The Reasons Why I Started Team Chiropractic and Rehabilitation of Ames

To Fill a Missing Void in Ames Healthcare:  Ames, Iowa is a highly educated community and with the 6th lowest unemployment in the country.  Those two factors alone make Ames an Ideal place to start a business.   But, as I talked to people around the town, I began to hear some of the same issues over and over again about healthcare.  The four statements below comprise the foundation of how I plan to build my practice and find my niche in Ames:

 1.   To my knowledge, none of the current conservative care providers (physical therapist, chiropractors, and massage therapists) currently offer the total package to their patients. The PT’s don’t adjust, the chiropractors don’t adequately do soft tissue work or rehab, and massage therapist cannot diagnose.
 2.   Few Healthcare providers are willing to work with individuals who are hurt and still trying to exercise.  Most providers tell their patients to stop exercising completely and rest.
 3.   It’s difficult to find a practitioner that formulates a specific plan to treat a condition or injury. Telling a patient to come 3 times week for 3 months, is not a specific plan.
4.   Runners in Ames are limited in their local options for running specific healthcare needs and have difficulty finding adequate running shoes locally. 
 
Bring Life Back to an Old Structure:
My practice is located within a 100 year old train depot.  The outside of the building is the original brick with a lot of character
in the old awnings and cast iron support beams. The inside of Suite 104 needed a facelift when I first looked at it.  With the help of Dotey Construction and Nelson Electric, we were able to repurpose the space while preserving some of the historic charm.  For example, we kept the interior walls low to let the beautiful original windows flood the space in natural light.  The interior design of the space is not complete yet, but my goal is to mimic some of the traditional finishing’s used during the era of the depots construction, while maintaining functionality for my practice.  I built the large reception desk with a mission style to match the look and function I envision for the finished space.  

Just like the old depot, my patients all have histories that lead to their present day condition. My philosophy is to never hide the past, but work with what history has given us and marry it with modern day function to achieve a desired goal.  In my office, I’m able to preserve the charm and character of the original depot architecture, while providing my patients a warm and comfortable space to heal and recover. Professionally, I use the same principals in my patient care.  I assess the patient’s body for structural issues and build an understanding of what caused their problem through their health history.  Then we work together to develop a plan to allow their body to regain a new level of function to meet their goals.

Provide Economical Healthcare:
Healthcare is actually one or our nation’s largest industries. Healthcare costs continue to sky rocket and insurance rates rise at the same speed. I believe we are creating an unsustainable future for our nation, because healthcare is not readily exported or imported, it’s mainly a service.  Through my experiences in mainstream medicine I have observed the various middlemen that raise the cost of the simplest surgical procedures and greed of large healthcare corporations that push their doctors to make large profit margins.  The current healthcare model is ethically and economically flawed. I vow to make Team Chiropractic and Rehabilitation of Ames affordable without affecting the quality of care.  First, my prices are fair for the average consumer.  Even though most of my services are covered by insurance, I still feel it’s important that an average citizen of Ames should be able to afford my care if they were paying cash.  I don’t bill insurance companies hundreds of dollars for a simple office visit, because that is what is driving up this nation’s healthcare costs. 

Another problem that the citizens of Ames have expressed to me is that they are being copaid to death. For example, a person with a shoulder problem currently has to go to their primary care provider for a diagnosis, and then they go to PT for several weeks to learn exercises to improve the range of motion and strengthen their shoulder.  They also end up visiting a traditional chiropractor to get adjusted because it helps with middle back/neck mobility leading to better shoulder function. And finally, this person with a shoulder injury has to see a massage therapist on the side to help improve the soft tissues surrounding the shoulder.  That’s a lot of wasted time running to different appointments and money spent on separate medical bills.  My goal is for that individual to walk in my door and receive the correct diagnosis, hands on care to correct the joint and soft tissue dysfunctions, and a progressive rehabilitation plan to restabilize the shoulder and prevent future injury. 
 
Small is the New Big: My goal is to keep my overhead low and the quality of care high.  Another reason I started Team Chiropractic and Rehabilitation of Ames was to have control over my schedule and my overhead.  Those two items are directly related in the numbers game of healthcare. The higher the overhead, the more patients a doctor needs to see, and I believe quality of care goes down with high daily patient loads.  I have worked in settings where I treated 40-50 patients in one day, I know my attention to detail and thoroughness suffered in that situation.  At Team Chiropractic and Rehabilitation of Ames, my overhead is ridiculously low, so my attention to care can be at its highest. I have the perfect amount of space to effectively treat patients, my rent is affordable, and I don’t have expensive X-ray machines or gadgets that I need to payoff.  Meaning, I have a clear head and can take my time with patients to help produce the results we both want.