With a new technology such as the Disc-Ease decompression table, protect your existing practice by keeping the new treatment separate from the rest of the existing practice.

According to doctor surveys we have conducted, nearly 3% of chiropractors now offer some form of decompression.

Chiropractic has always been viewed with suspicion by the medical community and the insurance industry in general. Due to this unfortunate reality, as the popularity of decompression in the chiropractic profession has grown, so too have movements to restrict and prevent its expansion. These include legal action against doctors, ACN prohibiting its use, and Blue Cross in Kansas setting reimbursement at $19 per visit.

Decompression marketing works because it is a new technology, not because it's decompression. The problem decompression might face in the future is that decompression is not a generic name like "back therapy." Decompression is a procedure that might be challenged if not enough research is available to verify it actually achieves decompression. I believe that one should promote the technology without necessarily labeling it as decompression. If the technology is making people "more well," then the profession should continue to offer the technology. However, if there is going to be a challenge to whether or not you can prove "decompression," then it makes sense to refer to the technology by another term.

So what do you call it? For my clients, we have packaged all of our advertising around our trademarked name of "Spinal Rejuvenation Therapy," since it is not a procedure or claim but simply new technology. This marketing concept can be applied to any table you are using.

The technology gives people results, so to abandon the technology over former rhetoric isn't logical. Make sure you describe the technology as a new technology instead of a procedure, as we have done.

Marketing the Technology

Marketing to the Raw Public

Marketing to potential patients is a little more complicated and potentially more costly. People don't rush to be the first in line when it comes to brand-new technology. If they don't know someone else who already tried it and swear by it, then they usually will not try it. When laser therapy for vision correction was first introduced, most waited for others to undergo the procedure before they would be willing to try it. No one wanted to take the risk of going blind.

Lectures, seminars, and workshops bring people together to learn more about a new technology without cost or obligation; these can be inexpensive and effective. You can do these at your practice at night, or at the local library or bookstore.

Articles, newspaper inserts, editorials, and fliers in the newspaper are effective if the cost-to-benefit ratio are low. Radio and TV ads can be effective as well. Instead of trying to "reinvent the wheel," seek ads with a proven track record so you don't risk your capital; let others' past mistakes ensure that you are spending money only on ads that have proven effective in the past. There is no sense guessing.

I designed 15 marketing strategies so that a doctor could have a diversity of ways to get new patients. My favorite methods are those that cost nothing but bring a few new patients per month. If a doctor uses four or five methods that cost nothing and each bring three or four new patients, you can keep busy without high overhead. You need to consider what best fits your philosophy and practice.

Because "new technology" does not carry the same, sometimes-negative image associated with chiropractic as the result of false and malicious articles, television programs, and radio programs, potential patients may respond much more enthusiastically to a "new" technology. This gives you a shot at opening potential patients' minds who had closed them to the notion of chiropractic care. They say no one really changes their mind after they say "no" to something. So, you must find a way to offer something different than a potential patient had already said "no" to in their minds. Offering a "new technique" fills that role.

The most cost-effective way to attract new patients to your new technology is through referrals, but they must experience it before they can refer it, obviously. Thus, as more patients experience the new technology, more will spread the word. You can do this via showing them, treating them, or by giving them CDs or literature.

Reactivating Inactive Patients

After arming your active patients with information on your "cool" new technology, it's time to address your inactive patients. New technology—whether it's diagnostic or therapeutic—can be a great marketing vehicle to bring old patients back. If you have inactive patients who didn't believe your previous techniques were helping them enough, obviously they won't return for the "same old treatment." However, if you have an alternative technology, you may be able to get them back to try your new offering. Maybe this "new" technique can make office visits worth it.

Avoiding Problems

When you introduce any new technique or product to your practice, you risk messing things up that are already working in your practice if you don't do it right. For instance, if you add a physical therapy element to your practice incorrectly, people may stop getting adjusted. Add it correctly, and it advances your practice.

With a new technology or technique, protect your existing practice by keeping the new treatment separate from the rest of the existing practice. You can achieve this through separate hours, functions, delivery, and marketing efforts. Instead of your new ad featuring your past offering and your new technology, make a separate campaign featuring only your new offerings. In other words, rather than change something you do, add the new product or service at separate times of the day or on different days altogether. Keep the components completely separate until you know all the possible ramifications.

For more on decompression, check out our July 2007 article titled "R&D Report: The P-SRT (Spinal Rejuvenation Table)."

Let's say that you already have an insurance practice but want to now form a cash practice. If you try to switch everyone over to pay cash, like the flip of a switch, you will find yourself in a bad place. But you could do an entirely different campaign to new patients and sign each on a cash basis. Until you get the process refined, only offer the cash program to the new patients. Regardless of how it goes initially, you will not have damaged the rest of your practice in the meantime. The same goes for adding new technology. Protect the rest of your practice by "experimenting" with your new element while it is not attached to the rest of your practice.

David Singer, DC, founded his consulting company in 1981. He developed the Singer Spinal Rejuvenation Therapy Marketing Program for Disc-Ease LLC, the company that offers the Pettibon Spinal Rejuvenation Table (P-SRT). Contact him at (727) 443-7008 or visit www.disc-ease.info.