Do you feel like you give great clinical care, but then sometimes patients don’t end up sticking with care and it feels really frustrating because you feel like, Oh, I could so help them if they only stuck with care. So welcome.
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Do you feel like you give great clinical care, but then sometimes patients don’t end up sticking with care and it feels really frustrating because you feel like, Oh, I could so help them if they only stuck with care. So welcome. This is Chen Yen, six and seven figure practice make-over mentor at introvertedvisionary.com. Your host for our AAC live show here today. And so let me give you the number one most practical tip that you can use to help with retention, whether with your own patients or your associates practices, because maybe you’re, you’re actually pretty busy, but then you have an associate and you would like them to stay busy. Have you ever thought about this with, with retention? That if you are actually, um, if your patients don’t really understand why they should stick with it and they drop off care, it’s almost like, like, uh, not helping them fully.
It’s also, uh, something where if you’re feeling like I’m not consistent enough with patients, then it’s a leak. It’s like you bring in patients on Linden and then on the other end, they end up not coming back to the extent that you could really help them. So this is a number one practical tip that you can use right away is to think about these three key things. Number one is that patients need, and then I’m going to give you a specific strategy you could use in, in specific, um, thing that even a template that you could, you could use right away in your practice to increase retention. So then, um, three things. Number one is that patients need to understand if they’re not actually understanding why the care is helpful for them and why to stick with it, especially with the number of treatments many times with, with acupuncture could take, then they’re not going to actually stick with it as well. The second thing is to remind them, because even if they do understand, and they’re not reminded of it, they might not actually understand it fully because for you, it’s, it’s something that
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For you. It’s something that is, uh, you know, you get, get it clinically. But then for someone who, who is brand new to what you’re doing for them, they don’t really, uh, always understand things clinically. So it’s up to you to remind them and educate, continue to educate in each visit so that they will actually, uh, understand what you’re, how you’re helping them and why it’s important to come back. The number three to think about is to make it really easy to book an appointment. Again, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from acupuncturist where it’s like, Oh, would you like to book it your next appointment? And then if someone says, no, I’ll just wait until next time. Well then they don’t end up booking, right? I mean, I’ll just wait until I, I fig figure out my schedule and then I’ll call you and then do they have ended up calling?
Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t. So how can you make it easy for them to book, for example, what are you saying right then? And there at the end of the appointment, are you actually saying, let’s get you scheduled notice. Even the tone of that is different than would you like to get book your next appointment? When would, when would you like to book your next appointment? Like that is not taking leadership of, of recommending what, what would be best for them? Because people are looking up to you for guidance. People are looking up to you as their acupuncturist to, to tell them what would be best for them. So those are three quick things to think about. Now, let me share with you specific strategy that my clients have used that have helped them double the retention rate in this Cub. So this, this retention piece comes from the fifth step of the consistent patients formula for introverts.
So as far as the, uh, practical tip related to this is one at the beginning of the visit, what do you do? Uh, do you always have an, a short, a very short intake form that they fill out very brief, just literally three questions and that, and what are they? So the first question is something more about, um, what what’s been happening since the last visit and the reason why you would want them to, to actually take a moment and write this down. Cause I, I hear from some acupuncture loads, do I really need to do this? I ask these things during the visit, or I, I actually diagnosed them during the visit and, and they it’s pretty obvious. And then I’d talked to them about it. There’s something about, um, patients taking that moment and writing down, reflecting on the progress that they’ve made.
Have you ever had people who, who have actually made great progress and they don’t seem to remember it? So this is why it’s important to do this. So the first question is the first thing is describe what’s been happening since your last visit. Um, and then with, with what you originally came in for, by the way, I’ll make sure that you get this template. If you want to just PM me and I’ll make sure you get this progress assessment form template. So the second, um, thing to have on there, actually. So I mentioned having three things, I’m gonna give you four things, but, um, the, the second one kind of ties into the first one. So the, the second one is to share any improvements you’ve noticed. So first they describe what’s been happening since the last visit. And then the second thing they share is, is the improvements that you’ve noticed.
Then the third thing is something that measures their, um, feeling of progress, right? So for example, if it is pain level, then, then you could say, what is your X level on a scale of one through 10? So what’s your, what’s your pain level on a scale of one through 10, and then they actually read it. Then the fourth question is, and this is the most powerful question. What it, what, what are your top three most frustrating health issues right now? What are your top three most frustrating health issues right now? And why is this so powerful? Because have you ever had people who came to you for one thing, but they didn’t even realize you could help them with other things? Well, this helps them have a moment to write down those things that are actually bothering them right now in this moment. And some of those things, they might not even have thought that you could even help them with.
So then during the visit, you can bring this up, you can say, okay, I noticed that this has been happening for you. And then you’ve mentioned that you’ve been having these issues. Tell me more about that. So that helps you to be able to have, um, a conversation with them about what’s most pressing for them right now. And again, you know, I get the question well, uh, from acupuncture sometimes like, well, do I really need to have them fill this out ahead of time? And the answer is yes, because, um, they w that’s where you end up having that opportunity to,
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So they need to be able to have that moment to actually reflect on their progress. And literally, how can these this be done logistically? Is that before they actually have their visit with you, they would actually fill this out, just this, you know, three or four quick questions out in the waiting area, like on a half sheet of paper, or if you are doing this in EHR, you could end up having, um, like a, a kind of like an iPod thing and iPod iPad, and then have them fill out the answers to this. And, uh, the finally the final tip I wanted to give you is that at the end of the visit, are you also giving context and also same thing at the beginning of the visit? So perhaps you could say, okay, last time we worked on this, this time we’re going to work on this or this I’m going to focus more on this.
And then at the end of the visit, acknowledge the progress they’ve made. For example, I have, um, a craniosacral therapist I’ve seen and, uh, she’s so good at this. You know, after every visit, she says, what got you? Or what some version of this, right? Like, Oh, you look like you’re glowing. You look so vibrant. You know? So then I feel really good at the end of the visit. Right? And she reinforces that for me. So if you see visibly that your patients look more relaxed or they just seem more, more like they’re in the flow or in a goal, it glowing, then, then recognize them for that. And then say, this time we focused on this and next time we’re going to work on this, you know, something like that. Right. So, uh, and I know that as, as a clinician, as an acupuncturist, you are already good with diagnosing things and you feel like, Oh, I don’t, you know, I probably don’t need this thing.
It’s not like I need them to tell me that this such and such is wrong. Sometimes, you know, you do a pulse, I’ll tell him and you, you know, exactly what’s going on. But when patients are bought into the idea of what you’re doing for them, when they understand, when they can actually see that they’re making progress, when they are actually feeling better and you are acknowledging that they are feeling better, they feel more excited about their care and they’re going to actually stick with it. And they see a context to, okay, this is what I need to do. Um, like continue on. And this is, this is what you’re going to do for me next time. And then as a quick reminder at the end of the appointment then mentioned, okay, let’s get you in the calendar for the next appointment. Let me see here.
I have such and such a for such and such date. Right? So, so there’s none of this, this kind of thing like, Oh, would you like to book an appointment, the right kind of tone, but rather an assertive, a tone of you knowing what’s best for the patient and you’re in terms of your recommendation and then giving it confidently and getting it on the calendar. So with that, I love to see you comment below. What did you find helpful most helpful about this? What’s one practical tip that you can use. And then go ahead and PME, go ahead and click on my name there and then private message me. And I’m more than happy to give you that template that, um, that I gave you in terms of the progress assessment form. There’s also a script that goes along with it in terms of what to say to, so that way you can actually benefit and help your patients get to the best outcomes as possible when they stick with care.
And they’ll appreciate you for it also when, when they get better care. And then when they’re also actually getting better results as a result of that, then they’re going to refer more to, and your practice will be full, or your practice we’ll get into more of the snowball effect and you’re going to help more and more people. So with that for more six and seven figure, practice, makeover tips, go to introverted, visionary.com. And if you’re struggling right now and feeling like you’re at a plateau, um, you, and you just know you’re capable of so much more, you’re meant to help people who, who really need you then feel free to reach out on our website and happy to give you insight into your situation, how it can help you. So that till next time.