportunitythere.
Marisa Mateja (02:16):
Absolutely.
I was talking to a clinic thismorning and we were talking
about the fact that you alwayshave to be looking to improve
your efficiency.
You always have to be looking toimprove what you're doing in
your practice.
And building strong patientrelationships is definitely one
of those places that you alwayshave to be improving upon.
(02:36):
And it's because patients comein and they compare us not only
to.
Other chiropractors, but other,other physicians, other
dentists, other experiences thatthey have, whether it's a
restaurant or a car wash orwhatever it may be.
We're being compared to thosethings, so we constantly have to
(02:58):
be looking for the better way toimprove, to stay on top of.
Okay.
Build our patient relationshipsand make'em really strong so
they continue to come see us andstay under our care.
Dr. Michael Perusich (03:11):
Yeah, you bring up a good point.
We know this from our studies ofconsumer buying habits that we
are judged, every business isjudged by every customer service
point.
The patient in our case or theconsumer.
Has come in contact with, so ifthey, if your patient just came
back from a, I don't know, makesomething up, a trip to Disney.
Yeah.
Where customer service isusually over the top, they're
(03:34):
comparing your service to whatthey just received at Disney.
So I wanna dive into this alittle bit more and break this
down.
We need to take a quick break,but we're talking about
developing staff.
Into really success partners,basically.
To help us build those stronglifetime patient relationships
(03:56):
with our patients and ourpractices.
So we're gonna talk about moreabout this.
We're quick word from oursponsor.
I can't talk today.
Quick word from our sponsor.
I'm so excited.
We'll be right back.
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Dr. Michael Perusich (05:19):
All right, everybody.
Welcome back to the KCChiroPulse podcast.
We're talking about cas beingthat frontline contact to help
us start building patientrelationships from the get go.
'cause that usually doesn'tstart with the doctor.
Yeah.
And Marisa, I wanna break thisdown a little bit.
I, if we talk about the basicsof communication, we can talk
about active listening,empathetic listening.
(05:42):
It's basically the same thing.
And while that concept may seemsimple it actually isn't really
intuitive.
And so it, it's really somethingthat you need to drive and build
a habit out of.
And so I wanna talk about theimportance of all that.
It, it starts with making goodeye contact with people now.
Absolutely.
First point of contact doesn'tallow for eye contact because
(06:04):
it's usually the telephone.
Yeah.
So we've gotta replace that lossof eye contact on the telephone
with some really goodcommunication skills.
Marisa Mateja (06:15):
Yeah.
When we're listening, it's alsoreaffirming that we heard.
Exactly.
So I think that's one big pointthat a lot of cas miss because a
lot of times our offices give usa script.
And we've gotta follow thescript and we've gotta make sure
that the script, is in our headand we're telling all the things
that are on the piece of paper.
(06:36):
And when we do that, wesometimes miss the opportunity
to be an active listener, right?
I had this happen to me a coupletimes, calling different offices
and things to schedule, and theperson on the other end
completely missed the fact thatI had just told her the
information that she was nowasking me.
(06:57):
That's not active listening.
You don't, active listeningwould be reiterating the fact
that I said, oh, I've been underchiropractic care for 20 plus
years.
Have you ever seen achiropractor?
Yes.
Yes, I have.
I've actually worked one withone for a very long time.
She totally missed theconversation instead of, yeah,
she was
Dr. Michael Perusich (07:16):
going by a script.
Marisa Mateja (07:18):
Because she was so ingrained in what she had to
do, we were missing the patientbuilding relationship
opportunity.
So you have to go back toanswering and listening and
having statements like, oh gosh,I hear you.
I've been there.
Or you know it, it's that.
(07:40):
I completely can sympathize withwhat you're telling me.
I have empathy for what you'regoing through, and guess what?
You've called the right placebecause we're gonna help you
through this.
It's giving them thatreassurance so they may not see
you, but you can definitelysmile and they can feel that
they
Dr. Michael Perusich (07:58):
can, you
Marisa Mateja (07:59):
can, you can definitely have an encouraging,
exciting voice on the other endthat's telling them, I hear you.
I understand what you're goingthrough and you've called the
right place.
We're going to help you throughthat.
That must be frustrating.
We're gonna help you, ourdoctor's really good about
sitting down with you and goingthrough everything that you
(08:21):
have.
Make sure you bring your MRIresults with you.
Make sure you bring your X-rayresults with you.
It's these little things thatgoes over the top and they can
feel that.
So even it's, even if it's overthe phone for that first point
of contact there's ways aroundthat.
Dr. Michael Perusich (08:37):
So you mentioned the reassuring
comments, which are soimportant.
But let's contrast that with avery mechanical phone call.
'cause somebody's trying tofollow a script or there's a
bunch of distractions aroundthem at the time, and so they're
really not paying close enoughattention.
And can you hear the differencewhen, hi, this is Smith
Chiropractic Clinic, how can Ihelp you?
(08:59):
Great.
I.
Yes we have chiropracticappointments.
We can get you in tomorrowafternoon at three.
Be sure to bring your insurancecard, blah, blah, blah.
Absolutely.
This is very mechanical asopposed to, oh my gosh, I know
you're suffering from that lowback pain.
It sounds horrible.
I've been there.
I completely understand how itfeels, and I can tell you one
(09:21):
thing, our doctors are great andwanna be great when we can get
you out of pain too.
Marisa Mateja (09:26):
Yeah you're giving an affirmation statement
right there.
You're having the patient agreewith you immediately.
That puts them on a differentlevel with you, and then when
they come in, you've alreadymade some sort of connection
with them.
There's already a moment thatsays, we're here to help.
So when they walk through thatdoor and you're saying, you must
(09:48):
be Bob Smith, we're so glad tosee you.
Can't wait to help you with thatlow back pain.
Oh my gosh.
That's huge for them.
They're not a stranger walkingin the door having no idea
what's gonna be on the otherend.
They already have a feeling thatit's going to be okay.
Dr. Michael Perusich (10:04):
Yeah.
And how frustrating is it to apatient when they call up and
say, I'm having low back pain, Ineed to get in to see you.
And they give you all thisinformation over the phone and
you probably, it probably getsrecorded on a piece of paper or
something.
Yeah.
And then they come into thefront desk and you act like
you've never heard of thisperson and they have to repeat.
Absolutely everything.
(10:24):
They just gave over the phoneand then they go to the exam
room and they have to repeatabsolutely everything that they.
Now have told twice.
Now it's three times.
So we And filled out on
Marisa Mateja (10:36):
paperwork.
Dr. Michael Perusich (10:36):
And filled out on paperwork.
Exactly.
So we, they've given it to youfour times and yet we're not
paying attention to it.
That's not active listening.
That's passive listening.
And it's really not listening atall.
Marisa Mateja (10:49):
And it's poor communication on our end.
It ends up making the patientfeel unheard, unseen.
Unwelcome.
And those are not things thatany of our chiropractic offices
ever want a patient to feel.
We know that we have to havereally good, effective
communication.
And it starts with activelistening.
Dr. Michael Perusich (11:10):
It does.
It does.
And you brought up effectivecommunication that's that next
step is what are we doing withthe information?
How are we communicating back tothe patient?
Are we.
Being positive.
Are we maintaining a positivetone or are we being very stoic?
And as doctors, we have to becareful about throwing out the
big 50 cent words that we know,we've gotta make it so it's
(11:32):
clear and concise to the patientso they understand it because
why are they there?
They're not there to hear aboutyour education.
They're not there to hear abouthow dramatic the subluxation can
be on your health.
They're there to find out if youcan help them with their
problem, and do you have asolution?
Yeah.
And if we don't lead them downthat path, then we're not
(11:56):
effectively communicating withthe patient.
Marisa Mateja (11:59):
Yeah.
And then you jump over to the caportion of that and it's, can
you schedule me when I want youto, and.
Can I afford what you're doing?
And us being able to effectivelycommunicate all of those points
are huge for patients, and whenyou come in prepared and you're
actively listening to what theyneed and you can watch them,
that's the other thing I thinkis important with, effective
(12:21):
communication is watching themnow that they're in front of
you, do they have their armscrossed in front of you?
Are they, what's their posturetelling you?
Because you can pretty much pickout those people that have money
concerns or scheduling issues oranything like that, before it
even happens.
'cause they're telling you.
If we're paying attention, wecan effectively maneuver around
(12:45):
those things and get them undercare and have them scheduled out
and have them paying for careand all of those kind of things
with that effectivecommunication.
Dr. Michael Perusich (12:56):
Yeah.
And sometimes we have patientsthat just don't want to open up.
I, maybe they've been to a wholebunch of other doctors, nobody's
helped them.
They're not sure why they'rehere or if you're gonna be able
to help.
And that's honestly one of thebiggest reasons why people are
tentative about going to thedoctor.
'cause they don't know if it'sgoing to help.
They don't know what it's goingto cost.
They don't know how long it'sgonna take and all these things.
(13:16):
So we've gotta make sure thatour communication is effective
enough that we're answeringthose questions, but we've gotta
bring empathy into the picture.
All the way.
So the patient starts to feel aconnection to us and that's how
we sometimes open up thosepatients that maybe are a little
tough or maybe they have somereservations or, maybe it's just
(13:38):
a difficult patient.
Yeah.
We've had that before.
I can remember doing a secondopinion exam on a PI case one
time and I walked into the examroom you had prepped me'cause
you had just walked out andsaid, this patient won't talk
about.
Their condition at all.
And I walk in and, arms folded,scowl on the face.
I'm not telling you anything.
(13:59):
And you've gotta learn how to beable to break those people down
just enough to get them to openup.
And so in those situations, youhave to stay calm and
professional.
I can remember many timessomebody coming in with their
bill in their hand wanting torant and argue about, a few
(14:19):
dollars that they might owe ontheir account.
And it, and that's fine.
People do that and more power to'em.
If they think they sh they owesomething different, then we
need to take care of that.
We need to help them with that.
But you would immediately.
By staying calm andprofessional, break that person
down into not being angry andwilling to give you the time to
(14:40):
research what was going on andhow can we help.
And that's the kind of attitudeyou have to deliver.
We offer solutions.
That's what we do in ourclinics, and I don't care if
it's.
Solutions regarding patientoutcomes for their condition and
their pain, or if it's solutionsabout payment options solutions
about a bill that they got fromus solutions about a test that
(15:02):
we send them for.
That's what we do.
We absolutely, we give solutionsfor people and we have to
remember that.
Marisa Mateja (15:11):
Yeah, I think it's important, keeping somebody
calm.
Is huge for the practice.
Number one.
Other patients are aroundpotentially and can see that and
hear that and those kind ofthings.
So we always want to put a goodface on and make sure that we're
just helping, Hey, I'm here.
I'm on your side.
I'm here to help you.
(15:31):
Let's do this and give them aplan of action that you are
going to do.
To resolve it.
That's the big thing is that'sall they're looking for is some
kind of resolution to theirproblem.
And especially with a difficultpatient, you mentioned ones that
came in for second opinions orthose kind of things, they're
(15:51):
already feeling frustration.
They're already upset and guesswhat?
It's not at us, it's.
Somebody else that they went towho didn't give them the answers
that they were looking for.
And I don't know how many timesI remember you sitting down with
people and saying, let's just goover the MR mri.
Let's just look, let's just readthe report together.
Let's just do these things andsee if we can't come to what's
(16:13):
going on, what your best optionsare and what's gonna be the next
step for you.
Yeah.
And a lot of times when we dothose kind of consultations with
patients.
It could be a referral.
Yep.
And that's okay.
But you found them a solutionand I think that's important for
people to realize is.
(16:34):
Handling those difficultsituations.
You may not keep every patient,but guess what?
You found them the solution, soyou are going to be somebody
they refer to.
Yeah.
There's still a win-winsomewhere down the line for the
practice, so sometimes we haveto remember that.
I think when we're looking forall of our communication factors
to build those relationships,sometimes the building of the
(16:54):
strong relationship may not beeven someone you treated.
Dr. Michael Perusich (16:58):
And I'll give you a great example.
We had a, a grumpy old guy onetime, and I don't remember what
the condition was or anything,but
Marisa Mateja (17:04):
I think we had multiple grumpy old men.
Dr. Michael Perusich (17:05):
Yeah, probably.
And he just, he didn't wanna bethere, which, I understood.
And he didn't wanna go throughcare.
He didn't really have anythingto do necessarily with, he
didn't believe in it.
He just didn't want to do it.
And so I said, you know what andyou mimicked this at the front
desk.
We told him, you know what?
That's not a problem at all.
(17:27):
You know what's going on.
You know what your options arenow.
So if you want to think aboutit, if you don't wanna do it,
whatever.
If you wanna call us down theroad, that's totally fine.
And the guy left, we nevertreated him, and he referred
probably 20 patients into us.
And I saw him out in thecommunity one day and I said,
Hey, I just want to thank youfor the referrals, but.
(17:47):
Explain.
I never treated you.
You never knew what kind ofoutcomes we get for people.
You know what he said?
He said, you're the only peoplethat ever listened to me.
Marisa Mateja (17:57):
Yeah.
Dr. Michael Perusich (17:58):
And I just appreciated it.
Marisa Mateja (18:00):
It's amazing when you just stop and, you mentioned
something earlier aboutdistractions.
And I think that we're alldistracted anymore by the little
block that we carry around withus called the cell phone.
So I think we have, I dunno
Dr. Michael Perusich (18:15):
what you're talking about.
Marisa Mateja (18:16):
I think we have to be careful in our practices
to not let those kind of thingsbe seen by patients either, I
still think it's important tomake sure, we used to get text
messages on a phone up front, acell phone, and I would always
make sure a patient knew, justone second.
This is a patient messaging.
Let me, finish with this realfast.
(18:37):
I didn't want them to ever feellike I wasn't there for them
because I was doing somethingpersonal.
I.
Dr. Michael Perusich (18:44):
Right.
Marisa Mateja (18:44):
You always want 'em to make sure that they know
you are handling something forthe practice and those kind of
things.
I think it's important for themto see those things and
understand that sometimes eventhough those phones can be
distractions and those kind ofthings, it could be that you are
actually giving good listeningskills to a different patient at
the time.
Dr. Michael Perusich (19:05):
Exactly.
Exactly.
So this is all great stuff.
We need to take another break,but when we come back, Marisa, I
want to talk a little bit abouthow do we train and develop our
team into being this highlyeffective, personable
relationship buildingcommunication machine.
So we're talking aboutcommunication and we'll be right
(19:27):
back.
Kats Consultants (19:33):
Kats 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 (20:00):
Welcome back to the KC ChiroPulse
podcast.
We're talking about utilizingcommunication in an effective
way, active listening way, sothat we build strong patient
relationships.
And we said when we came backfrom the break, that we were
gonna talk a little bit abouthow do we train and develop our
team to be this amazingcommunication machine.
Marisa Mateja (20:21):
I will say this, I hear a lot we've always done
it this way, so it's fine.
And
Dr. Michael Perusich (20:25):
It's my favorite thing.
Marisa Mateja (20:26):
I know, right?
So one of the things thatbothers me with that is if you
have that mindset or you have astaff person that has that
mindset, the problem with thatis you're never gonna be able to
grow properly because.
You have to have the mindsetthat you are always learning,
you're always evolving, you'realways looking for ways to be
(20:50):
more efficient.
You are looking for how doestechnology help our practice?
I don't know how many times Ihear doctors say oh, I do not
wanna use a computer.
Oh, I don't want to.
There are so many good tools tohelp your practice, and if you
are closed off to those things,I'm just saying you're missing.
(21:10):
Some of the opportunities thatmay lie in front of you, and
growth is one of those things.
So we have to be open tocontinuous learning to help us
continuously grow.
And I think that's important.
I know in our practice we wereconstantly doing things like
rearranging the clinic orwhatever to see can we be more
efficient if we do this?
(21:30):
Yeah, we add a kiosk to thefront for, patients just to sign
in.
I saw this happen at a hospitalthe other day.
I went in for some lab work, andin their diagnostic imaging, you
walk in and the first thing youdo is you type in your phone
number and that's how you're.
Put in queue, basically.
Sure.
And then you get called to thefront desk to talk about
(21:53):
anything that you might need to,but you're already in queue.
You're already, the people inthe back already know you're
there.
They're already working to getyou in and get you seen.
So there's just.
Tools out there that I think wehave to remember can help the
practice.
And help you be more efficientin everything you do.
So learning is, number one, islearning what's out there, what
(22:16):
do you have that you can,become.
Better at, are you reading allthe industry publications?
Are you watching podcasts?
Are working with the managementteam?
Are what are you doing to helpnot only yourself, but your cas?
Dr. Michael Perusich (22:31):
And you can't do a lot of this by your,
just by yourself.
You've gotta have opportunitiesto plug into tools and things
and coaching and mentors and youknow it.
And I'll give us a shamelessplug.
That's one of the things that wedo at Kats Consultants is we
really help train teams on thisgood, effective, proper
communication to build thosepatient relationships.
But there are a lot ofopportunities out there too.
(22:52):
Just taking your team out oncein a while to.
A high-end department store, forexample, and just paying
attention to the customerservice they deliver and how are
they talking to their patronsand what are the kinds of things
are they saying?
And you pick up a lot of goodtools when you do that.
Pay attention to when you go toa restaurant, how are the
(23:13):
servers, are they reallycommunicative?
Are they really diving intowhat.
What maybe is on the menu thatmight interest you and those
kind of things.
So you can pick up a lot ofreally good tools.
Banks are great too.
Just by paying attention in yourcommunity to other companies and
businesses, and then.
You can plug into to books oncommunication and do an office
(23:37):
read, for example.
Maybe you find a great book andtogether you read it and you
talk about it in your weeklystaff meetings.
Those are great ways to justcontinue that learning process
all the time and then practice.
A lot of this requires.
Role playing in practice.
If you have scripts, great.
Use them to learn, but make surethey're not being read over the
(23:59):
phone because that pulls youback into that mechanical
aspect.
And, patients are like dogs whopick up on fear.
Patients understand when you'renot being genuine in your
communication, and they cansense it even over the phone.
So you have to make sure thatyou're really practicing these
kind of things and alwaysworking towards that mastery.
Of the process so that you getbetter and better over time.
Marisa Mateja (24:22):
Absolutely.
And everything that you dothrough continuous learning
helps build strongerrelationships with your
patients.
Because the more you train yourcas, the longer they're gonna
stay with you, the moreconnections they're gonna make.
All of these things tietogether.
It's one big, full circle backto the practice in a positive
way.
Dr. Michael Perusich (24:41):
Very much very much Marisa, I think we've
covered this topic incrediblywell.
Yeah, I know there's a lot ofdoctors out there that really
could use some assistance withthis.
So go and check usout@Katsconsultants.com and see
all the great things that we'redoing for doctors.
One of the things that we do.
I almost said do.
One of the things that we do iswe do complimentary
consultations for doctors.
(25:02):
If you wanna jump on ourschedules when you go to cats
consultants.com, you can see mycalendar, you can see Marisa's
calendar, jump on our schedule,let's talk about your practice.
What's going on?
How might we be able to plug inand help you with some of the
resources that, that we offerthrough our consulting and
coaching.
Marisa Mateja (25:18):
Absolutely.
There's just a little button atthe top that says, let's chat.
That's all you have to do isclick that and you can pick one
of us to chat with.
Yes,
Dr. Michael Perusic (25:25):
absolutely.
So it's very
Marisa Mateja (25:26):
easy,
Dr. Michael Perusich (25:27):
no reason not to do it.
But in the meantime, weappreciate all of you listening
to the podcast.
We have grown like crazy andthat's because of you out, you
listeners out there.
So remember to subscribe, share,let everybody know that this is
a great podcast to tune intobecause we're talking about the
business principles of makingyour practice successful.
Marisa, anything to add?
Marisa Mateja (25:48):
No, I think that's great.
Just get out there and buildthose strong relationships.
Dr. Michael Perusich (25:51):
Awesome.
All right, everybody.
On behalf of Kats Consultantsand Chiro Health USA, we
appreciate you tuning into theKC ChiroPulse Podcast.
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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