WHAT TO EXPECT DURING YOUR FIRST VISIT

1.  Intake Paperwork

The first thing that new patients handle is the paperwork.  This is no different than in any other doctor’s office.   With the intake paperwork, you describe the problems you’ve been having.  Additionally, you review your past medical history (including any traumas, surgeries, infections and other medical problems).  

The new patient forms can be filled out when you show up for your first visit.  Or if you prefer, you can get the forms before you come in for your first visit via downloading them from this website.  One of the benefits of getting the forms ahead of time is that it will reduce the time of your first visit.  When you come in, we can go straight to the consultation (no waiting!). 


2.  Insurance Verification

If you have health insurance, please bring your insurance card and a photo drivers license with you.  We will make a photocopy of them, and then our billing department will be happy to verify benefits and eligibility.   The reason why we photocopy your drivers license is to protect you against identity theft.  


3.  Consultation & Case History

Once your intake paperwork has been completed, you will then have a five to twenty minute consultation with the Doctor.  The consultation is where you get to tell the us what has been going on, where you’ve been hurting, how long you’ve had the problem, describe the severity and quality of the pain, what makes it better or worse, and other therapies that you’ve already tried.  The Doctor will review your past medical history with you, and also review your work, social and family health history.  We believe in doing a thorough case history because it can give us clues about the nature and cause of the problem.   It is a very important component in forming an accurate diagnosis.


4.  Examination

Our primary goal is to objectively evaluate all the involved tissues (bones, muscles, joints, the neurology, etc...) in order to discover what exactly is wrong.  This will then enable us to render the most accurate diagnosis possible.  And from there, we can prescribe a treatment plan that is specific for your unique needs. Click here to see what you can expect from my examiniation

5.  Discharge From First Day

After you have completed your consultation, examination and x-ray study, you are discharged from the first day services.   You then make an appointment for a follow up consultation called a “Report of Findings”.   This special consultation is where the doctor and you will discuss what is going on, what we can do to help, how many visits it’s going to take and what it will cost.   It is strongly recommended that you to bring your spouse or significant other to the report of findings.  Additionally, we recommend that you schedule the report of findings the next day that the clinic is open.

As a rule I do not adjust patients on the first visit, and for a very good reason.  There is no way for me to know ahead of time what the problem is, or if there is some kind of underlying pathology.   I don’t yet know the extent of the degeneration & damage to your joints, discs and other structures.  I don’t know the severity of the misalignment.
To protect you, I wait until I first have all of the information before I initiate treatment.  You wouldn’t rush into surgery without your surgeon first having done full lab workups, having done x-rays and other imaging studies and having done a very thorough and comprehensive examination.  Likewise, you don’t want to rush into a chiropractic care plan without your doctor first having all the information he needs to properly treat you.
I need time to develop your x-rays, analyze them and take precise measurements.  I also need time to review the information from your case history, consultation and examination.  From there, I make a diagnosis of your problem and design an appropriate treatment plan.