Promoting healthy habits can improve your patients’health, satisfy insurance companies, and increase referrals and your patient base

Two of the biggest challenges that chiropractors face in their practices are keeping their patients healthy and getting insurance companies to pay for treatment. Both insurance companies and patients want to see results. There is a way to placate insurance companies while improving your patients’ health—by encouraging your patients to adopt healthier habits. Encouraging them to make their lifestyles healthier can be a win-win situation for you and your patients.

Traditionally, chiropractors have monitored progress based on the reduction of pain. However, insurance companies care less about pain, and they pay based on results. and want to see outcomes that show your treatment is working. The more specific you can be about the benefits of your care, the more likely it is that insurance companies will reimburse you.

Insurance companies are especially concerned with patients’ abilities to perform activities of daily living (ADL), such as the ability to work, dress themselves, drive a car, or picking up their children. An insurance company wants to see that a patient’s ADL score has improved because it gives them more quantifiable information than simply saying that a patient’s pain has been reduced.

Adjustments alone will not be enough to change your patients’ total body health. If you ignore your patients’ diet and exercise habits, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage because unhealthy lifestyles could be compromising the benefits of chiropractic care. Not only will this disadvantage affect your chances of being paid by an insurance company, it will have a negative impact on your patients’ health.

Fast-Food Nation?
In the United States, obesity is on track to replace tobacco use as the leading cause of preventable death. More than half of American adults are obese or overweight, and even children suffer from weight-related health problems. Our nation is in the midst of a health crisis, adrift in a sea of information about diet, much of which is contradictory or confusing.

Chiropractors are in an excellent position to help patients adopt healthier ways of life because we treat the whole body, not just symptoms. Adjustments are only one aspect of good health—proper nutrition and exercise must also be considered. Loss of excess weight can help alleviate stress on the spine and joints. A nutritious diet means strong bones and a healthy immune system. Exercise improves overall health, increases strength, and makes patients less prone to injury and illness.

Are you making total body health a priority in your practice? When you meet with your patients, do you ask about their general health? Do you weigh patients when they come in? Do you help them set long-term health goals? Most importantly, is your treatment focused on outcomes or pain?

If you offer nutritional products or supplements, use them as an opportunity to ask your patients about their diet. If you cannot answer all of your patients’ questions on diet and nutrition, make sure that you are able to refer them to someone who can, such as a nutritionist, a local health food store, or even a Web site or book.

Exercise can provide more immediate benefits to your patients’ health in conjunction with your care. If your patients have come to you with pain and/or injury, start them off slowly with rehabilitative exercises. Rehab systems that provide variable resistance from surgical-grade rubber tubing can be both a cost-effective way for you to bring rehab into your practice and a low-impact way for your patients to begin exercising.

If your patients suffer from postural problems, check them from head to toe. One of the most commonly overlooked locations for bad posture is in the feet. Ensure that their bodies are properly balanced and supported before they begin an exercise program. As your patients progress, you can help them find a program that is right for them.

The most beneficial exercise programs combine cardiovascular exercise and strength training. The best exercise targets ADLs patients need to improve. Tell patients to include exercise by performing such physical activities as taking walks in their neighborhoods, mowing their lawns, or raking leaves. Demonstrate the correct way to perform the activity, then document the progress made.

Healthy Habit Tips
It is easy to say that promoting healthy habits to your patients is a good idea. But in the busy day-to-day existence of your practice, it may be hard to find the time to instruct each patient about good long-term health. I have found that the following tips make it easier to educate patients on good health without taking away from the time needed for adjusting.

• Be a good health role model. Do you follow your own advice by eating right and exercising? You can be your practice’s best advertisement for the benefits of chiropractic care and healthful living.

• Build a network of experts. If you do not have the time or expertise to talk to your patients about diet and exercise, then you can build a relationship with other people who can. Have a nutritionist, a personal trainer, or even a health-food store where you can refer patients for more information. Ask a local health club if they will discount memberships for your patients.

• Use sensitivity when discussing a patient’s weight. Weight is a very touchy issue for many people, and you do not want to lose the person as a patient. Make it clear that you are advising them to lose weight in order to improve their overall health, which is not the same as losing weight for cosmetic reasons. Tell patients that they have already made a step toward a healthier life by choosing chiropractic care.

• Offer health care classes. Holding a class on a specific health-related topic can be a great way to educate patients without taking away from their treatment time. Some good potential topics are, “Exercises for People with Arthritis,” “How Rehab Can Improve Your Performance,” and “Weight Loss for Life.”

• Put exercise and nutritional information in your newsletter or Web site. Next time you are searching for information to include in your newsletter, why not use a favorite healthful recipe or an article on the benefits of walking? You can also direct your patients to diet and exercise information on your Web site.

Jeffrey D. Olsen, DC, is a summa cum laude graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic. He has been in private practice in Roanoke, Va, with his two partners/brothers since 1997. Olsen has also instructed as an adjunct faculty member at the College of Health Sciences in Roanoke, teaching anatomy and physiology in the Physician Assistant Department. He can be reached at (800) 553-4860.