What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Hello and welcome to my blog!
In previous posts, I have discussed philosophy and how it dictates not only patient care, but how our whole business operates. Before Dr.Super’s House of Health opened, I had to devise new concepts and philosophies to manifest a business of which I could be proud. I did not want to run an office by money, numbers, or superficial views of success. I had to create a new vision of what success looks like in my business. Other businesses may measure success with quarterly profits, number of new patients seen every month, and rate of corporate growth. Instead, my business would operate by measuring success based on patients’ subjective experiences.
In healthcare, it is often frowned upon to put value on a patient's subjective report of illness and their associated signs and symptoms. Any symptom a patient expresses must be verified through objective measurements and observations. Patients often suffer when a doctor cannot find any objective medical test to verify the patient's experiences. The patient is told something like: “we can’t find anything wrong with you, therefore you are fine”. In this situation, the patient is left feeling alienated, and uncared for while the doctor moves on to treating another patient.
At our office, it’s not just about believing a patient's subjective report of symptoms, but caring for them in a way where they FEEL believed, validated, and that they have been genuinely treated to alleviate all their complaints to the best of my abilities. Only relying on objective measurements discounts the importance of listening to patients’ immense wisdom regarding their own body. As many of my patients would agree, our office “feels” different. From where does this “good feeling” atmosphere come? I personally feel the answer is love. If my patients feel loved, valued and respected at our office, we have reached true success.
When someone hears the word “doctor” they probably conjure up images of white coats, pills, operations, disinfectant, science, illness, sick people, but definitely not love. Of course this is no accident. We are taught as health care providers to keep strong patient boundaries, which are important to help protect the provider and the patient. Patients who have had negative experiences related to receiving medical treatment may also have a hard time thinking about love within a healthcare office. If you are a doctor who talks about love's place in medicine you risk being mocked, criticized as a quack, or deemed unscientific and potentially hazardous. Love is invisible, cannot be measured, nor considered statistically, which allows it to be dismissed. However, not allowing love to exist within a healthcare setting can lead to patients seeing their physician as uncaring, inauthentic, distant and untrustworthy. Our motivations behind caring for patients also change the way we deliver care, what care we recommend, and the amount of empathy we give to them during their healthcare journey.
As a chiropractor who has worked at high volume practices, there is a difference when care is delivered to achieve success for the business versus care delivered to achieve success for the patient. When a patient feels loved and valued, they can achieve their fullest healing potential. To allow space for love to exist in our office, I choose to operate my business a little differently. Here are five things we do differently to create space for love in our healthcare office:
Do not participate with insurance companies. It may seem counterintuitive for individuals with great insurance benefits (this is a very limited number of plans), but most health insurance plans severely limit a chiropractor's ability to care for their patient. Insurance companies dictate how many visits a patient may have, what areas of the body can be treated, how many areas can be treated at a time, and how long your visit may be. When working under insurance, the patient has to be treated the way the insurance company decides, not the doctor, not the patient, not evidence-based best practices. How can I give individualized care that the patient needs when an insurance company can control what I am allowed to touch, when, and how? By not participating in insurances, all of my patients can receive the best high-quality care for them without insurance companies dictating the process. Your quality of your care should never be dictated by how much money a doctor can make off of billing your insurance.
*For more information on this topic, read my blog post titled “The Stigma Around being a Chiropractor”
I don’t measure our success in numbers and how many new patients we get. Do I have to pay attention to these metrics? Yes. Do I consider myself successful when a mother brings in her newborn as a new patient? Heck yes. What is the difference? My goal with my patients is to convince them that life-long wellness care is imperative. How can I be successful if I see 20 new patients a month but none of them return for care? I can’t. How can I impact someone’s life when I see them one or two times? I am more concerned about building a relationship that lasts a lifetime with my patients. I want my patients to know that they are loved and cared for at my office, and that I will always put their needs first. They can come to me with anything and I will do my best to find the underlying cause of their disease, discomfort, or dysfunction, and I will advocate for them or refer them to the proper provider for whatever care they need. I dream about seeing and caring for whole families over generations. My success in seeing new patients is measured by how much a family trusts me with their loved ones, not how many new people I can see in a day.
I don’t allow ego to exist in my office. When ego is involved in healthcare, it leaves little room for expressing empathy and love towards patients. When a patient tells their provider they’ve had a bad experience with a previous chiropractor, and they’re nervous to receive care again, two things could happen. A doctor can validate the patient's feelings, listen to their concerns, and address them with love and empathy. Or a doctor can have an ego and disregard their concerns by saying “I am the best so you shouldn’t be afraid”. When a patient feels they haven’t been heard and their concerns were easily dismissed, do they feel comfortable with the doctor and confident with their care? NO! Do they feel loved? No.
I calm a patient's anxiety before and during care. Calming discomfort is more than just choosing techniques a patient likes. It’s not allowing a patient to be overwhelmed by new information, taking time to explain procedures and diagnoses. It’s never letting them feel rushed, in the way, a bother, or annoying. When a patient is stressed about coming to their appointment, or late after a traffic jam, we do our best to ease their mind. We take time to ask, if they would like to use the restroom first, do they need water, have they had time to eat today? Showing love to a patient means treating them like they are a guest at my home and like their feelings matter to me. Are you warm enough? Would you like a pillow? Is this still comfortable?
Giving patients unconditional love and a space for authenticity within our office. I don’t feel like I can take care of a patient without loving them unconditionally. My intentions when interacting with a patient are based in love, and the patient can only feel love when it is given unconditionally. The care I give to my patients is not dependent on whether they are on time or late. It does not depend on whether they did their prescribed stretches and exercises. It does not depend on how much money they spend at our office. It does not depend on whether I am the only chiropractor they see or not. I want my patients to feel like my office is a safe space for them to be themselves and express their emotions and feelings in a healthy, supportive environment. For some of my patients, our office is the only place they have to express how they feel and who they truly are. Loving them unconditionally allows them the confidence and safety to be an open and honest person.
Most patients would agree that modern medicine is not based around a philosophy of love. The medical school curriculum focuses heavily on diagnosis, prescriptions, testing, and objective orthopedic tests while having very little discussion about bedside manner, empathy in care, and patient advocacy. This is undoubtedly taking its toll on the healthcare system and patients. Medicine needs to return to its roots. The ancient philosopher Paracelsus once said, “The foundation of medicine is love.” I firmly believe that as a practitioner, my foundation in healing should be based on the love I have for my patients. Love does not belong solely in our private lives, reserved only for those with whom we are close. Love should be expressed towards every single human being with whom we come in contact. The idea that “love heals” is not some out-dated mumbo jumbo, but a fundamental truth that many have forgotten.
So I ask you, does your doctor love you? Do you feel like a valued individual at your primary care office? Or do you feel like a number, poked, prodded, and dismissed? If you don’t feel valued & loved at a healthcare office, can you heal within that space? Maybe. I believe in the power of love to heal even in a professional patient-doctor relationship. “Feel” the difference at our office, come heal and be well with us!
ADIO
Dr. Tabetha Super