Review
"The Practice Builder"
Executive Editor: Alan L. Bernstein
Magazine -- 11 issues a year
See pages XX, part #J-310-C on how to order
One of the things that disturbs me most in our profession is the
garish advertising stunts we engage in to get patients. One of the
worst is the freebie gimmick. This is the one that was thought up
by some greedy, unprofessional, untalented, and probably
unsuccessful chiropractor who, in desperation, decided to find a
way to get more patients than the competition by offering something
like free x-rays. That was followed by a wave of fear among the
resident back crackers who thought they might lose the competition
for more bodies and bucks; so we are presently engaged in a circus
of sleeze and deception all aimed at increasing the number of
people seen rather than the quality of the service given.
To many of the public we have made ourselves professional jokes.
They quite correctly think that the value you place on something
reflects it worth. If you give away free exams, x-rays and/or
adjustments -- that's just what they are worth to them -- nothing.
It's too bad that state boards couldn't ban freebies so that we
could all be in the same boat and rise or fall on the value of the
service given. We should be expensive -- not cheap. We should
have the public saving their money to go to the specialists we are
rather than have them call from office to office for the best deal.
This doesn't mean, however, that we should sit in ivory towers
meditating upon the holy vows of poverty. On the contrary, we
should try to build practices large enough to see and serve as many
patients as possible consistent with quality care.
While there are practice management firms that have legitimately
helped a great many DCs build excellent practices, getting to some
of the seminars can sometimes be difficult. Doesn't it seem like a
good idea to have someone come to you with ideas instead of the
other way around?
Apparently someone has thought of this and produced a newsletter
(published 11-times-a year) called the "Practice Builder" with the
subtitle "All the ethical, effective strategies for the
professional."
Well, what they print may be ethical but some of the ideas
published lack what I feel is good taste. So what? It's not meant
to please everyone. What is presented is a potpourri of ideas used
by all manner of professionals to increase their practice size and
income. This is not a chiropractic publication. It is instead a
journal with contributions by and for chiropractors, optometrists,
dentists, medical doctors, osteopaths, veterinarians,
psychologists, CPAs, physical therapists, lawyers, and all kinds of
professionals.
This is one of the things that makes this publication so unique.
Every page gives you ideas that you can use or discard; ideas that
have been proven successful by other professionals. Everything is
covered from mailers and door-to-door pitches to TV spots and phone
messages.
Just about all the information comes from the actual experiences of
different people. It covers the good, the bad, and the hideous
with remarkable candor.
Quite honestly, I could hardly put any of the issues down. On one
page I might laugh at the stupidity of the ideas presented and on
the next read a new concept over several times so that I might use
it properly.
The "Practice Builder" is a must for anyone interested in
establishing, building, renewing or saving a practice. In honesty,
I must say that it's a neat publication.
It's also an expensive one -- but one that could pay for itself
with a single issue. At the beginning of this review I mentioned
that we should place a value on something commensurate with what we
feel is its value. The people at the "Practice Builder" are saying
to you that their publication is valuable and have put a price on
what they produce that states this belief. They're right. It's
worth every penny they ask.
RHT
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