Hire employees who have a genuine passion for chiropractic

As chiropractors, we sometimes focus on the latest practice-building technique or the newest gadget, and we forget that our biggest resource is our staff. You may be the best chiropractor in town, but if your employees are surly or incompetent, your patients will not enjoy coming to your practice. On the other hand, if your staff is friendly, knowledgeable about chiropractic, and knows how to reinforce your recommendations, your patients will love coming in for care. Chiropractors should borrow a principle from Fortune 500 companies and make an investment in their human capital.

Hiring the Right People
Creating a great chiropractic team starts with hiring the right people. Most chiropractors hire their staff through newspaper ads, but I have found some of my best CAs by asking my patients for referrals. The first thing that you should look for in a potential employee is someone who has had a very positive experience with chiropractic. Your employees are representatives of your practice, and you want them to be as enthusiastic about chiropractic as you are. If they or a member of their family has been helped by chiropractic, they will be better able to explain the benefits of chiropractic care to your patients.

When looking for a CA, you should look for someone who has a positive energy and the ability to make people feel welcome and comfortable in a professional manner. No matter what the employee’s job duties will be, you want to look for someone who is friendly and people-oriented. It is important to think about how the prospective employee will fit in with you and the rest of your staff. Also try to match your CA to the type of practice you have. If you are a sports doctor who sees athletes, you would want a high-energy person who can demonstrate rehab. If your practice is more family-oriented, someone who is warm, patient, and good with children would be a better fit.

When you are interviewing applicants, present them with real-life scenarios from your practice. Getting their gut-level reactions to a particular situation will help you decide if they are the right person for the job. If you are interviewing front-desk CAs, ask them what they would do when a patient’s insurance won’t cover their bill. Even though your office may have scripts on how to handle certain situations, you need to know if the applicant is comfortable broaching the subject of payment of several hundred dollars with patients. If you are interviewing someone who will be responsible for billing, ask how he or she would contact the patient’s insurance carrier to verify coverage. If the applicant will be handling therapies and assisting patients with rehab, you may be discussing more protocol-specific concepts and asking if he or she is familiar with the equipment you use.

When it comes to building a great team, attitude is everything. When you’re hiring a new employee, it’s great to find someone who has experience, but it is even better to find a person with a genuine passion for chiropractic. If you find someone with enthusiasm and a positive attitude, make a commitment to train him or her properly. Once you provide this person with the right training, you will have a valuable employee who is an asset to your practice.

Your own attitude is equally crucial to building your team and your practice. You set the tone for the rest of your staff, so if you’re negative, your staff will probably be unhappy and unsatisfied. But if you are positive and team-oriented, it will have a beneficial impact on your staff. You need to treat your staff just as well as you treat your patients. You wouldn’t yell at or berate your patients, and you shouldn’t treat your staff that way, either. If you want to retain the best employees, then treat them kindly and respectfully. If you don’t appreciate your employees, they will move on to jobs where they will be valued.

Training for Success
The majority of chiropractors fail to take the time to sufficiently train their staff. Chiropractic offices are different from other professional health care offices because dental assistants, x-ray technicians, and medical assistants all have defined, accredited licensing programs. CAs only have certification programs, which are underused by our profession, and most people who apply to work at a chiropractor’s office are not certified.

When you first hire a new employee, set aside several hours each day for the first week so you can thoroughly train him or her. Go over technical things such as how to use the computer software, telephones, and copy machine. Walk through the office with the new employee, showing him or her all the exits and explaining all the different uses of the equipment in each room. Clearly communicate your expectations regarding dress, punctuality, and additional job duties such as wiping down the equipment and vacuuming. The more guidance you provide new employees, the better off they will be.

A job manual can help you successfully guide and train your staff. This manual should include information about chiropractic, information about your practice, and any scripts that you have. Make sure that your employees know the benefits of chiropractic care and why you adjust the spine. Your employees also need to know facts such as which chiropractic college you graduated from, and what techniques you use and why. You can’t be with your employees all the time, and your patients may ask your staff questions that they don’t feel comfortable asking you. If a potential patient asks your CA, “Why do I need chiropractic care?”, you don’t want your CA to reply, “I don’t know.”

Scripts are also an important part of training your CA. You should create scripts for common scenarios that your staff members have to experience, such as setting up appointments with prospective patients, verifying insurance coverage, and calling patients who have missed appointments. As your employees gain experience, they may not need to stick to a script. However, scripts will help provide your new employees with the information they need to deal with patients and insurance companies. Scripts also help your staff feel more prepared to handle difficult situations.

If you sell any adjunct products, your job manual should explain the benefits of these products. The best way for your employees to understand why you offer a specific adjunct product is to let them experience the product for themselves. If a patient asks your CA, “Why do I need custom-made orthotics?”, you want your CA to be able to say, “I love my orthotics! They’ve helped so much with my back pain.” Think how much more motivating that statement would be to your patients than if the CA had replied, “Because the doctor says so.”

Becoming a Great Team
Ongoing training can make the difference between an OK team and a great one. You should strive to continuously train and motivate your employees. Taking your employees to a seminar is an easy way to continue educating them. Some companies offer seminar topics or reduced prices for CAs. Attending a seminar will help your staff better understand what you do and make them feel like valued members of your team.

Another way to improve your staff and keep them motivated is to set goals for them. Many doctors set goals for their practices, but setting job-specific goals for your employees can work even better. For example, your front-desk CA’s goal could be to make a certain number of calls each week to reactivate patients. You could also give your employees an incentive by offering them a performance bonus when they reach their goal. This bonus could be monetary, or it could be an extra vacation day or a gift certificate.

According to the US Department of Commerce, there were 34,359 chiropractic offices with 112,367 paid employees (who were not DCs) in the United States in 2002.1 On average, each practice had 3.2 staff members.¹ These staff members can be either a huge detriment or a great asset to your practice. Investing in your human capital may take time, effort, and money, but in the end, your patients and practice will benefit tremendously. CP

Mark N. Charrette, DC, is a 1980 summa cum laude graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic. He has lectured extensively on spinal and extremity adjusting throughout the United States, Europe, the Far East, and Australia. He received a bachelor’s degree in 1976 from Illinois State University (summa cum laude), where he was an NCAA All-American in 1974.

Reference
1. US Department of Commerce. Economic Census for Ambulatory Health Care Services: 2002. Economic Census Health Care and Social Assistance Industry Series. Washington DC: 2004. Publication Ec02-621-01.