What a Spine Surgeon Says About Chiropractic Care | Podcast Ep. 77

Hello and welcome to the Evidence Based Chiropractor. I AM your host, Dr. Jeff Langmeid. This week I am recording the podcast live on location in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If you've been following on Instagram or Facebook, you know, I've been out here for some continuing education, had a great event. I'll be traveling home tomorrow morning. You will be listening to this by the time I am hopefully back home in Tampa. This week we are gonna talk a little bit about what a renowned spine surgeon had to say about chiropractic care. Also, two other milestones this week for the Evidence Based chiropractor. First, last week over 4,000 thousand chiropractors listened to the Evidence Based Chiropractor podcast. Yes, that is correct. I was shocked when it was 100, 500, 1,000, you get the point. But to have over 4,000 chiropractors listen to last week's episode, I am humbled and very, very grateful would be an understatement. It's, it is truly, truly. I don't, I don't have too many words for it. The second is, except to say thank you truly. And the second component to that is over 8 people now are following and have liked the Evidence Based Chiropractors Facebook page. So that was another milestone. 4,000, 8,000. 4,000 listening to the podcast every week now, 8,000 chiropractors, more than 10% of the entire profession is now following the Evidence Based Chiropractor Facebook page. So I put out two videos talking about each of these items. But my biggest thing is just thank you, I will continue. It gets me pumped up. I will continue to do everything I can to deliver the goods day in and day out. I ask you, if you listen to the podcast, give us some feedback on itunes that helps it get out to even more people. And if you follow the Facebook page, like comment, share things that again, helps that reach, it helps me stay inspired and certainly helps us spread the message of chiropractic care. So this week we are going to talk a little bit about an article that I posted on Facebook that went absolutely viral. And it was from, it was actually a Business Insider piece from 2016. And the piece looked at what a neurosurgeon specifically titled A Spine Surgeon reveals how he Feels about Chiropractors. And that gets all of us maybe a little bit anxious before we listen to it. But what they did was they interviewed the co director of the NYU Spine Center, a world renowned spine surgeon. And basically he said, you know, I think it shocked a lot of People, he said, hey, surgery is the last option. And for, for surgeons, only a vast minority of patients need my care. I'm speaking as him, of course. They said. And he said, excuse me, most need other modalities such as chiropractic care. He said, hey, chiropractic has a very holistic view of the spine and body health and it can definitely be beneficial to the process of a patient getting well. So that has blown up like crazy across social media over the last week here. And I'd encourage you, I'll put a link in the show notes, but if you have not shared that, it's really powerful. It's actually in a video form, it's one minute long, it has graphics, it has music. It is unbelievably important to share with your patients. It's fun, it's short, it's engaging. And it's another healthcare professional saying, hey, I stand behind what's going on in chiropractic clinics and we cannot get enough of that for sure. And to me, it really, it re emphasizes what I've seen in my career. And as many people know, I practice in a very large multidisciplinary clinic where there are quite a few surgeons. And, you know, I kind of tell this story. I don't know if I've told it on here before or not, but, you know, I've been able to sit at the table with, literally with John Hopkins neurosurgeons and our chief executives, and they're asking me my opinion on patient algorithms and patient care. Of course, I'm not giving them tips on surgery, nor are they giving me tips on chiropractic technique. But there certainly is, in my opinion, a big new day in terms of relationships across different disciplines. And this piece from Business Insider that we're talking about today further showcases that. Now, with that, I also think that there's some responsibility. And when I say that, I mean, as you guys know, listening, it's what we talk about at the evidence based chiropractor. When there's a system, when it's backed up by research, when it's done in a professional way, when it puts the patient first. These are all the attributes that really take that professional communication, that interdisciplinary cooperation to the next level. And you know, one of the ways, the first ways that I found that out at the first multidisciplinary clinic that I worked with was really going to grand rounds and spine conference. I've talked a little bit about this before, but I wanted to touch on it again on today's episode Most hospitals have what they call spine conference or grand rounds. It typically takes place once a week, once every other week, and it is free and open to all spine healthcare professionals. Now they have to do that because typically it's sponsored, quote unquote by a spine device company that kind of pays for breakfast, et cetera. But basically what it is is it's a meeting, a weekly or bi weekly meeting of all healthcare professionals. There'll be surgeons there, interventional spine, maybe some pain management, perhaps even a primary care doctor or two. And it is one, I'll tell you, it is one of the best ways that you can build relationships, get your name out there in the community and really start to bridge that gap. The easiest way to go about that is just to call your local hospital. It's from the information I simply ask, hey, does your hospital, do you have grand rounds or spine conference at your facility? If they don't, I can almost guarantee you they will direct you to a center or another hospital that does. Sometimes it's more in the teaching hospitals, but almost every large hospital system is doing it and it's a great opportunity to take an hour every week. You don't even have to go every week, once a month, and really get your name out there in the community. When I first went, I'm not the most outgoing guy. So I took a few weeks where I just showed up, listened, kind of understood who was in the room and what their names were before I started raising my hand and chipping in my 2 cents. And really the big long term play there is that eventually I was even asked to, to talk about conservative care. And you know, again, imagine that, that, you know, going from just in a couple months time to being somebody that nobody in the room had ever heard of. And within just a few short months, I was able to stand in front of orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, PAs, ARNPs, PCPs, interventional spine and pain management docs, and teach them what I do as a chiropractor. And, and if you think that didn't increase my practice, then obviously you are kidding yourself. So that was a huge, a huge moment for me in terms of really planting my flag locally and showcasing that. And again, that's really the big opportunity because as we've talked about, the research shows 85%, almost 90% of patients are asking their other providers about chiropractic care, yet only 11% are making and initiating a formal referral. Where is that large chunk going? Let me say that one more time. Because it's extremely important. Almost 85 to 90% of patients have asked about chiropractic care to their other healthcare providers, PCPs, MDs, DOs, etc. And only 11% have made a formal referral. That is absolute opportunity. The public wants what we have, but they're falling off the tracks because they're not getting the referral. And sometimes that's not giving them the confidence to search it out on their own. So bridging that gap is extremely important. Sharing this Business Insider video that you can find on the Evidence Based Chiropractor Facebook page, sharing that to your local community and your patients is important. That's going to empower and give them confidence in what you're doing. Especially those who are following your Facebook page, but maybe haven't made the commitment to become a patient yet. It is just further social proof that chiropractic works, that chiropractic is accepted. We know it, we see it every single day as chiropractors. But many people out there just haven't got the exposure yet and they are limited by fear. So anything we can do for social proof to help change that, hey, what we do is the most safe and effective care on planet Earth. Any opportunity we have to scream it from the rooftops, we should take advantage of. So to wrap up this week, a big thank you to everybody that's listened. A big thank you to everybody that has paid attention on the Facebook page. Please check out the Business Insider Peace and video. Share that to your page. It is a huge nice piece of propaganda, so to speak, but all in the good ways to make sure that the message of chiropractic is spread wider and farther than ever before. And and do not forget about Grand Rounds and Spine Conference as a huge tactic to build bridges, build relationships and ultimately get more referrals into your practice. If you've done it yourself, I would love to know how it's gone for you. You can email me directly. Jeff the evidencebasedchiropractor.com we will be back next week with another episode with marketing research and the time it takes to get to your office. I have been Dr. Jeff Langmaid with the Evidence Based Chiropractor and I will talk to to you soon.

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