Beating Chiropractic Burn Out
March 3rd, 2010 // 8:00 am @ Dr. Todd Osborne // 9 Comments
“I’m burned out.” It seems to be the cry of the chiropractic profession. It seems that even chiropractors that are failing because of seeing very low numbers are “burned out”. So I can assume that burn out is not from being super busy and truly running out of energy. No, in fact those that are not busy have burn out, while successful chiropractors seeing big numbers and making money seem to do the exact opposite, though they too can suffer from burn out. So what is this thing called burn out and how do we deal with it.
Let me say this, burn out does not come from seeing sick people get well. Of all the hundreds of chiropractors I have heard say they are burned out, none have ever said, “I am so sick and tired of getting people well with chiropractic adjustments, I don’t think I can stand to see one more miracle, or deal with any more people getting healthy when I remove their subluxations, I am burned out.” Nope, never heard that one.
However, I do hear, “I am so frustrated with insurance, not getting paid, patients not following thru, dealing with managed care, people not understanding chiropractic care, staff issues, and not being able to support my family, I am burned out!”
Burn out does NOT come from practicing chiropractic. Burn out comes from not managing patients and your practice correctly which leads to many areas of frustration as they limit us to truly practice chiropractic…..and bingo we have “burn out”.
A couple examples to prove my point. When I was seeing around 125-150 patient visits per week with a lot of free time on my hands and not a lot of extra money in my hands, I was frustrated, tired, and suffering from what I thought was burn out. Then after finding a chiropractic management company that had the answers to my problems and increasing my practice to 300+ patient visits a month, I no longer had any time on my hands, I had some extra money in my hands, and what do you know, my energy levels soared, my frustrations were non existent and burn out was not even on the radar. Funny, no longer had much idle time, was busier than I had ever been, busting my tail everyday in my practice, and I was reaping the exact opposite of burn out.
The second example that I will give you is this. We did a PAD (Patient Appreciation Days) every year, which is an internal chiropractic marketing program when done correctly. While this took a lot of effort and energy, it became my favorite practice day of the year. One year seeing 135 patient visits in one day and no one was charged for their care on PAD. No worries, no insurance companies, no co-pays, just good ole chiropractic being delivered. Though the day was extremely physically taxing, it was incredibly energizing mentally.
To battle burn out we have to start having fun in practice. How do you have fun. Learn to manage your practice and patients in a manner that minimizes the frustrations and maximizes chiropractic care being delivered to as many people as possible. That is exactly what happened for me, practice became more of doing the fun stuff and less of the frustrating stuff.
Are you having fun in practice? If not, figure out why not, trust me it is not the failure of the principle of chiropractic, it is alive and well.
Category : Blog &Concepts &Featured Works &Successful Thinking
Dr. Patrick MacNamara
1 year ago
Dr. Osborne :: First of all, you’ve written another outstanding post! It’s always a joy to read your perspective and gain additional wisdom in the process.
Second, the best definition I’ve heard related to burn out comes from my pastor, whom you know well, Pastor Rod Loy.
He states that burnout can come from two imbalances:
1. Being called by God to do something (i.e., being a chiropractor) but trying to operate within your own strength.
2. Not being called by God to do something but doing it anyway. Again, obviously in one’s own strength but outside the perfect will of God.
The balance resides in doing something God has called you to do but relying on His strength through the process.
I believe many chiropractors could gain so much more in this life by simply applying that principle. Not only is it a tremendous blessing to be a chiropractor but also a tremendous gift that needs to be shared with as many people as possible.
Even though the focus of your post didn’t directly bring God into the equation, the aforementioned principle is intertwined nicely throughout. Well done, my friend!
Jacob Brittain
1 year ago
Dr. Todd,
I’m enjoying your blog. I think you hit the nail on the head with this article. I feel the burnout and Im not even close to being busy. I think it is due to lack of income, insurance frustrations, patient complience and down time. One of the most entergetic people I know is a chiropractor that used to see 800 visits a week(he is the one who suggested I go to chiro school). I think when you have a busy practice it gives you a lot less time to stress and worry about things that lead to burnout.
Thanks, Jake
Dr Sooley
1 year ago
I know Dr OZ meant to say that he was seeing 300+/wk!
Chiropractor Lawrenceville ga
1 year ago
Chiropractic treatment is one of the most suitable treatment method for everyone and every stage of age. It is really amazing that anyone would have a new life after applying chiropractic.
dr_oz
1 year ago
No way to burn out if you keep the fuel supplied!
dr_oz
1 year ago
You are correct Dr. Sooley, thanks!
dr_oz
1 year ago
Dr. Brittain, you got the point exactly, thanks for the input and comments. I hope that you can find a way to be busy and energized also.
D. Bell
4 months ago
Patients have a lot of problems, and hearing about people’s troubles all day long requires frequent breaks for the practitioner to stay balanced.
dr_oz
2 months ago
This is where the doctor must take control of what the interaction is like between them and their patients. You must be able to be in control of what is going on and what is being focused on in the practice. I agree if all is negative or “troubles” all day long it wears on you, however, if your practice is positive and most of the “talk” is centered around what is good, what is improving, the chiropractic principle, and hope of the future, then this is not nearly as exhausting.