by C.A. Wolski
For Kevin Wong, DC, spinal care begins not in the back, but with the feet. "When you’re not level, it throws everything off," he says. "If you’re rolling your feet in, you’re going to have unperceived problems all the way up to your neck."
He estimates that about 85% of patients have no perceived pain in their feet, but about the same number have excessive pronation in their feet. This condition causes them to be out of alignment and makes them have pain throughout their spine.
In fact, Wong, whose practice—Orinda Chiropractic Center—is located in Orinda, Calif, sees treating the feet as the foundation of his work as a chiropractor. He built a niche business treating foot-related ailments, which includes prescribing custom-made orthotics called Spinal Pelvic Stabilizers to help reduce spine-related problems.
This niche is so important to his practice—and his patients—that he invested in the Associate™ Platinum from Foot Levelers Inc, Roanoke, Va. The digital scanning system allows him to fit patients with the most appropriate stabilizer for their individual needs.
Digital Foundation
The Associate Platinum is a portable device that Wong says is easy to operate and is Foot Levelers’ latest advancement in digital scanning technology. "The Associate Platinum is by far the best innovation in digital scanning," he says.
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| Kevin Wong, DC, is pictured with front office receptionist Charlotte Cedillo, who also does the billing. Billing for orthotics can be handled through the Associate Platinum, making the process less complex for staff and patients. |
The Associate Platinum is easy to move, consisting of a laptop computer and a scanner unit with a glass foot plate. The scanner weighs only about 17 pounds. Wong dedicated a space for the Platinum in his office, and it is also ideal for on-the-go scans at health fairs and other community events. Once Wong enters a patient’s height, weight, age, and sex, he directs the patient to step on the glass plate where Wong proceeds to scan the patient. The scan is so fast, it takes less than 2 minutes to complete. "It’s so quick and easy to enter my patients’ information and scan them," he says.
The patient places one foot at a time on the glass foot plate, and the digital scanner slides underneath the foot, collecting information and feeding the data to the laptop. The result is a colorized image of the foot that shows the weight distribution of the patient’s three arches and areas of asymmetry. "When the patients see the picture, they’re amazed," Wong says.
Wong also has the Associate Platinum’s PostureCheck®, a postural analysis system, which is an available option with the Platinum. This option allows Wong to conduct complete postural screenings in about 5 minutes. It provides a three-dimensional view of how the patient’s foot imbalances can travel all the way up the body.
Wong uses the Associate Platinum to educate his patients about the foot-spine connection and why stabilizers might be the right choice for them. And though it is an important part of his practice, he does not push his patients—particularly those whose complaints may not appear to be related to their feet—to have an evaluation until he has built a rapport with them. "About 90% of my patients will eventually be scanned by the machine," he says. "They’ll find their way there. It just might be the first, second, or third visit."
There is no doubt in Wong’s mind that the Associate Platinum has been good for business—he purchased it outright because of its benefits to his practice.
Business Footing
The Associate Platinum does more than just give Wong a report of the patient’s need for orthotics. It goes one step further: It helps him to choose the most appropriate stabilizer for the patient. Foot Levelers offers various stabilizer options for Wong and his patients to choose from. When selecting a stabilizer, criteria such as activity level or the type of shoes the patient wears most often is considered by the Stabilizer Wizard™ technology, a feature of the Associate Platinum software. "The Platinum will give three options—good, moderate, and best for the patient," Wong says. Then, it’s up to the patient which stabilizer to order.
Wong says one of the nice things about this feature of the Associate Platinum is that it steers the patient and the practitioner to the orthotic that is best for the particular situation. Wong admits that, like most professionals who fit orthotics, he has his favorites. He is grateful for the Platinum’s objective recommendations that keep him focused on the patient’s needs and not his own orthotic preferences.
And while orthotics can range in price, Wong has no trouble keeping his pricing affordable with Foot Levelers, starting at $100 per pair.
Once the patient has chosen the orthotic, Wong sends the order instantly over the Internet through the Associate Platinum. Orders can be sent individually or in batches. Using the Associate Platinum cuts the turnaround time in half. "It used to take 3 weeks to get the orthotic," he says. "Now they have it in Virginia [at Foot Levelers’ headquarters] in a few seconds." The turnaround time is 7 to 10 days. Another selling point of the orthotics is that they have a 1- to 2-year guarantee.
Billing can also be handled through the Associate Platinum, allowing Wong to customize the invoice to include other services, making the billing process less complex for staff and patients.
The patient’s information is stored in the Associate Platinum for 24 months, which facilitates reorders.
Probably the biggest advantage the Associate Platinum gives Wong is that it makes his findings more objective. "When I put a patient on the machine, it helps validate, bolster, and support what I do," he says. "It makes me even better at what I do and gives me credibility." This is not only important for his patients—many of whom come to him specifically because they have foot-related problems—but also with payors. He has found he has an easier time getting reimbursed because of the objective proof of his findings.
Wong says having the Associate Platinum in his office has been beneficial for patients. "It has made it much easier for patients to understand why they need to have custom-molded orthotics," he says. "After seeing the asymmetries in their feet, they are educated and are usually the ones who request that I go ahead and order the orthotics."
And the Associate Platinum has also helped with the bottom line as well. "I am usually casting anywhere from five to seven pairs of orthotics per week, plus the phone reorders," Wong says. "That’s a nice residual income from internal marketing techniques. I dislike hard selling and ‘in-your-face-marketing’ techniques, so the Associate Platinum helps me explain to the patient objectively what is going on with their feet and how much they would benefit from arch support."
Like every tool, the Associate Platinum is really secondary to Wong’s own knowledge—which he has been honing for more than a decade. For instance, he recently saw a young woman, a cadet at the local police academy, who had two ankle sprains. Wong evaluated her using the Associate Platinum and determined that she has two flat feet. To alleviate her pain and show her what an orthotic could do for her, Wong taped her feet to give her a sense of what it feels like to have supported arches. The woman immediately felt better and ordered stabilizers/orthotics.
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| Kevin Wong, DC, discusses how the different colors on the digital scan relate to weight bearing in the feet. |
Changing Minds
Wong says that most of his patients will eventually be evaluated by the Associate Platinum, but it is not a requirement for care. Like any other chiropractor working today, he offers various treatments and techniques, from diversified, to Activator, to Thompson.
After evaluating his patients with the Associate Platinum, Wong has helped many of his patients improve their posture and feel better.
Education is an integral part of both the Associate Platinum’s programming and Wong’s approach to care. Once a patient is evaluated, the Associate Platinum generates a report of findings that helps educate the patient about the need for stabilizers.
Passing the Torch
Wong is passing on his knowledge and expertise about orthotics and the Associate Platinum to other chiropractic clinicians. The courses range in length from 4 to 12 hours, and deal with the evaluation and treatment of lower extremities. He also teaches an upper-extremity course. Though most of his courses are taught to audiences on the West Coast, he travels to other parts of the country to teach as well.
Earning Its Keep
The Associate Platinum comes with a price, and it is one that Wong has gladly paid.
Wong bought the Associate Platinum with PostureCheck in 2006. Today, the unit—the same model he has in his office—sells for around $1,000, meaning that it will pay for itself with only a handful of evaluations and orthotic sales. The unit comes with a 12-month money-back guarantee. Wong says that the brand name helps to sell the stabilizers to patients. "People know Foot Levelers," he explains.
What makes the Associate Platinum worth the initial outlay of capital and the dedication of precious floor space is the knowledge and understanding it brings to his patients. "If the patients and I understand each other and have a good rapport, then they will understand orthotics are a tool to feel better," Wong says. "The Associate Platinum is the gateway to that feeling."
Ironically, Wong’s goal for the Associate Platinum and the orthotics he prescribes would seem to be bad for business. "The [ultimate goal] is to keep them out of the office," he says. In other words, he wants his patients to improve their posture and not need his services.
Instead, the Associate Platinum seems to generate an endless stream of patients who need help with their foundation. "It’s a pretty amazing machine," Wong says.
C.A. Wolski is a contributing writer for Chiropractic Products. For more information, contact .
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