Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor

Chiropractors get a dose of business, practice management savvy at recent business forum

Mari-Len De   

Features Business Management

June 16, 2014 – When it comes to social media use, chiropractors should err on the side of caution or risk legal and regulatory repercussions.

Toronto lawyer Allan Freedman issued this caution at a panel discussion on social media during the second annual Canadian Chiropractor Business and Professional Growth Forum, held at McMaster Innovation Park in Hamilton, Ont., on June 14, hosted by Canadian Chiropractor Magazine.

“Be careful, be careful, be careful,” Freedman said, pointing out that
as regulated health professionals, it is difficult to separate the
chiropractor from the person, especially when it comes to social media
conduct.

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Social media has become one of the biggest
phenomena of this decade and a great tool for professionals and
businesses to reach their audience. However, as regulated health-care
professionals, chiropractors have a responsibility to conduct themselves
in a professional manner, at all times, Freedman said.

Joining
Freedman in the panel discussion on social media were chiropractors Dr.
Ashley Worobec and Dr. Anthony Lombardi, and Rob Lindsay,
vice-president of Search Engine People Inc., a digital marketing firm.

Worobec
uses her own blog, Twitter and Facebook pages to reach out to her
audience and advance her chiropractic practice. Lombardi makes use of
Twitter and YouTube to connect with his audience and promote his
practice.

Both Worobec and Lombardi admit their social
media efforts seldom directly lead to new patients and referrals, but it
has been a good way to raise their profile as chiropractors and experts
in their fields.

Lindsay notes when engaging in social
media, chiropractors need to provide quality, useful content for their
audience on topics that they are an authority at. Original content is
always a great way to earn the trust of your audience, and to increase
one’s search rating in the eyes of Google. If using content from another
source, remember to quote the content and attribute the excerpt to the
source of the content.

Attendees to the Canadian
Chiropractor Business and Professional Growth Forum also got some
practical tips from veteran chiropractor Dr. David Leprich. Leprich
discussed some strategies on how to develop long-term relationships that
will sustain the chiropractic practice – such as holding “safety talks”
at various organizations within the community and free health
information sessions for the community.

Leprich says the
most important thing for a chiropractor is to “get out there” and
interact with the community and develop relationships.

Forum
attendees also got some business management best practices from
Lombardi, who emphasized the importance of having a system in place that
provides the framework for the chiropractic practice.

He
says whatever system the chiropractor adapts, they need to be
consistent to achieve practice excellence. For Lombardi, his system
involves providing “outstanding patient results” within the first two
visits. He says it’s crucial that patients get immediate results from
their initial visits because that can make or break the chiropractor’s
ability to keep their patients and will open the doors for new patient
referrals.

Lawyer Allan Freedman discussed risk
management for chiropractors. He says as regulated health-care
professionals, chiropractors need to be aware of all the rules and
regulations that may apply to them and their practice, including privacy
laws, occupational health and safety laws and Regulated Health
Professions Act, just to name a few.

Sometimes it’s easy
to overlook the risk management side of the practice, and Freedman said
that could potentially end up costing a chiropractor in the long run.
It is important to always be aware, ask the questions and seek
professional advice, he said.

When it comes to risk management, Freedman said, “hope for the best, plan for the worst, expect the unexpected.”


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