“People love [AcuGraph], it gets you patients, and potential clients love the charts and insights into their health. But…”
I was cleaning my home office not long ago, and you’ll never guess what I found: A phone book. The Yellow Pages, in fact. Remember those?
I frankly didn’t know I still had a phone book in the house, and was not at all surprised to find that this particular example was out of date–by a couple of years. Into the recycle bin it went.
And that got me thinking…
Years ago, when “Acupuncture Technology” was just a concept
When I started Miridia Technology 14 years ago, “Acupuncture Technology” was pretty much oxymoron. Sure, there were a few electric stim devices around, but for the most part, you could practice acupuncture with nothing but your hands and some needles. I knew of practitioners who, literally, didn’t own a computer, and frankly didn’t see any need for one.
All you needed was a source of patients, and that source was generally the yellow pages. Place an ad, get some calls. The more expensive the ad, the more calls, right?
A lot changes in 14 years though.
In today’s world…
Having a successful acupuncture practice means:
- Having a website
- Facebook page
- Twitter account
- Patient management software
- Blog or newsletter
- Accounting software
- Reference software
- And–possibly–even a Yellow Pages ad.
Did acupuncture change?
No. Frankly, you could still practice acupuncture with nothing but your needles and your hands. Unfortunately, some practitioners and even some schools, still struggle under this model. “If you get results,” says the conventional wisdom, “you’ll always have a full practice.”
It’s really too bad it doesn’t work that way any more. Wouldn’t we all love to just focus on patient care and leave the rest to take care of itself?
Of course, we all know that if we expect to find new patients, keep contact with our existing patients, play a role in our community, receive a paycheck, pay taxes, track inventory, or keep good patient records, technology is a must.
And this brings me to the point…
In a recent acupuncture news group exchange, I read with interest as an acupuncturist touted all the benefits of AcuGraph:
“People love it, it gets you patients, potential clients love the charts and insights into their health.” But, she noted, “It costs about 2 grand.”
Yes it does.
My first Yellow Pages ad cost nearly TEN grand for the year. That’s almost a thousand dollars per month for an ad I couldn’t change or update for a year. It did almost nothing to get me clients, but I was scared to death of canceling it.
After all, it’s the Yellow Pages. What else is there?
Isn’t technology wonderful?
If you are not convinced enough how technology can help in your practice why not watch the AcuGraph Video demonstrations. What have you got to lose?
