Why The Feet are So Important

This was actually an article written about our practice by a Major Chiropractic Magazine called "Chiropractic Products."  It was printed in March of 2007. 

Going Platinum
Kevin Wong, DC, has built his practice on the body’s foundation—the feet
By C.A. Wolski

For Kevin M. Wong, DC, spinal care begins not in the back, but with the feet. “When you’re not level, it throws everything off,” he says. “If you’re rolling your feet in, you’re going to have unperceived problems all the way up to your neck.” He estimates about 85% of patients have no perceived pain in their feet, but about the same number have excessively pronated feet causing them to be out of alignment, thus, having pain throughout their spine.

In fact, Wong, who has a thriving practice—Orinda Chiropractic Center, Orinda, Calif—sees treating the feet as the foundation of his work as a chiropractor. It has been a good move. He has built a niche business treating foot-related ailments of his patients, including prescribing orthotics, which leads to lessening their spine-related problems.

This niche is so important to his practice—and his patients—that he invested in the Associate™ Platinum from Foot Levelers. The digital scanning and fitting system allows him to not only fit patients with the orthotic that is best for their situation, but to make the choice absolutely objective.

Digital Foundation
The Associate Platinum is a portable, device that Wong says is easy to operate and a vast improvement over Foot Levelers early iteration of digital scanning—the FasScan. Though Wong used that device, and it was ostensibly portable, he says that it was large and bulky. It had to be moved on rollers. “Every time I moved it, I was afraid I was loosening something inside the machine” he jokes.

The Associate Platinum, on the other hand is very easy to move, consisting of a laptop computer and a glass footplate. The whole unit only weighs about 17 pounds and can be carried with one arm. Wong has the device set up in a dedicated space in his office, though it is also ideal for scans on the go at health fairs and other community events. Once Wong enters in the patient’s height, weight, age, and sex, he has them step on the glass plate and proceeds to the scan, which takes less than two minutes to complete. “It takes more time to put in the information then to do the scan,” he says.

The digital scanner, which is embedded under the glass footplate slides across the foot taking readings and feeds the data to the laptop. The result is a normal and colorized image of the foot that shows the weight distribution of the patient’s three arches and areas of asymmetry. “When the patients see the color picture of their feet, they’re amazed,” says Wong.

Wong also has the Associate Platinum’s PostureCheck™ feature on his machine. This option allows Wong  to conduct complete postural screenings in about five minutes. The scanner and laptop together are able to show in a three dimensional read out how the patient’s foot imbalances are affecting their postural stability. This information can then be printed out for the patient to take home and read.

Wong uses the Associate Platinum to educate his patients about their foot health and why an orthotic might be the right choice for them. And though it is an important part of his practice, he does not push his patients—particularly those whose complaints may not have anything seemingly to do with their feet—to have an evaluation until he has built a rapport with them. “About 90% of my patients will eventually be scanned by the machine,” he says.

There is no doubt in Wong’s mind that the Associate Platinum has been good for educating his patients —purchasing it outright because of its benefits to his practice.

Business Footing
The Associate Platinum does not just give Wong a report of the patient’s need for orthotics or their posture. It goes one step further—it helps him to choose the right orthotic for the patient. Foot Levelers offers a number of options for patients and criteria such as activity level or the type of shoes that they wear most often can be added to the height-weight-sex-age parameters. “The Platinum will give three options—good, moderate, and best for the patient,” says Wong. It is then up to the patient which one will ultimately be chosen.

Wong says one of the nice things about this feature of the Associate Platinum is that it steers the patient and the practitioner to the orthotic that is best for the particular situation. Wong admits that, like most professionals who fit orthotics, he has his favorite ones, so he is grateful for the objective suggestions made by the software for keeping him focused on the patient’s needs and not his own orthotic preferences. And while orthotics can range into the hundreds of dollars, Wong tries to keep his pricing affordable.

Once the patient has chosen their orthotic, Wong keeps them on the scanner staring at the computer screen while he orders the stabilizer, which is done online through the Associate Platinum. This is a long way from the old days when a patient had to step into a brick of foam and Wong then had to mail it to Foot Levelers. “It used to take three weeks to get the orthotic,” he says. “Now they have it in Virginia [at Foot Levelers headquarters] in a few seconds.” The turnaround time is seven to ten days. Another selling point of the orthotics is that they have a one to two year, money-back guarantee. Orders can be sent individually or in batches.

Foot Levelers offers full customer service and support for the Associate Platinum, with customer service representatives available at every step from initial set up to operation. They are even available to assist with marketing.

The patient’s information is stored in the Associate Platinum for 24 months, which facilitates reorders.  Oftentimes, Foot Levelers runs special where patients where doctors, and thereby patients, can save money on phone re-orders.

Probably the biggest advantage that the Associate Platinum gives Wong is that it makes his findings more objective. “When I put a patient on the machine, it helps validate, bolster and support what I have explained about the state of the patient’s feet,” he says. “It makes me even better at what I do and gives me credibility.” This is not only important for his patients—many of whom come to him specifically because they have foot-related problems—but with payers. He has found that he has an easier time getting reimbursed because he has the objective proof of his findings.

Question: Dr. Wong—how has the Associate Platinum helped business from a patient level or financial perspective?

Having the Associate Platinum in my office has made it much easier for patients to understand why they need to have custom molded orthotics.  After seeing the asymmetries in their feet, they readily accept and are usually the ones who request that I go ahead and order the orthotics.  

Of course this has helped my practice from a financial perspective.  I am usually casting anywhere from 5-7 pairs of orthotics per week, plus the phone re-orders.  I dislike “hard selling” and “in your face-marketing” techniques so the Associate Platinum helps me close the deal.

But like every tool, the Associate Platinum is really secondary to his own knowledge—which he has been honing for more than a decade. For instance, he recently saw a young woman with two ankle sprains—a cadet at the local police academy—who was brought to Wong by her mother, who is an orthotic patient of his. Wong evaluated her using the Associate Platinum and determined that she has two flat feet. To alleviate her pain and show her what an orthotic could do for her, Wong taped her feet with sport tape, giving her a sense of what it feels like to have supported arches. The woman immediately felt better and ordered a pair of orthotics.

Even though Wong has built a good reputation by objectively evaluating patients with the Associate Platinum, prescribing orthotics, and improving patients’ postures, there are still those difficult cases that show how patience along with the right tools are the best long-term strategy for success.

Changing Minds…er…Feet
Wong says that most of his patients will eventually be evaluated by the Associate Platinum, but it is not a requirement for care. Like any other chiropractor working today, he offers a wide variety of treatments from diversified to activator to Thompson.

One of his spinal patients, a woman in her early fifties was, in Wong’s opinion, in need of an orthotic device. However, she was very resistant to the idea, believing that because she wore flip-flops that she did not need an orthotic to correct a problem she did not believe she had. Wong’s strategy for approaching her was to do so “gently,” he says, bringing up the idea, but not pushing it on her.

This gentle approach continued for about a year, until she relented and stepped onto the Associate Platinum. Wong was able to fit her in a three-quarter length orthotic that fit in her flip flop, assuring her that there was a money back guarantee in case she did not like it. Velcro strips hold the orthotic in place and within a short period of time after she received the orthotic, she had ordered more than 20 sets of the strips, so she could wear the orthotic with all of her flip flops. Wong cites her as one of his biggest success stories.

“She was so resistant and then she came in one day and hugged me,” he says, adding that she has almost worn out the orthotic already.

Since then, this patient has been a rallying point for orthotics, encouraging family and friends to go to Wong to have an evaluation.

Wong has helped many of his chiropractic patients using the Associate Platinum’s evaluative power to improve their posture and feel better. But occasionally there are those patients who present a condition that is beyond his ability to heal. In those cases, he refers them to a local podiatrist. The arrangement is reciprocal. She also refers patients to him as well.

Education is an integral part of both the Associate Platinum’s programming and Wong’s approach to care. Once a patient is evaluated,  he uses the Platinum to educate them about orthotics. But educating patients is only part of his efforts to pass on knowledge about orthotics and the Associate Platinum.

Passing the Torch
Wong is passing his knowledge and expertise about orthotics and the Associate Platinum on to other chiropractic clinicians. He teaches a number of courses all over the country. The courses range from four to 12 hours. Question: Dr. Wong, could you give me a sentence or two about these courses?

Wong’s relationship with Foot Levelers has spanned most of his career. His association with the company, both as an instructor and as a user of its products is advertised on his Web site. Again, it is another way for him to show his expertise in the field of posture and foot care.

Like any tool, the Associate Platinum comes with a price. And it is one that Wong has gladly paid.

Worth the Price?

But it is the understanding the Associate Platinum brings to patients that also makes it worth the initial outlay of capital and the dedication of precious floor space. “If I and the patients understand each other and have a good rapport, then they will understand that orthotics are a tool to feel better,” he says, and the Associate Platinum is the gateway to that feeling.

Ironically, Wong’s goal for the Associate Platinum and the orthotics he prescribes would seem to be bad for business. “The [ultimate goal] is to keep them out of the office,” he says. In other words, he wants his patients to improve their posture and not need his services.

Instead, the Associate Platinum seems to generate an endless stream of patients that need help with their foundation. “It’s a pretty amazing machine,” says Wong.

C.A. Wolski is a contributing writer for Chiropractic Products.