How to Open or Improve a Successful Alternative Health Care Practice

by Tim Brunson DCH

Transitioning from qualification to practice in an alternative health field to offering services to the public is a gigantic step. Theodore W. Robinson's book How to Open or Improve a Successful Alternative Health Care Practice is probably the best guide on the market for navigating the business world. While he targets a specific audience, any MBA or business school professor will quickly realize that Mr. Robinson's thorough advice is applicable to just about anyone who desires to start any type of practice. This includes allopathic medical licensees, psychologists, and even attorneys.

The immediate attractiveness of this book is its logical progression and the fact that it leaves no stone unturned – at least as far as I can tell. This encyclopedic work spans the gamut of goal-setting, business plans, Internet use, marketing, licensing, and much more. While the author gives plenty of real-world examples using the practice that he runs with his wife as a model, the carefully explained concepts can be easily adapted to fit most personalities and situations. Mr. Robinson's hands-on experience as a practitioner and his 33 years as a trial lawyer working with business clients adds a dimension rarely found in how-to business guides.

One of the first realizations that a wannabe clinician will have when reading this book is that offering healing services is not just about the skills picked up during training and qualification. Indeed, running a business is a stand-alone academic field. Mastering and maintaining the content-oriented skills of a practice must be combined with the process-oriented skills regarding business management if the endeavor is to succeed. Unfortunately, at best most medical schools and alternative health care training institutions only provide a vague introduction to these vitally needed skills. It is this gap that Mr. Robinson's book fills.

Despite the excellent quality and value of this work, there are a few things that I wish that he had done differently – or perhaps accomplish in a follow-up publication. The first is the title. Most of my readers know that I prefer that books to have short titles limited to three to five words at the most. One the other hand, the current title is a fantastic subtitle. It clearly states the purpose of the book.

The second issue that I have is with the nature of the material. This book is so badly needed as most clinicians – to include both allopathic, psychology, and alternative – have not only a lack of talent in this area, but also a near phobia when it comes to business and making money. Therefore, although this book is about as clear as you could hope, the subject matter is still daunting to most readers. In fact, in his efforts to be as complete as possible, I'm afraid that many readers would tend to feel a little overwhelmed. Therefore, including more checklists or even a time line would have helped simplify the process of opening a practice. And, for those who use the book to evaluate and improve an existing practice, a guide offering problem-solution oriented advice (e.g. increase sales, improve office appearance, etc) would have increased the value of the information.

Regardless of these fine-tuning comments, this is a book that I highly recommend both for those considering starting a practice as well as those wanting to improve an existing one. As this topic is so vital to a clinician's success, I would suggest that it be used as a textbook for a required course leading to certification or licensure.