PHYSICIAN WEALTH MEDS
ALLIGNED & THRIVING: How the Marketing Strategies of Chiropractor Dr. Mike DeCubellis Ignite Practice Growth
PODCAST TRANSCRIPT
PODCAST INTRO
Welcome to the PHYSICIAN WEALTH MEDS podcast! It’s wealth medicine for doctors.
If you’re a doctor and you have NO TIME, it looks like you found us JUST IN TIME!
This podcast is for all doctors who would like to work on their personal wealth but do not have traditional hours to do so because they have NO TIME.
We’re here to jump into topics that will help you address your wealth both INSIDE and OUTSIDE of your practice so you can live the life of significance you’re dreaming of!
You’ll hear from your peers, you’ll hear from industry professionals AND YOUR HOST and wealth advisor, Kevin Sullivan.
This is YOUR TIME…..Now let’s get started with today’s podcast.
PODCAST
KEVIN SULLIVAN
Okay, welcome again to the Physician Wealth Med podcast. We like to say it's wealth medicine for doctors. I'm your host and wealth advisor, Kevin Sullivan. And for those who don't know, have been in the industry since 1989. I have active clients in 14 different states and I'm the author of the book Managing Income and Retirement, so that makes me a financial writer that way, but also, , for other publications and I love doing what we're doing.
I have a passion to help people. and this podcast here is specifically designed for doctors and we bring no recommendations as far as that goes to the show, but it's our desire just to provide. Good educational content for doctors so that they can view this and see this, hear this on their own time when they have time to do it, because we know you're busy.
And we have the pleasure today of having Dr. Mike DeCubellis with us here from his chiropractic center called the Chiropractic and Wellness Center in Downers Grove Illinois. He's received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida in nutritional sciences. Extremity and fitness work has always been important to him, so he's completed his certified chiropractor, extremity practitioner training to better treat patients with other joint issues besides the neck and back.
He's also the author of two books with the latest one released in July of 2022. Entitled, why didn't the Pain Go? And I just ordered that myself and I'm sure it's going to be a great read. If you don't own it, we'll have the image, we'll have the contact information of how they can get your book too. Here today on the podcast, he's well connected to his community, and he's been seen on NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, and other various networks.
And he's all over LinkedIn, which is how I found out about him with multiple posts per day. And he loves the educational side of his profession. And it definitely shows, and I understand he's a Tampa Bay Buccaneer fan, and we just had a convers a conversation about that. Me too, for various reasons. But welcome today to the podcast and I appreciate you joining us, Mike.
DR. DECUBELLIS
Yeah, thanks for having me.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
Thank you so much for, joining us today.
Tell us a little bit about your team and who you are and your practice and what's going on there.
As I said before I'd love to find out about TV experience and what you do there and of course about your books. Let's just dig right in. Tell me a little bit about your practice and your staff and what's going on there in Illinois.
DR. DECUBELLIS
Yeah, so my practice is really designed to be our focus is on chronic and complex injury related issues.
So, we do a lot of personal injury, but also people who have had issues going on for a while, they've been to various other doctors and just never got great results. So we take time to actually look and connect things together, find out what's going on, make sure we document everything properly, diagnose everything properly.
Work with other doctors, when need be, this way. We put everything together and we put the patient first, so we get the best results possible, even if it's not in our clinic, if we need to work with someone else. So with that we have our staff trained to make sure that we are checking all the boxes along the way, getting all the information we need to, whether that's past medical records contacting an attorney that might be working on the case, whatever it might be, but also making sure that the patients.
Their questions are answered. They feel completely comfortable, and they know what's going on all along their journey as well. That sounds great. So, it's nice to have all your team on the same page for what you're doing, I'm sure. Tell us about your client experience when they come in. Yeah, so the biggest thing is that when we first start, we're going to take a really deep dive into what's going on.
So usually, patients are here for about an hour, sometimes more depending on how in-depth we need to go. But I want to know what's going on with them, how long it's been going on what could be causes. And then we're going to link that with also what we find physically. A lot of patients don't realize that their gator biomechanics have changed.
Focus on their pain. So, we need to look at all of that because we're, looking for end game the goal here, not just symptom relief. We want to make sure it doesn't come back if that's possible. .
KEVIN SULLIVAN
I know you wrote the book and talks about like personal pain, going into a lifetime of pain….
Tell us a little bit about that.
DR DECUBELLIS
Yeah and that's what I think a lot of people don't understand, is that anytime you have an accident, injury, trauma or discomfort, your body's going to go through three different phases of. . Now at each phase, there's timelines for how long they last, but there's also processes that are going on inside your body to make sure that you heal the right way.
Now, on the other side of that, there are some negative effects of healing that become permanent if you don't do the right things at the right time. Some of it's as simple as when to use ice versus when to use heat. Some of it's when you should be doing strengthening versus when you should be doing stretching, but it's also playing around with knowing when scar tissue's developing and how to make sure it doesn't form.
And making sure, again, we're looking at long term, so our treatment kind of changes as they go and as they're reaching certain biomarkers as well.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
That's fantastic. I know with my chiropractor he, has that spinal image that you can see, and you can see where you pull into the left, pull into the right.
I don't know if that's old or new technology or something that you use as well, but it is nice to see if you're aligned or not after you're gone through the process.
DR DECUBELLIS
yeah, we do something a little bit different because that while that's very helpful that's very more symptomatic. So, we want to look, okay, what's causing those muscles to pull this way?
We look at things like the gating mechanism and how long things have been there. So, we look at all these different things and everyone's going to be so different. So, it's really all about making sure we can track it, because we might need to change someone's treatment after a week or someone else, maybe after.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
So how do you tie in your marketing to how you get patients in the office? Is that a big part of how you generate new patients coming in? Tell us a little bit about your marketing.
DR DECUBELLIS
Yeah, so we do things that are a little bit different than a lot of other “Chiros”….really big on trying to get my name and brand out there. Really through clinical excellence. So, first thing I've done is gone through and made sure that I have extra credentials and qualifications that set me apart.
So, this way I can be an expert in the field and then also make sure we connect with also other local businesses that are in the area. We were really big on doing that, especially when Covid was going on some of the smaller ones that really got hit hard with shutdowns and things like that.
So working with them to help push them up. So, I even started a podcast that would go around town and we would talk with those individuals and businesses and help promote them as well. So really just it's, about working with others, letting them see what you do and then from there getting referrals.
And that's, really been our, kind of our. .
KEVIN SULLIVAN
Now, do other chiropractors in your city do the same thing, or do you find that you're out there, you're doing a little bit more than others, or where do you think you fit there?
DR DECUBELLIS
It's a little bit different. I don't think anyone's really doing the same thing that we have been doing.
At least not in our city. There's been some others in other states and things like that. And really the one big thing is when it comes to the qualifications, there's no one in my area anywhere that has those qualifications. And it took me hundreds of hours to get those things.
But I did it because I felt like this is going to not only help the patients get better, but it helps me work with other doctors and specialists on a closer to that same level because now we're speaking the same language and we can understand the same things. When I can sit there and discuss an MRI with an orthopedic surgeon and tell them, hey, this is what I'm seeing.
This is why I think you should take a look at this patient. They respect that a lot.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
That's fantastic because that's been always a rub in the industry, right? It's to have those qualifications so that when you open your mouth, it's okay, you exactly know what you're talking about.
DR DECUBELLIS
Yeah, exactly.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
As far as LinkedIn goes, and I've seen you all over LinkedIn, it is like multiple posts per day that, I see sometimes, and it's fantastic. So, I, my, my curiosity kicked in, number one, it seems like you have a huge passion to educate people. As well, and with, what I've seen commercials, education events that you put on educational posts and, things like that.
Maybe even some “how to posts” if I remember right, .
Yeah. And then your exercise. I like your exercise charts you throw up there every now and then. But I was just looking at that, and how far away you get your patients from, because LinkedIn is, all over.
So, do you have a focus right in your city or where do they come from when it as a result of LinkedIn?
DR DECUBELLIS
Usually with LinkedIn it's not so much getting the patients themselves, but it's getting referrals from other people who see those and then refer them in. And we might get a patient especially if it's from a referral from an attorney or another doctor, we might get 'em as far as an hour away. And it, really just depends, but.
What's nice about that is when we put it on LinkedIn then we can also allow people to share that content through other social media like Facebook or things like that as well. So, we can cross platform.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
No, that's fantastic because that way they're coming to you for your expertise, and they see the value in that and this value in finding the right chiropractor that might not be the closest one to them and I'm sure you see that.
Yeah. And that's what's been really interesting in the last, I'd say two years, we've had people that I had one person come in from three hours away because while they knew they weren't going to be able to get treated, they wanted the initial exam and diagnoses so they could know what's going on.
And then I could write a plan that they could then take to a local doc. And that was very valuable for them. And we were able to identify things that just hadn't been looked at.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
Now that's priceless right there. That is huge. Where do you find the inspiration for your posts? Do you write them yourself or do you tell some other people on your staff to, to continue to do that or what?
DR DECUBELLIS
Yeah. Combination. A lot of the stuff I do come up with myself, a lot of it. I have the staff trained and know what my voice is and what my vision is, so they'll put some of those things up as well. But I'm really big on, especially when it comes to video, trying to be in those videos myself.
Because I want people to know that “A”, the information that's coming through is, directly from me. And then also, when people see me over and over, the really big thing that I've been focused on is I want people to feel comfortable when they come in and see me. So, if they've seen me on video a couple times now when they come in, we don't have that anxiety that you typically might get when you go to a doctor's office.
It's oh, “I've already seen the doc”. He's already answered a couple of these questions. I feel comfortable before I even go in the door.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
Right! They know you. They like you; they trust you. They know what the sound of your voice is. Even video can pick up the mannerisms that you have and, how they'll, you'll approach them when they come in and all of that.
So, let's talk a little bit about being a personal injury doctor versus a standard chiropractor. Excuse me for saying standard. It's a different line of work when you're in the personal injury space.
DR DECUBELLIS
Yeah, it definitely is. And it also is interesting that it, even that in itself varies by the state, depending on what state laws are.
With that, it requires more time. It really requires a lot more work because these people are injured and potentially, they have serious injuries. So, we not only have to make sure we've. Find all of that out, get all the information from them about the accident, the injury the car that hit them, the speed, all that information.
And we also have to make sure we get in contact with the attorney and let them know, hey, this is what we're working on. This is what we found. Whatever that might be. And then get all the information from all the prior treating docs, even if it was just an ER visit or a primary care visit. And then look to see also what is all their preexisting, what have they been treated for in the past?
We've got to get all that information. So, it really takes the whole staff to be working together because they've got to be requesting the records and follow up on that. Then I can get them all in and review them and then write reports based on that.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
And, the timeline can be daunting, I guess from what I'm, gathering I, read some of the daily posts on the Facebook feed that comes in with that PI group that we're members of and just it's amazing that you get beat up by either the insurance adjusters or the attorneys on number one, the fee that you received for that, but also the timing. That and, it must be really hard to start something. So, what's the process usually take from starting of treatment, like you were just describing to the complete payout on the other side?
DR DECUBELLIS
It again, it varies per state. The biggest thing with where I'm at in Illinois usually the soonest we're ever going to expect any kind of payment or settlement to be finalized is going to be six months. But usually, it takes closer to two to three years, especially if it has to go to trial and they have to go through all of the docs and get depositions done.
It takes a lot of time throwing the fact that C O V I D. Put a stop to all trials for a little while and things are backed up right. It makes it a little bit more difficult. So, there is a very large timeline now, however, if you look at a state like Florida, yeah because Florida is a no fault state.
I had a practice there for a couple years as well, and with that you can get paid right away up to a certain amount because they have that no fault insurance already there. Now in Illinois we don't have that. So it takes a little bit longer to get paid. That, that's a journey that you take when you sign up for each one of those patients, I'm sure.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
Yeah. Now, does it ever work like to your favor, where they pay you directly while they're waiting for the settlement, or is that just not acceptable?
DR DECUBELLIS
No, you could do that. I've had patients to where we, they start paying toward their balance because ultimately, they are responsible for that.
And if they can do that's also very helpful because it shows just even more that, hey, they definitely needed this treatment. They're willing to pay out of their own pocket for it. So that's also very helpful.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
Excellent. I know I'm jumping around on some of these questions here, but what makes you run as hard as you do and what's your passion? What would you see for your vision as well for your practice moving forward?
DR DECUBELLIS
The reason I, do what I do and I work so hard to do this, is because I want to make sure that people get answers to what's going on. They're not just told, okay, you come in with back pain, I'm going to diagnose you with back.
That's a symptom and people are being told that, and they're getting treated for a symptom, which now they're getting a band aid put on it. They're never getting told what actually was injured, how that injury needs to heal and what needs to be done. So, they're just left with more questions than answers, and then they get mediocre results because they were never getting treatment based on the underlying issue.
So, I want to make sure that doesn't happen. I try to make myself a resource not only to patients, but to other doctors and attorneys if they have questions. I'm more than happy to help them out, answer questions that may, they might have. And that's really where my goal is to where I'd like to be going soon, is transferring more into the expert realm where I can really focus on helping more doctors and attorneys because then I can have an impact on more patients as well.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
That's fantastic. So would you find it in your own practice bringing more doctors in or just more regionally helping other doctors, a combination of both?
DR DECUBELLIS
So we'll bring some doctors in to take over some of the day-to-day, and then I'll be more regional in being able to help out that way.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
We did a podcast with a chiropractor that had been doing a radio show for 31 years so he is like the voice around in our area.
So, you're doing podcasts, have you ever done radio or anything like that?
DR DECUBELLIS
I haven't had my own radio show, but I've been on radio shows before. And it's interesting it's, very strange going to radio, especially if there's no video feed cause I'm just so used to being on camera and, having to always look forward and that stuff.
That was a little strange not having the video there. But yeah, I've done some of those things before. Lots of podcasts and especially last couple years everything's, done over the computer, right? Not a ton of in-person interviews being done anymore.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
Now with your position that you have now. I know that Covid made video mainstream. It used to be a luxury that you'd have. Yes. We have video. We can talk to you but, when you come out of Covid and video became more mainstream, do you find yourself doing more video connections with, your clients maybe after you've done treatment for follow-ups or anything like that?
DR DECUBELLIS
No, not really because we, there's only so much you can get by talking to someone.
I have to physically see them, so there, we just can't do any of the tests. So, while I might check in with them and we might talk about if we're talking about like how it's impacting them in their daily life and work and activities of daily living and those things we can go over, over video.
But we're still going to need to get them in and do an actual exam to put those two things together. But it's really been helpful when we're talking, other doctors and attorneys that we can meet to go over things because now we can sit and talk about a case. They can send me the files, I can look at it, we can look over it together.
I can put up on my screen and say, hey, this is the MRI. This is what we're looking at. That's really been extremely helpful. Extremely helpful. Yes. Because that saves a ton of time. And then we can both be on the same page at the same time.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
Very good. Tell us a little bit about your book and how you use that, maybe as an educational piece or a way to, to solidify your credibility or what's, what positioning do you use for your book?
DR DECUBELLIS
Yeah so, I've got two and the first one is really based off of posture. So, it's for anyone who's wanting to find out ways to increase their posture and some stretches and exercises. So, like a, book to just help some people, not with any major issues, but just with those types of things.
The other book though, I really want to take time to give a little bit of depth into how things heal, and then also some of the ways that we would do treatment based on the healing process. Now we have to be a little bit general because everyone's different, but just going through and explaining why would this happen?
Why would this test be ordered? Or why would this treatment be done? We tie that back to, okay, this is what's happening inside your body at this time whether we have the repair phase, the remodel, whatever it might be. Different things are going on, so we would be doing different things or looking for different things.
So, this way people can understand the process and the journey. And then it also is nice because the way that I wrote it is in the voice of how I talk. So, people Yes can, experience it that way as well. Absolutely. When I wrote my book, it was the same thing. I just, I have to write it like I speak.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
Yeah. And that way when you find yourself giving sound bites from your book if you will. Yeah. Because you've already done the research. You know where to go. When people ask you this question, you know exactly how you can answer it, because it clarifies a lot when you write.
And write the book that way. So that's great. We want to make sure that we have the links for both of those books out there for the people that watch these podcasts too. If other doctors want to pick up and, see what you're doing, we want to make sure that's available. I can't imagine it not helping.
DR DECUBELLIS
Yeah, definitely.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
Tell us about NBC, CBX, FOX, all of the ABC. How'd you get in some of the, those local affiliates that you've done some interviews with, or tell us about that experience?
DR DECUBELLIS
Yeah. I've been in there a couple different times through a few things that we did.
Some of 'em were press releases about different cases that I was part of. Some of them were radio shows that I was interviewed on, and then they were put on there. Some of it were articles that were written about something I was doing in my office. . So, we've had various different things over the years and how they've been put up which has been nice.
And then a couple of them, I wasn't even I didn't proactively look to get on there. They reached out to me, which is always nice. That's a great job at point. You don't have to I'm not having to spend the time to do it. And that tells you that you've gotten known enough to where people are seeking you out to make, to make contact.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
That's, huge. That's huge. because you don't want to be the best kept secret in town, and that's the thing. And with, what you're doing, I can't imagine it just not exploding from, here. Here's a guy in New York that picked up on you. Here , we're over near the Niagara Falls area.
But what takeaway would you like to give to other doctors that might be listening to this right now? If you were going to give them anything out of this?
DR DECUBELLIS
I think the biggest thing is that you want to look at yourself and how you brand yourself and how you market yourself as to where you want to be.
And what I mean by that is a lot of docs will sit there and they'll try to market and brand themselves as their clinic. And that's one way you can do it. And that's fine, but the clinic might not be you, especially if your name's not in the clinic name. So, you just always have to think big picture.
What if you end up selling the clinic or if you're part of it, what if you leave and open up another one? You want all the stuff that you do to be able to follow you. That's why you'll see in all of my content especially all my videos, it just says my name not necessarily my clinic name unless we do something specific for them, because I want to make sure people know me.
They don't need to know about the clinic. They just need to seek me out. And then because I might be somewhere else in two months or two years, I want to make sure that they can follow me and get in touch with me if they need to. So that's what I would say is make sure whenever you're doing your kind of marketing or content plan, keep yourself in mind.
Make sure that it's focused on you and then go from there, though.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
Those are excellent points. There was a, book out saying, bet on the jockey, not the horse sometimes, you know what I'm saying? But yeah, it, because it will all lead back to the systems that you've put in place, but you are the face of your practice and the trust and the credibility, integrity, that all goes with you and how you, handle yourself and how you approach your patients for sure.
I've got one more question that I, think I could ask if that's okay. And if you got something else you want to add. And I put this on, my iPad, which is right here in front of you. But regarding personal Wealth, because this is like a, wealth podcast for doctors too. We usually say that. Your practice is the first financial engine that you have that affords you the living that you have and all of the, benefits of being a doctor.
And but a lot of times doctors are so busy working in their practice that it's they're, building that for all those reasons, and they take a backseat to their personal wealth. And as far as that goes personal wealth is, something that you do outside your practice.
What you do with the earnings that you have so that it might even live longer than your practice if you do it right. That type of thing. So how does that affect you and your, practice in your personal life? Do you do investments that are outside of your practice for your future or how does that all look for you?
DR DECUBELLIS
Yeah, a little bit. And the biggest thing is I always try to invest in. So, I look at a, look at something and I say, okay, how is this going to help me and where I want to go? Whether that's either on the business side or personal side. And I think that's really important because especially when it comes to, there's lots of different things you can do investment wise.
You hear about buying this, buying that, especially when it comes to real estate. But I think the problem is that even though something might be a great investment opportunity, and it might be great for someone if you are not the right person for that, you don't have any connection to it, you don't like, then it's not worth doing.
You have to find something that is going to be fitting for you. So maybe it could be, I mean it, and there's lots of different possibilities, but like I know people in this area one of their investments was season tickets with the Cubs. because with the Cubs, they had a 20 year wait list to get on season tickets.
So, when they got in there, they were able to sell those tickets. So almost every game, but I don't know how many games are 80 some games. So, in each, ticket, they were selling for four times the amount that they were paying for it. They did that over a 10-year period. That's a lot of money. They were able to then take and invest and that was something that didn't take a lot of money to get started with either.
So, it really is just finding out what works best for you and something you can sustain that.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
That's a great point to, to put the passion into what you're doing because if you hate it, if you don't understand it, why do it? And sometimes you, think this investment carries everybody else's worries and I just want to be the one that worries about it.
So That's right. I see a lot of doctors invest in real estate for the deductibility purposes or just income, cash flow too as well. I love the ticket thing too, and that's a great way to do it. As long as you're getting back more than what you're paying out. That's, a beautiful story right there.
I think you've got a huge, bright future going on with what you're doing. I, just, I'm glad to be able to be part of it through this pro podcast that we're doing here today. Thank you so much for joining me today. Would you like to give your contact information out or anything that you'd like to do?
That way we can take time for that.
DR DECUBELLIS
Yeah, sure. If anyone has any questions, they can always give me a call at the clinic. It's the easiest way to reach me. Number here is 630- 435- 6461. Also, if anyone has any questions, they can shoot me an email. That might be the easiest way to get in touch with me and it's just dr.decubellis@gmail.com.
KEVIN SULLIVAN
And I would say too, just like in any profession, if you've been a chiropractor for a while, if you've been a doctor for any length of time, you might think, okay I've got it all going on. This is the systems I use, but you can always learn something from somebody else.
Yeah, you can make it better, stronger, faster. You can raise the quality, maybe just get out of the mold that you've been in to be able to see how other doctors are doing it. And it's a great way what you're doing. You're using all the right technology today. To keep you out there in the forefront of patience as, as well as other general population in, your city that you live in.
So, I think that's fantastic. I wish you the greatest of success in what you're doing moving forward, and I'd love to have you back on a, on another podcast at some point.
DR DECUBELLIS
Yeah, sounds great. I'd love to. All right. Thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you for having me. Okay.
PODCAST OUTRO
Well, that’s our podcast for today!
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Physician Wealth Meds – wealth medicine for doctors.
· Dr. Mike DeCubellis, Wellness in Downers Grove Illinois, are not affiliated with or endorsed by LPL Financial or Physician Wealth Meds.
•Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor, Member FINRA/SIPC.
• The opinions voiced in this podcast are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate qualified professional prior to making a decision.
Kevin Sullivan / Wealth Advisor – Host
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