We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marc Taczanowski. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marc below.
Marc, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.
My wife and I were set to open our practice on October 4th, 2004. In the prior weeks we were advised to “pretend like we were running for mayor in the town.” With this in mind we went door to door (business to business) and introduced ourselves to the community. We also asked if they had any advice to a couple of new chiropractors that are just starting out. Most if not all were extremely friendly and welcoming. One gentleman in particular was helpful. His advice which came through a question was “Why should I come to you? What makes you different?” My wife and I turned to each other, shrugged and said in unison, “nothing.” We weren’t different or unique. From that point forward we decided to follow a sports track due to our attraction and lifelong participation in many sports. We signed up of a post-doctorate sports program called Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician (CCSP). In our first class we listened to the main creator/administrator for the class, Dr. Philip Santiago. He was the first Chiropractor to be selected to travel with the US Olympic team in 1992 (Barcelona). When I heard this I immediately turned to my wife and asked, “We can do that?!” I’ve long held a strong connection to the Olympic movmement. I remember sitting in my basement watching the USA/Russia game in 1980. Emigrating from communist Poland, you can imagine who my dad was pulling for. After the US won it was one of two times in my life that I saw my father cry. He was overwhelmed with pride for his new home country. I also remember going to the local roller rink, which for those who are unfamiliar is like an ice skating rink, just for roller skates. I would pretend like I was Eric Heiden, the multi-gold winning speed skater. I investigated what needed to be done to even apply for the consideration. Through the USOC Medical Volunteer program there were prerequisites. Many techniques, certifications, and 5 years experience working with a sports team for starters. I began the process of acquiring these and once I fulfilled my obligations I applied. I was invited to Chula Vista, CA in 2009. I was matched up with a PT and an Orthopedic Surgeon for my rotation. We worked with many athletes from various sports. After your two weeks you are rated by the athletes, trainers, coaches and medical staff to determine if you make the short list of practitioners that they prefer to use. I was called the following year to head to Lake Placid. It was there where I worked with Bobsled/Skeleton in addition to other winter sports athletes. I’m a big guy and Bobsledders are also big people. I guess they liked what I did and after those two weeks, the clinic director sat me down and said the Bobsled team wanted me to travel with them. I was flattered and did my best to accommodate their competition schedule while still maintaining our growing practice. This would have been impossible without a supportive wife/business partner who always held down the fort as I traveled around the globe. In October of 2013 the athletes and coaches from Bobsled were polled about who they feel can help them perform at their best and give them the best chance of winning some medals. My name came up and I was officially named to the Medical Staff for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. I tell this story often but it started with a seed thought. What makes us different? 10 years into practice we were VERY different. We had more certifications and techniques than any other office on Long Island. We were the only office that had an Olympic doc on board. And when people had a hang up about going to a Chiro office, the referral source would say, “This guy went to the Olympics!” This feather in our cap breaks down most walls of doubt. My advice for a young doc starting out comes in the form of a question. “What makes you unique?” Full circle – during my time in Sochi, Russia I was sitting in the athlete lounge as someone was trying to tune into the Superbowl and guess who is sitting on my right…Eric Heiden, now the orthopedic surgeon for Speed Skating.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I was in the 5th grade when I decided I would pursue my chosen career. My mom was going to a Chiropractor for a car accident and I would often tag along. I saw that her doc looked healthy, was able to provide well for his family, and most importantly, every patient walked out happier than when they walked in. This was definitely for me!
As previously stated we hold many techniques and certifications that improve our treatment efficiency in resolving patients complaints and reduce reoccurrence.
Early on, before any of our post-doc education we would try to fix people as quickly as possible. I thought we did pretty well. We wanted to know if we could do better. The certs and techniques started to accumulate and patients were getting better in less time. That’s a win! We attribute this success to a comprehensive list of techniques which include but is not limited to ART, Graston, FAKTR, CSCS, CCSP, ABCSP, FMS, SFMA, TPI, and Kinesiotaping. What we noticed, however is that even though patients were getting better quickly, they were coming back with the same complaints after they were officially discharged. Something was missing. The addition of other classes like MAT, NKT, and FRC helped us learn of the necessity of targeted pattern altering exercises to change the environment which caused the issue in the first place. This is a difficult pill for many patients to swallow. It essentially means that it REQUIRES effort on the patients part to reprogram their brains if they want to ELIMINATE the issue permanently.
This is the most important concept that I can share with any patient with a complaint. Many therpists and docs will help you or teach you how to manage your symptoms. Most manual techniques including many that I practice are great at reducing discomfort. None of them will address the faulty pattern that caused the pain in the first place. You, the patient, HAVE to take and ACTIVE part in the process. If you are a low-effort patient, your results will be short lived. ASK your therapist to teach you exercises. GIve a man a fish vs. teach a man to fish. It’s the same principle. Every patient that leaves our office LEARNS a ton. They also have our YouTube channel as a resource to attack their aches and pains.
Traditional PT typically offers a protocol based approach. As an example this means that EVERY plantar fasciitis patient gets the same protocol approach. We don’t ever assume one approach will work. We test for weaknesses, imbalances and asymmetries and prescribe SPECIFIC exercises based on what we found. This means that we can have 10 different plantar fasciitis patients who will get 10 DIFFERENT exercise programs. It is more of a tailored or personally curated program. The beauty of our approach is also that it typically works wonders in the first 2-3 visits. You don’t have to wait 6-8 weeks at 2-3x/week for a potentially marginal result.
We love receiving patients who have previously failed other conservative care. Our favorite part of the visit is after we start doing our thing, the patient says “This is different.” “Why doesn’t everyone practice like this?” I’m also typically shocked that this is not the standard of care but I do understand why. Our approach is unfortunately time consuming. We have to spend more time with each patient on each visit. If patient care and results are the practitioners top priorities then they SHOULD practice this way. If profits and revenue are the top priority, practitioners CANNOT practice this way. We seem to have struck a nice balance.
The thing that we are most proud of is that a unique sentiment organically formed very early on in our practice. When we would routinely discharge patients who were feeling better they would say, “You’re going to put yourself out of business.” That seemed to stick. 20 years later we still say the same thing. “The more we try to put ourselves out of business, the busier we get.” Another sentiment that I’d like to share is what a patient shared with me recently. She was one of our first patients. Still popping in now and again for some new complaint she said “Even though you’ve grown the practice to what it currently is, I still feel like I get the same undivided attention that you gave me on day one.” For us to be unwavering in our approach, even with the ups, downs and challenges of managed care and insurance, I think we’ve done something right.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
This may be an oversimplification and I apologize in advance for my language but you HAVE to give a shit. If patients or clients come in and they can tell that you’re really trying to help (even if you can’t) they are pleased with the effort. I feel the same way as a patient or customer anywhere I go. Even if you really don’t, just pretend like you give a shit.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
Early on we tracked everything. We had a Yellowbook ad (Doesn’t even exist anymore). We’ve tried just about everything. The overwhelming amount of new patients always came from word of mouth. Over 85%. As mentioned previously we were ever present in the community. We joined and participated in anything and everything local. We held educational talks for local sports groups We were never salesly. It’s not in our DNA. We always felt that we should simply provide information and our expertise. When anyone developed an issue they would think, “I’ve seen those Chiro’s around town. They seem nice. I’ll visit them.” Many Chiro’s use practice management gurus who essentially teach you how to “communicate” with your patients. I’ve listened to some and in my opinion they are teaching sales and manipulation skills. NOT FOR ME. I want my patients coming to me because THEY want to. Not because I convinced them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://truesportcare.com
- Instagram: truesportcare
- Facebook: truesportcare
- Linkedin: Marc Taczanowski
- Twitter: truesportcare
- Youtube: true sport care
- Yelp: true sport care
