There's no doubt that patient education has changed for the better in the 21st century. Fortunately, many of the older methods like posters and pamphlets still work. The first high-tech patient-education products were lighted nerve chart/anatomy demonstrators, which showed up as early as the 1920s. Visual Odyssey modernized and synchronized these charts in the 1970s, and that system, called the Neuropatholator (updated in 2005), is still invitingly interactive today.

Initially, these types of chart systems were primarily used in the report of findings.

An interesting development is that now, chiropractors have discovered that high-traffic areas like adjustment rooms and hallways allow more opportunities for patient acquisition and compliance.

Obviously, posters in the hall are effective. People are magnetically attracted to buttons, though, and will push them all day as long as they learn about the short- and long-term consequences of the subluxation.

Many chiropractors like to use videos first popularized in the '70s by Renaissance. Lighted chart systems often become the focal point for talks, group reports, or even spinal screenings.

As proven over the last 3 decades, the lights and switches will enlighten patients and audiences reliably because they were designed to last. According to happy owners, most units built in the early '80s have not needed any replacement bulbs, even though they get used many times every day.

Another interactive patient-education tool that has been successfully used is the lecture flip chart. Reggie Gold, DC, was a pioneer of the flip chart for chiropractic. Since the mid-'80s, Visual Odyssey has offered the SHO flip chart (60 pick-and-choose posters bound by a tabletop easel). Since DCs can order just the posters that help them tell their story, this has proven to be a very personal and dramatic way to present chiropractic to an audience.

Patient-education materials such as the Neuropatholator educate the patient and make visits a more interactive experience.

Expanded Opportunities

What's exciting for 2007, though, is that you can now set up computers in nearly every corner of the office. Computers are used for notes, diagnostics, and treatment. Computers can passively entertain and educate in the waiting room or interactively pinpoint a specific topic at the click of a mouse.

To take advantage of this technology, the DC should have a huge library of chiropractic-specific graphics and animations based on patient-lecture and report-of-findings information. Visual Odyssey has created and continuously updated such a program since 2000. Good patient-education software should have many modules so DCs only need to get the ones they want and add others later.

For spinal screenings and reports of findings, the Neuropatholator 3D has in-depth anatomy layers from England-based Primal Pictures' interactive human anatomy series. While this software has incorporated the four most patient-appropriate layers that rotate in 360°, the Interactive Spine CD is also included so you can view or grab 22 layers of information from the spine to the skin. You can target specific bones, ligaments, muscles, veins, blood vessels, and nerves.

Most recently, this comprehensive ROF module has the optional ability to take pictures of the patient with a Webcam for simple posture and range of motion. This lets patients take home a printout of themselves.

For lectures and daily discussions, there is the ability to custom create hundreds of presentations using the included images and animations. It is even possible to add up to 400 digital pictures or PowerPoint slides. In the latest version, you can even add digital videos.

Integration

Check out the patient-education section of the online Buyer's Guide.

A new development in Visual Odyssey software is how many other machines it now integrates with. Since 2001, Neuropatholator software is in every Pro-Adjuster machine. More recent custom applications and synchronizations include: a Digital Motion X-ray module, a Foot Levelers module, an Activator Methods module, a patient tutorial on chiropractic for the AquaMed water massage bed, special animations for presentations from James Chestnut, DC, and a Waiting Room Presenter for Health Visions. Another module integrates with sEMG machines like the CLA Subluxation Station. On sEMGs, it is possible to view a patient scan while demonstrating an interactive animated nerve or organ overlay simultaneously.

Computers, projectors, and monitors are getting more affordable and powerful. This makes their application into your office as a patient-education tool almost essential and unavoidable. Touch-screen monitors and wireless mice help make presentations dynamic. Here's an opportunity to turn a daily event into an experience that staff members and the DC will look forward to providing. The result is a paradigm-shifting experience for the patient that translates into greater realization, more referrals, and stronger retention.

Bruce Goldsmith is president of Visual Odyssey. Contact him at: (800) 541-4449, (770) 646-8031, , or www.neuropatholator.com.