Podcast episode (host Dr. Jeff Langmaid) reviewing the 2006 Biomed Central article "Referral Patterns and Attitudes of Primary Care Physicians towards Chiropractors." The host summarizes key findings: 87% of primary care physicians have had patients request chiropractic referral, but only 26% had formally referred to a chiropractor; common referral reasons include back/neck pain, chronic unresponsive pain, fibromyalgia and musculoskeletal conditions. The episode emphasizes the large gap between patient demand and formal PCP referral patterns, highlights opportunities for chiropractors to build interdisciplinary referral relationships, and includes sponsor mentions and calls-to-action (book, membership, show notes).
Questions this episode answers
87%
26%
2006 in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Host reports 88% indirect (informal) and 12% formal initiated referrals
8%
Welcome to the Evidence Based Chiropractor. Providing you with elegant and efficient research based content to help your practice prosper and succeed. Now get ready for a variety of dynamic communication tools designed for immediate growth courtesy of your host, Dr. Jeff Langmaid.
Hello and welcome to the Evidence Based Chiropractor. I AM your host, Dr. Jeff Langmaid. Today we're going to talk about a fantastic piece of research which gets to the heart of what we do at the Evidence Based Chiropractor. It's titled Referral Patterns and Attitudes of Primary Care Physicians towards Chiropractors. It was in Biomed Central in 2006. Before we dive in, let me say a few words as I do each and every week about Rock Tape. Rock Tape is proud to be a sponsor of the Evidence Based Chiropractor. Rock Tape offers the world's best kinesiology tape, pain relief topicals, mobility tools and functional fitness accessories. New from Rock Tape is Rocksauce Chill, a powerfully cool pain relief topical in a convenient roll on with 6% menthol, it's stronger than the freeze competition. They are more than just a tape company, they are a movement company. Learn more and get access to your medical discount by visiting Rocktape. So this week I am extremely excited about the research we are presenting because again I believe it gets to the heart of what we talk about at the Evidence Based Chiropractor. Referral patterns and attitudes of primary care physicians towards chiropractors. Before we get started, I'd like to tell you a little bit story of something that happened earlier this week that made me proud to be a chiropractor. But secondly, I think is important for us practicing chiropractors to know out there in the field. I had a dean of a major chiropractic school reach out to me and it was because he was going to be doing a talk on interdisciplinary communication and research and he knew of the Evidence Based chiropractor, he knew of myself and he wanted to reach out and kind of shoot the breeze about the best way to present that. Number one, that's extremely flattering for me to be viewed as somebody who is kind of a leader in the space of communication and research. But beyond that, I think it's more important as far as our tech conversation or context today is really for all the other chiropractors out there to know that there are. I know there's a lot of back and forth with how our education is going in chiropractic and where the profession is going. But aside from all that there are people out there that are really pushing the envelope in terms of building communication from the heart and from the standpoint of highlighting what we do as chiropractors. So that was something that I took away from that and I think we had a very productive conversation. And I certainly also tip my hat to him for making sure that his students and the alumni of that school are being presented information that's really about highlighting what we do to other care providers. So without further ado, let's dive into the research today. So we all know chiropractic care has been established as one of the most effective and safe treatment options for patients with musculoskeletal complaints and beyond. This research article found that nearly all 87% of primary care physicians have had patients request a chiropractic referral. So let me say that again. Nearly 8. Well, exactly 87% of primary care physicians had a patient request a chiropractic referral. So that means patients are asking their primary care doctors about chiropractic. That's an extremely important take home. People are interested. Yet only a fraction of those physicians have made a formal chiropractic referral, as we'll see in this study. I think from our standpoint, from our members standpoint, it's really about feeling fortunate to have referral relationships. And really the cooperation and coordination of care is important to all practices. As far as this research study goes, let's talk about a few of those numbers. 87% of primary care physicians have had a patient who requested a chiropractic referral. 26% of primary care physicians had formally referred to a chiropractor. There's a huge divide there. Almost 90% of physicians have patients asking about chiropractic care, yet only one in four had ever made a formal referral to a chiropractor. That is a sad state of affairs, but it also is a significant opportunity for those of us willing to stand up and build those bridges. The researchers found. Three quotes that I'd like to touch on today. First, they found chiropractic care was found to be one of the most frequently sought after alternative care and evinced a high level of patient satisfaction. So we are not only sought after, but the researchers would conclude that we have a high level of patient satisfaction. Secondarily, they found the common reasons for referring a patient to a chiropractor were back or neck pains, unresponsive chronic pain, fibromyalgia and musculoskeletal conditions. No big surprise there. Those Are if you listed or any poll of chiropractors what they're seeing on a daily basis, that's a preponderance. Third, they found the lack of direct formalized referral relationships between primary care physicians and chiropractors has implications for the efficiency, continuity, quality and patient safety in the healthcare delivery system. So I truly couldn't say that better myself. That is the purpose of the evidence based chiropractor is to assist those chiropractors who are interested in building referral relationships in a way to do it that's efficient, that's effective, and that ultimately serves the patient population. I think that's an important consideration here. The patient is at the center of this. It's not about gaining referrals this way, that way or the other way. It's about showcasing what we do as chirofractors and then allowing those relationships to unfold through evidence, through research, through proper communication, and through highlighting what we do with the chiropractic adjustment. Those are of course, tenets of evidence based chiropractor. Let's look at a few other stats. So these are a little bit difficult to follow when they're not in a chart format, but I'll try to do my best. They basically examined primary care to primary care. So when it's a referral within primary care and then when there's a primary care referral to a chiropractor and do you recommend patients contact the doctor directly? So an informal referral, that was when a primary care doctor is referring to another primary care doctor, that happens 1% of the time, which means that it's almost indirect. That means it's almost always a formal referral. So they only indirectly refer to another primary care doctor 1% of the time. Primary care to chiropractor, 88%. So 88% of the time it's an indirect referral to a chiropractor as opposed to 1% if it's another MDDO. Do you initiate a formal referral? Primary care to primary care 99% of the time. That makes sense. So we just reverse those numbers. Primary care to chiropractor, 12%. A sending reason for referral is included. Primary care to primary care literally 100% of the time. Primary care to chiropractor, 90%. And I have obtained clinical information via curbside consultation. So I've casually reached out to that provider essentially and asked what their thoughts are on a case. Primary care to primary care, it's happened. 97% of people responded that they have done that. And 8% of primary cares have reached out to a chiropractor to ask about things. So to me, this research really and if I didn't say this already, let me say it one more time. Referral Patterns and Attitudes of Primary Care Physicians towards Chiropractors. The title it was in Biomed Central Complementary and alternative medicine in 2006. That citation will be in the notes. I'll also take one second while I'm thinking of it right now. If you've been enjoying the podcast, if you've been listening to the podcast, please go on to Apple iTunes store, give us a review, give feedback. It helps keep us towards the top. It helps other chiropractors find this podcast and inevitably it's going to help other care providers find this podcast as well. Please leave a comment, leave a review or give five stars. If you think it suits us on Apple and itunes, I would greatly appreciate it. Additionally, if you haven't had the opportunity to pick up Marketing Chiropractic to Medical Doctors on Amazon, I would encourage you to do so. The response has been absolutely fantastic. Again, I think it has a lot of information. It really goes A to Z on how to build referral relationships. If you need extra help with that or want a little bit more done for you type service, then certainly a membership with the evidence based chiropractor that you can find@theevidencebasedchiropractor.com would be good for you. I'd be happy to help you. We've helped literally at this point, hundreds of chiropractors across four continents build referral relationships. I'd love to be a resource for you, but in the bare minimum, I really appreciate you taking the time to listen to this podcast each and every week. So really coming full circle with the journal article that we looked at today, I think it shows us a few things. Number one, it shows us that there's massive opportunity for chiropractors to build referral relationships. Those referral relationships are not formalized. PCPs are not doing a very good job communicating and coordinating with chiropractors. So to me that is something that doesn't make me happy. But I think it provides us chiropractors now and today with an absolutely unprecedented opportunity to grow and develop our practice with interdisciplinary communication research and referrals. So if you'd like to learn more about the journal article, I will link that in the show notes@the evidencebasedchiropractor.com podcast. You can find this episode Show Notes. But bottom line is there is a great amount of opportunity for us as chiropractors to build referral relationships. It is on us to get out there and do it. Have a great week in practice, Doc and I will talk to you soon.
We appreciate you joining us for this episode of the Evidence Based Chiropractor. Learn more tips for explosive practice development at the evidence basedchiropractor.com youm can also join the Premier MD monthly membership, enabling you to use what you just heard to maximize results in your office. We look forward to providing you with more dynamic communication tools for immediate growth right here on the Evidence Based Chiropractor.
