Concerns
- Employee and patient possessions were going missing.
- Doctors could be falsely accused of impropriety by patients.
- Difficult to ensure there are always at least two people in the Adjustment Bay with patients.
Results
- Lost or stolen valuables quickly recovered using video evidence.
- Doctors protected from potential malpractice accusations.
- Solink replaces the need for a second employee in the Adjustment Bay with the doctor and patient.
The client:
A growing chiropractic clinic operator
Coreen Cammarano (Cori) operates eight chiropractic franchises across two states with five more planned in a third state. These clinics utilize “open bay” treatment, which means there are three patient tables in the same room.
Solink is currently being used in two of the clinics, but Cori has recently committed to expanding Solink to all eight clinics and the five new locations opening soon. After a close call with one of her doctors, she’s convinced of the value Solink brings as a safety net for medical clinics.
The challenge:
Protect doctors during a changing medical environment
Cori wasn’t thinking about the safety of doctors when she initially went in search of a video security system.
“I installed cameras because a patient had their iPhone stolen. With open bay treating, more than one patient is in the room at a time. Across from each table there is a chair. Patients can place their phone in the basket on the chair during treatment. A patient put their $1,000 phone in the basket and it was taken.”
However, the true challenge presented itself quickly thereafter. A doctor was accused of impropriety. The cost and punishment for such an incident, even in the best case where the Chiropractic Board sides with the doctor, is thousands of dollars. This cost is usually carried by the owner of the clinic and not covered by malpractice insurance.
“At a minimum, the chiropractor would get a mark on their license. There’d also be the cost of hiring an attorney and some form of continuing education for the doctor. It’s expected that the employer will pay for all of this. Even in the best case, this adds up to anywhere between $3,500 and $5,000. Furthermore, there’s no insurance for false claims.”
Cori has seen a general change in the mood of Americans towards medical practitioners in recent years. It’s to the point where she doesn’t believe chiropractors should be entering rooms or adjustment bays with patients alone. However, unlike in hospitals, this is fairly standard practice for chiropractic clinics.
“I think everyone who works in the medical field needs to recognize that the landscape is changing and it’s not favoring the medical professionals. It’s to the point that I would never advise a chiropractor to be alone with a patient, but many still are as having a second employee there can be infeasible. I wanted to offer protection to our employees given this environment.”
Summary:
- Multiple patients are in the open bay treatment area at the same time. During treatment, they place their possessions in baskets on chairs across from the tables. Some valuables were going missing.
- Some patients have less tolerance for medical professionals currently than they did before the pandemic. Sometimes out of malice or misunderstanding this general distrust leads to false accusations. These accusations are expensive for the clinic operator to resolve and potentially life-altering for the doctor.
- It would be safer for the doctors and other staff members to always deal with patients in pairs. However, this can be impractical during appointments.
Why Solink?
Before Solink, Cori had purchased some non-commercial grade cameras to see how that would work. Unfortunately, the video quality was too low to have meaningful value.
Cori decided to contact Solink based on the recommendation of Joe Burum, a fellow chiropractic clinic operator who works with Solink.
Cori sourced her new high-quality cameras directly from Solink for the first two clinics, and she has been so convinced by its value that she’s ordered Solink’s services for her six other clinics and the five new locations.
The solution:
Solink provides a second pair of eyes in the room
Shortly after Cori had Solink installed in two of her chiropractic clinics, a pair of Airpods went missing. She was able to go through the video footage quickly with Motion Search. She then identified another patient taking the Airpods from the basket. Solink helped reunite expensive earphones with the rightful owner—and the clinic was able to retain both patients.
“While the patient was facedown and the doctor was adjusting them, somebody else walked by and took the Airpods. We were able to see this, contact the person who took them, and say ‘we saw you sitting there and take the Airpods on camera, and I’m sure it was an accident.’ The person confirmed this and brought the Airpods back. The patient is still coming to the clinic, so it very well could have been an accident."
Within two months of using Solink, there was an accusation against one of Cori’s chiropractors. This incident was resolved by showing the patient the video footage so she could see that the doctor simply slipped. This made the patient feel better about what occurred and protected the doctor.
Interestingly, the doctors initially were not happy with the idea that they’d be recorded. They were worried that Cori would be using it to push for faster adjustments or other productivity issues. After this incident was resolved quickly, Cori had full buy-in from her doctors.
“The irony is that, when we first put cameras in, I had a couple of doctors who were quite angry. They thought I was going to sit around supervising them. I told them that I’m extraordinarily busy, I don’t have time to do that, and I don’t want to spend my time looking at a wall of monitors. I’m not concerned with how long they spend on patients. As long as the clinic is growing, I assume my staff are doing a good job. One of the doctors who was vocal about not wanting cameras had a complaint filed against them and was quickly asking ‘can you check the cameras for me?’ They changed their tune very quickly after I was able to pull the video footage and use it to save them.”
More recently, an even bigger accusation was laid. A patient accused a doctor of purposefully injuring them out of anger. This could have ended the young doctor’s career if it weren’t for the Solink video exonerating them.
"The most serious complaint we’ve had was about three weeks ago. It came against a doctor in Oklahoma. It was a very serious complaint for a young doctor right out of school and could have changed the course of his career. He could have lost his license for that, but luckily Solink provided evidence that proved the event did not occur. Remember, when you lose your license, you keep the student loans. Without the ability to practice, they have no way of paying back those loans or having a good livelihood."
The result:
Patients, doctors, and property are all protected by a safety net
Cori looks at Solink as the ultimate safety net. It’s there in the background working to keep patients, doctors, and property safe.
“Not too long ago the largest lawsuit ever for a chiropractor in America was $1,000,000. Recently, there was one for $5,000,000. We need a safety net in place to provide honest, indisputable video evidence if anything like that happened to us. Solink is reliable, always working in the background, and quietly doing its job.”
Cori’s three favorite features
Cori has found everything she needs within the Solink platform. When she needs to use Solink, the easy-to-use interface is greatly appreciated. As someone who didn’t grow up with computers, she likes that anyone can use Solink.
High-quality video feeds and the ability to Save and Share clips are two features that she uses regularly.
High-quality video feeds
Cori initially purchased non-commercial cameras and found that “low-quality cameras are not even worth owning.” Solink can help you source and install high-quality security cameras. From there, our platform allows you to get the maximum resolution out of your footage.
Easy-to-use interface
Solink’s interface makes it easy for anyone to search and find the information they need quickly. Even for less technical staff, it is possible to log in and find a needed video or piece of information with little help or training.
Save and Share
Being able to Save and Share video footage directly from the Solink platform is helpful when incidents occur. Once video documentation of an event is found, it can be saved indefinitely and shared with all stakeholders, including attorneys, members of staff, and government officials.
