Kristi Hudson, Director of Business Relations, Certified Professional Compliance Officer
Unlike my 10-year-old son, I loved the required summer reading assignments at the end of each school year. Those books would whisk me away to big cities and exotic destinations far from the hot, humid summers of rural Mississippi. I would discover new foods, new ideas, and sometimes, from my favorite chair immersed in the familiar scents of ink and paper, I would find myself. I learned a lot about life, love, and happiness.
Now that I am older, Tony Robbins and Steven Covey have replaced Jane Austen and Stephen King on my nightstand. Don’t get me wrong. I still have a favorite Judy Blume novel that has already been pulled out for my upcoming vacation. However, the time I have available to read is more limited and directed more toward helping me achieve my goals. As you get closer to completing your time in chiropractic school, you will spend more time, effort and energy on planning your future, establishing your goals, and making big decisions about your future.
You are about to make your mark in the business world, and I encourage you to use your time wisely this summer. Read a few business books to help prepare you for the road ahead. The subject matter, while not as exciting as a best-selling suspense novel, can open your eyes to invaluable ideas and tools when it comes to the business side of being in practice. Below are my top 3 business must-reads for this Summer.
Raving Fans, Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles
Every business, large or small, has one thing in common – customers! Ironically, customer service today stinks. In fact, we are so taken aback when we have a good customer service experience that we immediately tell everyone we know and broadcast it on social media. As customers, we know that a bad customer service experience can break a business. The steps this book lays out (Decide, Discover and Deliver) will guide you in creating a great patient experience and a successful practice.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey
This “oldie but goodie” is still highly recommended and required reading in the business world for a reason; it’s effective. This was required reading at our office one summer, and the results were astounding. My favorite quote, “Begin with the end in mind,” changed my life and inspired an article on the change it influenced on our team personally and professionally.
The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni
My dear friend, Dr. Jay Greenstein, recommended this book over dinner several years ago. Unlike most modern books on business, this is a delightful fable that marries the enjoyment and readability of your most beloved fiction paperback with the wisdom and insight of a business book. It exposes the secret sauce of creating a great team and the steps for overcoming the problems and challenges in proper team building.
You have your summer reading assignment. Now curl up in your favorite spot, open your mind, and prepare to change the world. If reading isn’t your “deal”…and I can understand that with you in school, at least join us for some passive learning on one of our great webinars. We host some of the best and brightest minds in the profession every week! You can see the list of upcoming topics at chirohealthusa.com.
Kristi Hudson is the Director of Business Relations and Administrator of the ChiroHealthUSA Foxworth Family Scholarship. Since 2010, she has worked with state associations, COCSA, F4CP, and the CCGPP to provide educational awareness on changes within the profession. As of February 2016, ChiroHealthUSA has donated over $1,000,000 to support the chiropractic profession. To apply for the scholarship, go to chusascholar.com.
Why is the Discount Challenge prize amount $11,181? Because that is the average “per-occurrence” fine for Medicare inducements. That’s not $11,181 per patient, that’s not per provider, that’s PER VISIT. Stinks, doesn’t it? To us, the prize amount is worth the investment if we can help our profession better understand proper discounting.