118 Your Password to the Future
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Dynamic Chiropractic – October 18, 1999, Vol. 17, Issue 22

Your Password to the Future

By Donald M. Petersen Jr., BS, HCD(hc), FICC(h), Publisher
At the top of the front page of the printed version of this issue, every practicing doctor of chiropractic in the world (over 72,000) has been given a personal user identification (ID) and password for ChiroWeb.com. And while the immediate benefit of using these passwords is for private discussion among DCs (only) on internet discussion forums, the situation opens the door to a world of opportunities.

In the next few months, an online store called ChiroMall (currently being beta tested) will be added to ChiroWeb.com. ChiroMall will also use this user ID and password system. This allows companies the ability to offer you online chiropractic products and services without revealing their professional prices to the public (or to your patients).

With your user ID and password, you will be able to review and purchase products and services for chiropractors at wholesale prices. Without that user ID, a patient or member of the public will not even be able to review nonpatient items (chiropractic seminars, books for doctors only, etc.). Those items that can be purchased directly (nutritional products, books about health, etc.) will be listed at consumer prices. All consumers will be encouraged to seek chiropractic care in conjunction with their online purchases.

In the near future, additional informational, educational and other services will be added. The ability to delineate doctors of chiropractic from patients and consumers will not only benefit the chiropractic profession directly, but provide for a number of opportunities for interaction between doctors and prospective chiropractic patients.

ChiroWeb.com's "Ask a Doctor of Chiropractic Forum"* is receiving over 3,000 hits each month. Traffic on our online worldwide chiropractic referral directory (ChiroLocator) is approaching 20,000 hits per month. In addition, over 22,000 printed copies of our patient newsletter (To Your Health) are purchased and distributed to chiropractic patients each month, with another 3,000 DCs preferring to send out the e-mail version to their patients.

To those who understand this vast need, the services mentioned above are just a beginning. As a communications organization, we know that valuable information is the first step toward creating relationships that ultimately lead people to become patients.

In the not-too-distant future, there will be many more opportunities for DCs and consumers to exchange information, build trust and form patient/doctor relationships. The internet is more than a place to find information. It is quickly becoming the preferred method of making contacts, particularly for those people who value their time. While you may not have entered any of our chiropractic discussion forums, I greatly encourage you to do so now. Even if you don't plan on using the forums, please complete your registration by visiting ChiroWeb.com's Discussion Forums page (www.chiroweb.com/chat/chirodiscuss.html ) and clicking on the appropriate link. This will establish your user ID and password and allow you to find them in case you forget them.

If you don't yet have internet access, please write down your user ID and password in a safe place. Should you lose it, it will take very little time to issue it again.

Almost half of the adult population in the United States has internet access, and according to most reports, the information they look for most often is health-related. All we need to do is give them a place to find that information and be ready to answer their questions.

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* This internet discussion forum is where consumers ask questions about different aspects of health and chiropractic. Their questions are answered by George Best,DC, and Allen Manison,DC, two outstanding DCs who volunteer their time to educate the public about the benefits of chiropractic.


Click here for more information about Donald M. Petersen Jr., BS, HCD(hc), FICC(h), Publisher.


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