What’s the best way to get auto injury patients? If you’ve listened to any of the zillions of old-school chiropractic marketing “experts” still clinging to tactics from the 1980’s, odds are, you’re thinking, “Market yourself to PI attorneys”.
In fact, that misguided piece of advice is so prevalent, and has been repeated so often for so long, that many of you may think that’s there’s no other possible way to find auto injury patients at all! And while this article isn’t going to focus on the other, more effective methods of finding these lucrative patients (we’ll wait until the end of the article for that), we do most definitely need to discuss the pitfalls and perils of relying on personal injury attorneys for referrals.
PROBLEM #1: EVERYBODY’S DOING IT
Those of you who have tried to build this sort of a practice probably know the first problem with approaching PI attorneys for referrals…. namely, every chiropractor and their mother has already swamped those attorneys with requests for their clients to become patients. Of course they have. It’s literally the only auto injury marketing tactic that’s been proposed to our profession for decades. And so EVERYBODY does it.
Oh, there’s guys out there who will tell you all about how you can “stand out from the crowd” using their super-special training program, which will make you the extraordinary expert that the attorneys will be soooo very impressed with to the point that they will beg you to take their cases. Invariably, these programs claim to position you as a legal expert that is so bulletproof that no insurance company or opposing expert witness could dare to challenge you.
It’s crap. Simply put, it is crap. I’ve taken a lot of those courses, and make no mistake, you can learn a whole lot of stuff about auto crash reconstruction and similar topics. But 90% of what you’ll learn is useless, because the truth is, no attorney is going to look to a chiropractor to be their expert witness. I’m sorry if that stings to hear, but the sad fact is, attorneys want an MD’s stamp of approval on their cases, and given the choice to depose someone as an expert witness, they’ll choose the MD every time.
Is it right? Of course not. A well-trained chiropractor is head and shoulders above most MDs when it comes to handling auto crash injuries and their documentation. But in the crazy legal world, none of that matters… only the appearance of credibility, and the legal pecking order goes something like this: chiropractor on the bottom, family medicine MD one step up, physical medicine MD one step up from that, and either orthopedic surgeons or neurologists at the top.
Again, before anybody gets hot under the collar at the injustice of it all, I’m not saying that this pecking order is right. I’m saying, that’s how it really is. And so every chiropractor I know who’s rolled into a PI attorney’s office with their expensive list of credentials has been sorely disappointed after their visit. Unfortunately, the attorney really doesn’t care that you’ve spent 150 hours of extra training in MRI, or whatever else you have on your list.
ALL THAT THE ATTORNEYS REALLY CARE ABOUT
What they want from you is fairly straightforward, and you don’t need an expensive course to find out what that is. Let me sum it up: they want their clients treated well, and their care documented properly. No, you don’t have to footnote your SOAP notes with a dozen academic references to “wow” them. Quite frankly, that will never be read.
They DO expect a solid, well done initial history and exam, followed by an accurate diagnosis, follow-up diagnostic studies to help objectively verify care, and periodic re-exams during care, wrapped up with a final report summarizing care and stating that the auto crash caused the injury. Beyond that, they don’t want much else out of you.
So if you’re one of those people who have taken those expensive courses, and you tried dazzling PI attorneys with your knowledge, and you’re still only getting a drizzle of referrals here and there, this is why. As long as you have solid documentation and exam skills, and treat their patients well, you’ve basically done what you can to impress them.
If that sounds frustrating, as in, “Well then, how DO I stand out?”, it should sound frustrating. The vast, vast majority of chiropractors don’t get much in the way of referrals from PI attorneys, because, again, these attorneys have a zillion chiropractors beating down their door begging for referrals.
PROBLEM #2: THEY (THE ATTORNEY) HOLD ALL THE CARDS
This creates the next big problem with relying on PI attorneys from referrals. They all are very, very aware of how badly you want these referrals, and how many other chiropractors also want them. This, essentially, puts them in the driver’s seat for how your practice is run.
Again, any of you who have done a lot of PI work knows very well what I’m talking about. The call from an attorney insisting on an unnecessary test, or care that’s gone far past what is necessary, or the dreaded request that you cut your fees.
By the way, you know what a lot of them do with that fee cutting thing, right? They get the full amount in the settlement, give you your 50% or whatever they force you to take, and then they split the remainder with the client. Now, they look like a hero to their client (“see, I got you EXTRA money!”), and they pocket hundreds or thousands of dollars of YOUR money.
Makes you sick, right?
Plus, we’ve all been on the receiving end of referrals that were junk cases. People whose injuries were, well, questionable, or a slip and fall case that you’ll never get paid on, or an exhausted auto case where the PIP is gone, there’s no secondary insurance, and you’re supposed to donate your time and effort for table scraps at settlement.
It’s all because they’re in the driver’s seat, and they’re in the driver’s seat because every chiropractor is convinced that the only way to get auto injury patients is by begging PI attorneys for them. But the truth is, that’s not the only way.
Oh, I’m not saying you shouldn’t bother ever marketing yourself to an attorney. On the contrary. Done right, you can take control and put yourself in the driver’s seat, and get referrals of good cases while keeping in control of your practice.
How? Simple. Notice I said “simple”, not “easy”. You’re going to have to learn some new skill sets. Specifically, how to find auto injury patients yourself. There is a learning curve on this, but isn’t it worth it, to get a profitable practice you want without having to bow and scrape to scummy PI attorneys?
GETTING AUTO INJURY PATIENTS YOURSELF
Like I said, this isn’t an article focusing on auto injury patient generation, but I will mention two methods you can use to good effect. First off, is referrals from medical doctors. I know many of you haven’t tapped into this resource before, or are intimidated by trying to get into a bunch of primary care doctors’ offices, but trust me, they see tons of people in car crashes, and have no idea whatsoever what to do with them. Give them two weeks of painkillers and muscle relaxers, and hope it goes away. That’s about it.
The other major resource that NOBODY is doing correctly is paid ads. Now, I’m sure a lot of you have experimented with online ads, and probably got no-so-great results. But there’s a reason for that.
Most people just stick an ad up, leave it be, and hope somebody calls in on seeing that ad once or twice. It’s kind of like shouting into a crowd with a bullhorn. There’s no follow up, and no relationship building.
Again, this isn’t the article to go into too much detail with this, but think of this from the prospective patient’s perspective. They get blasted with ads, all day, every day. Why should they pay attention to yours, much less trust you, much less simply ignore their problem and hope it goes away?
On the other hand, if you create ads that draw them in properly, and then follow up with them and keep them engaged while also educating them, all of a sudden, an ineffective ad becomes far more useful.
Most of you reading this are probably interested in learning more about these non-attorney PI marketing methods, so for those of you who are, you can click here and watch my free short video series explaining the process. There’s five short videos (each is about 5-7 minutes long or so) that should give you a pretty good idea of what I’m talking about, along with some resources that you can use to get this sort of program jump-started in your office ASAP.
Because while getting PI patients is great, dealing with PI attorneys… well, that just plain sucks, doesn’t it?
