#209: Dr. Eric Ehle: Treating the Whole Patient with Integrative Medicine
- Eric is board-certified in family medicine, medical acupuncture, and integrative medicine. He's an assistant professor at Texas Tech University and a faculty member with the IVT Academy.
- He went to film school but seeing his dad—who was a chiropractor—inspired him to become a certified EMT, earn a bachelor's degree in nutrition sciences, and eventually, open his own practice.
- Initially, he started by seeing patients at his dad's clinic and then launched his own practice once his patient base grew.
- Jason and Eric discuss the pros and cons of learning on the job versus formal business training and the advantage of having a mentor.
- When you own a practice, you can implement whatever you're interested in or whatever helps your patients. You can prioritize quality over quantity.
- Integrative medicine and functional medicine overlap in places, but they differ in terms of approach and style. Think of integrative medicine as the umbrella and functional medicine as the subset.
- Integrative medicine utilizes both conventional and alternative approaches to treat the whole patient.
- Eric believes once you see the light, it's hard to ignore integrative medicine. It opens the door to out-of-the-box thinking.
- When it comes to launching your own healthcare business, focus on the destination. Sell the experience and the outcomes to acquire more patients.
- Eric determines what services to add to his clinic based on three things: growing the business, improving the bottom line, and enhancing patient outcomes.
- IV therapy is one of the integrative medical services he provides. The team customizes IVs to address each client's specific needs.
- When the timing is right, consider diversifying by offering ancillary services to generate multiple revenue streams.
- The best way to grow your clinic? Find new patients, get them to trust you, and then let them see what else you have to offer.
- Eric grew up with a passion for medicine and an end goal of opening a practice so he took the necessary courses and surrounded himself with people who did what he wanted to do.
- The bottom line is to pursue what you love. Figure out your passion, purpose, and do some soul searching.
- Get patients to know, like, and trust you. Word of mouth is everything.