The Perfect Consult

Program
The Perfect Consult Program was designed by PhysioProfessor.com founder and director
Paul Wright and was designed to ensure that all patients and clients at his clinics received
exceptional quality care in each and every visit.
The program also gave Pauls therapists a framework and a structure to their patient interaction
that ensured a consistent and reproducible experience for each patient.
Full details, checklists and manuals for the Perfect Consult program are available inside the
members area of www.PhysioProfessor.com
The following information is a basic outline of this program.
General Program Information
The following information is for all therapists. It will outline what is expected of each therapist at
every session they perform while a representative of this organization. It is VITAL that each therapist
follows these procedures to ensure a great customer experience every time.
The Perfect Consult achieves the following:
Makes the new patient comfortable and relaxed in a caring environment.
Gains the trust of the patient.
Makes the patient feel that they are cared about and listened to.
Solves the key frustration that the patient may have felt from previous therapists in other
organization.
Ensures repeat business and referrals from satisfied customers.
Guarantees the patient receives excellent care EVERY time.
Gives clinic management a feedback and training tool so every therapist knows what is
expected of them in every session.
Ensures that all key marketing and non treatment related components are completed by the
therapist.
Ensures the clinical standards are maintained by every therapist and can be easily
evaluated and checked.

Components of The Perfect Consult

1. Making the Appointment
The patient may make their initial booking by calling our clinic and be booked in by our reception
team or in person at the clinic front desk. Remember the first impression begins at the moment
of first contact be it via our marketing, our team, a word of mouth referral, a sign etc.
a) General Phone Booking:

Call professionally answered: Thanks for calling XYZ Health Care Im (receptionist name)
how can I help you today? Sincere, person feels cared about, nothing is too much
trouble.

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The appropriate time, therapist and location is established with utmost attention (remember
sooner rather than later).

Patient is offered the supersession consult as a priority remember the up-sell

opportunity

The persons first name is used frequently.

The time, location, therapist and any other details are repeated to the patient.

e.g. Let me confirm all that with you (Patient name) thats a (session length and
description) with (therapists name) at our (Clinic location) at (Time) on (Day/Date) please
arrive a few minutes before this so we can get some details from you

Then ask the following questions; Do you know how to get to our clinic? Is there anything
else I can help you with?

Finish with Thanks (Patient name) for calling XYZ Health Care if there is anything you
need before your session please call me back my name is (receptionists name)

Notes:
This contact is personal, helpful and full of care the patient cannot help but be impressed
with the service they have already received. Remember to:

Answer each caller like they are a long lost friend.

Nothing is too much trouble.

By giving them your name they already have a contact and feel like they are cared for.

Ask permission if you need to put them on hold and always get back to them as a priority
take the next callers number and call them back straight away it is better to do each
booking better rather than rush the bookings and create a poor first impression.

Use the callers first name 3 times in the first minute this will help you remember it and
make them feel important.

b) The Front Desk Booking

All the details from the above interaction are taken into account except that in this interaction
the person gets a face to face appraisal of you and the clinic. The major difference between
the phone booking and the walk in is that the phone booking is usually ready to make an
appointment already and they have called to do exactly that.

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The key points in the perfect consult Front Desk Booking is:

Build Rapport introduce yourself and your position confidently, ask for their name, firm
handshake, eye contact for 3 seconds, use their first name frequently ( at least 3 times in the
first minute), nothing is too much trouble solve their key frustration detail what you will do
in the session and why coming back to solving the key frustration e.g. you will be fine to
play on the weekend, you will be able to run again with no pain, you will be able to do
those classes that you really like again come back to the reason they are seeking help
it is not the pain but the impact the problem has on their lives.

Confirm the time and date as above, give them a little advice regarding management until
they see you i.e. Do not use the treadmill until I see it, etc

Finish with Thanks for dropping in (patient name) I look forward to seeing you on (day of
appointment) if you have any questions please contact me Im (your name) and circle it
on the appointment card.

If the person drops in to make an appointment and you are busy then apologize for not
being able to speak at length and take their name and number tell them when you will be
calling and then make sure you do it at the agreed time this in itself will build trust

2. Patient Arrives for the Initial Appointment

The patient may be a little nervous and not sure of what to expect so be sensitive of this fact in
your initial comments do your best to put the patient at ease and feel cared about and that they
can trust you and the organization.
The points below apply for all new patients at any clinic there are some small changes of
course if the patient is initially met by another therapist or receptionist and not their actual treating
therapist however the fundamentals stay the same.
The key points are:

Smile and firm handshake upon greeting them.

Introduce yourself and thank them for coming in to our clinic.

Again 3 seconds of eye contact.

Then get them to fill in the New patient form as follows: I need you to complete our New
Patient Form it helps us find out a little about you and how we can help you best you
can sit down over there if you like let me know when you are finished

Escort the patient into the treatment room with the New Patient Info sheet, a new patient
card and your therapist folder, ensure they are comfortable.

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Go over the NP form ensuring that the info is fully completed (especially contact info, email
address, referral source etc) looking for common areas of interest egg. sports, address, etc
make some comment to establish rapport once commonalities have been found e.g. I see
you play a little cricket who do you play for this info helps put the patient at ease as
well as giving you possible marketing info for sports or corporate partners.

Also look over referral source details e.g. if the referral came from a doctor or PT always
comment on how good the referrer is at their job patients like to be treated and looked
after by those with a good reputation this also helps rapport building.

Then look at the 2 key question on the NP info sheet:

1. Have you seen another therapist before? If so - Is there anything that you were not happy
about with your previous therapist? What w ere you most happy with?
2. What are the 2 main things you would like to achieve by the end of todays session?

The answers to these questions will set up and define exactly what you need to do and not do
to make the initial session a success and make the patient a lifelong fan of your clinic

Always remember to come back to the 2 questions in the NP form what do they want out of the
session and what problems have they had in the past with other therapists. If you solve and
address these items you will be a long way towards having a raving fan as a patient.

3. The Patient History

Once you have been over the information on the NP form, established common ground,
established some rapport, found the key frustrations of past therapists and discovered the main
reasons for the patient coming to see you the rest of the history is aimed at establishing the
diagnosis, and outlining a treatment course.
The major items in the history include:

Description and location of symptoms

History of symptoms

Pain scale if appropriate

Aggravating activities - including a time frame e.g. pain after running for 10mins - be specific as
these are your measurements of progress and must be recorded at the start of each
session to determine treatment progress

Relieving activities or treatments

Past treatments and success of failures

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Training and activity history current training and exercises undertaken, goals of training

Investigations and scans

Medications, night pain, am/pm

The main areas of interest are the measurable aggravating activities as they will provide a
baseline for determining the progress of the condition these are to be asked about and
recorded in each and every session.
Ensure that you keep in mind the reasons why the person came to see you and any key
frustrations that they had with past therapists.
4. The Physical Assessment

Before commencing the assessment be aware of the patients modestly and attire they
need to be made comfortable and looked after at every opportunity. This is a vital part of the
consult as you should already have a good understanding of the patients problem and have
also established a solid rapport base.
The major items in the physical assessment include:

Confidence in your handling of the body parts being examined

Taking notes as you go through with tangible measures for reassessment

Explaining to the patient what you are testing for each time ( making them feel part of the
assessment not just a piece of meat on the table)

Limited ums and ahhs as they make it appear that you are unconfident and not in control

Once again you are working on developing your diagnosis and treatment plan but be aware of
the impression you are creating with your patient and be sure to include them in the assessment
do not talk too much but enough to let them feel that you are in control and know what you
are doing.

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5. The Diagnosis and Treatment

Once you have the necessary history and physical examination information you then let you
patient know the provisional diagnosis and outline your treatment strategy.

The key points are as follows:

Explanation to the patient as to what the problem is.

Detail the treatment plan including the likely consult number and frequency of visits.

Outline a time line for rehabilitation (e.g. To get the best results for this problem we will
start with this (treatment) for 2-3 sessions this week then move to (treatment) for 1-2
sessions next week by them you will be able to do (exercises) on your own and we
should have you (activity) by the week after how does that sound)

Commence the initial treatment being sure you re-assess regularly to check progress if the
person can see an immediate improvement in their symptoms due directly to your
intervention you will have succeeded in gaining their trust e.g. check ROM, check pain
level

Inform the patient what they can and cannot do regarding their training and activity

Know their home program of stretches and exercises these will be on a sheet for the
patient

6. The Conclusion
By the end of the initial consult the patient should have a diagnosis, a treatment plan, be aware
of the requirements of the coming weeks, know what they have to do to assist recovery and
what not do to avoid re-aggravation. The making of follow up appointments is a formality if the
above points are done well.
The key items are:
Review of treatment plan and activities

Check that you have delivered the 2 main things the patient wanted to achieve by the end of
the session (make specific reference to these 2 items)

Make sure you have not made the same mistakes as fellow therapists by checking the key
frustrations that the patient recorded on the NP sheet

7. The Payment / Front Desk

Make the follow up appointments as described during the session the patient will already
know what they will need to do to get better so this is a mere formality especially if you
have been able to demonstrate improvements in your assessment results during the
session.

Write the appointments down on a card even if they do not want it they may give the card
to someone else.

When they have the appointment card with the next appointment time on it make reference
to the cancellation info on the bottom of the card as follows: Just a quick reminder about
our cancellation policy we run busy clinics and need at least 24 hours notice of
cancellations or we will have to charge a cancellation fee is this OK you can call our
booking number if you need to change an appointment time.

Ensure the patient has their written / exercise sheets etc.

Move to the payment by using the terms fix this up or paperwork not the word PAY by
saying How would you like to fix this up today?

Process the payment quickly and efficiently referring again to the exercises, stretches or
common rapport topics from the session.

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Thank them for coming in to see you by saying Thanks (patients name) for coming in to
see us you will be fine (or some other statement to support the future success of your
intervention e.g. keep up the exercise I gave you and we will get you back running in no
time.

Finish with a comment about our e-feedback email: i.e. You will be receiving a feedback
email from our head office in the next few days just making sure that you are happy with
todays session it helps us review our treatments and keep on track your feedback
would be most valuable thanks again see you next (appointment day)

8. Follow Up and Admin

The following needs to be done:

Record payment info into money book

Ensure monies are correct to ease workload on banker

Enter patient info into the computer (referral source details entered in case history and
injury record)

Complete patient treatment card

Record plan for next session on treatment card so you know the plan and re-assessment
tools that you will be using

Complete and correspondence to doctors or referrers about the patient

Free Resources
For more details of the full Perfect Consult Program and other technical training tools go to:
www.PhysioProfessor.com
For more business building materials including a FREE MP3 How to Increase Profits in Your
Health Business go to:
www.HealthBusinessProfits.com

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