Know When to Let Go: Building Trust by Releasing Patients from Your Care

One of the greatest challenges faced by those starting their practices is earning the trust of their patients and prospective patients. Of course, providing great clinical results plays a key role in this but this is not necessarily the be-all and end-all of building trust. I occasionally have patients come to me who were treated by another acupuncturist with good clinical results but were unhappy with other aspects of their experience so sought another acupuncturist. The reasons for this can vary and include such things as painful needling, lack of communication, and high treatment fees but the one I want to cover here is how releasing a patient from you care helps build trust.

I released two patients from my care yesterday, one a former patient I had treated five times over a 3 week period this go around and another first-time patient I treated 14 times over a 2 month period. One thing I learned early-on in practice was that people seeking acupuncture tend to be leery about getting taken advantage of. Just like when you hire a construction contractor or mechanic for repairs and you are OK with paying for necessary work at a fair price but concerned they might run-up the bill on unnecessary things.  Patients feel vulnerable because they are getting into something they don’t fully understand and one of these concerns is being told they need to keep coming-in for “maintenance care.”

While I believe virtually everyone could benefit from regular acupuncture as a preventative balancing measure, I do not push this on my patients unless a patient comes to me specifically for that (something very rare in my area). I do try to educate my patients about all the things AOM can do for them including maintenance and prevention, but I don’t try to get them to sign-on for this.

 I encourage acupuncturists to let their patients know the treatment process takes place in three stages – a beginning when we make something good start to happen, a middle where we build on that progress and take it as far as we can, and an end when we make sure the progress we attained will be as lasting as possible. I have heard from many patients who were treated by other acupuncturists that they never reached an end stage because they were encouraged to keep coming for maintenance and it made them feel this was more about the money for the acupuncturist than their own care. This is especially the case in a practice that is just starting out and does not have many patients.

So, while it may be tempting to encourage patients to keep coming to you even after you have helped the issue they came to you for as much as you can (maximum therapeutic benefit), tread lightly. Just think of how you have reacted to mechanics or contractors when you sought their services – the ones who earned your trust and those who didn’t.  Try to see things from the patient’s point of view. Once you earn their trust, you will have a loyal patient who will come back when they need your help and refer other to you and that is the key to building a successful practice.

Matthew Bauer

What about patients you actually DO want to let go? Patients who love you, but are toxic and use the treatment as a dumping session.  What is a skillful way in letting them go?

 I have one who comes in 1x/month despite me communicating that I’m not helping her very much. I think she comes in more for the psychological release and nurturing, than for the physical pain. While that is a legitimate reason to seek care, I can’t deal with her toxic spewing much longer. I feel slimmed despite my efforts at building Qi Gong & psychological shields. 

I’ve tried referring her to another practitioner closer to her, but she doesn’t want to go. 

 Advice?

Ann Marie Deas, L.Ac.