Dr. Margolies,

I am a chiropractor in New Mexico. I just purchased your Smart Start book and wanted to 
thank you for all the good information.

I have been a chiropractor for 4 years always working as an employee. I am finally ready to 
take the plunge and start my own practice. I have not done any screenings or workshops 
before but I believe it is an important part of any marketing plan.

I would like to get my feet wet , by first starting with screenings. I am in the process of 
developing a relationship with a charity in my area.

My question is my office will not be open until August and maybe September. I have heard 
this from other chiropractors and in your book Dr. Singer wants you to make an 
appointment to see the patient within 5 days of the screening. I just want to know your 
opinion on starting to do screenings a few months before opening. I know I have nothing 
to lose and I will pick up names for a mailing list to send out when I do open.

I have also seen many different types of screenings. I like to work on trigger points before 
I adjust patients, so I thought I made set up a massage chair, and after they fill out a 
survey, do a postural analysis without  a SAM unit, and do a 5 min. chair massage/TP 
therapy. I feel this would give me a good opportunity to get my hands on the persons spine 
and muscles pointing out any potential problems. I will call it a spinal health check and 
massage. I would also accept donations on behalf of my charity. Do you think this would 
be OK?

Thank you for all your help, I'm a regular reader of your E-mails and frequent your web 
site.

A:

Thanks for the e-mail .. I agree with the others .. it is too early for you to do screenings. 
Be patient and read each chapter of my book and begin to create the business logs .. 
alliances .. and create a marketing Farm in the area you expect to open in. The massage 
concept is sound .. it may be a problem once you open up as it will confuse the patient .. 
massage takes more time to implement and perform with each patient producing a capacity 
concern as your practice grows. As my advice to my students this morning .. it is best to 
spend quality time with new patients .. not quantity time when you first get out. many new 
DC¼s feel that the more time you spend with patients the more they will refer feeling they 
get the best care .. but as you mature in chiropractic you¼ll realize that there usually is no 
correlation .. quality is the key. 

I would recommend you follow the guidelines in my book in Chapter One .. Community 
Health Network .. and then do many surveys. Gather a mailing list for future workshops 
and eventual patient base. Be sure to ask for their e-mail address as well. I would 
recommend you wait for a month prior to opening before doing all this .. and concentrate 
on creating an Office Manual .. as with Chapter Four (also has the screening info) and 
financial agreements and internal PR .. rather than jumping the gun trying to build 
something without them having anywhere to go. 

What you could do is find a few apartment complexes with clubhouses and use this as a 
base for the massage screenings .. or begin the Health Spa alliance this way and be 
available for their members in this capacity a day a week. Play around with this .. BUT BE 
PATIENT .. 

Have a Great Day

Dr. M