Ep #66 - Your Patients Have This Bias. So Do You — And It's Killing Your Practice

You know how to spot confirmational bias in your patients. But what if the same thing — the same mental loop that keeps your patients stuck — is quietly running the show inside your own practice?

That's exactly what Jody is digging into in this episode. It started with a moment in a Worldlink Medical training room, listening to Dr. Neal Rouzier talk hormones and labs, and hearing the term "confirmational bias" for the first time. In the context of patient care, it made perfect sense — but what Jody didn't expect was how clearly she'd start seeing it in clinic owners. Not just occasionally. Everywhere.

In this solo teaching episode, Jody walks through the three most common ways confirmational bias shows up in hormone and functional medicine practice owners, why these specific beliefs are so hard to shake, and what it actually looks like to move past them.

This isn't a "believe in yourself" pep talk. It's a real, honest, sometimes uncomfortable look at the stories we tell ourselves — and the very practical steps that follow once we decide to stop telling them.

Topics covered:

• Why "I'm not a business person" is a confirmational bias — and what the marathon story has to do with it

• The biggest mistake clinic owners make when they hire vendors or staff (and why the bookkeeper story will hit close to home)

• The real cost of discounting your services on the spot — including the math on a single free male pellet

• Why fairness to your patients matters more than you think when it comes to pricing

• The one shift that separates clinic owners who grow from those who stay stuck

This episode is for the provider who is great at taking care of patients but feels like the business side might be getting away from them. You're closer than you think — and Jody's going to show you exactly why.

Learn more at: acceleratedmedicalpractices.com

This podcast is powered by Accelerated Medical Practices, where we believe hormone and wellness care should be both life-changing and profitable.  If you own or run a clinic and are interested in being a guest on the show, please complete the form here and let's connect!  Or email Jody at Jody@AcceleratedMedicalPractices.com.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Welcome to Beyond Hormones, the Business of Wellness, the podcast for hormone and functional medicine providers who want a thriving, predictably profitable practice, and maybe a little less stress along the way. Hi, I'm your host, Jody Lane, and I've worked with lots of clinics in marketing, sales, and business development, and I have seen what works and what doesn't. And here's what I believe. Hormone and wellness care should be available to everyone who wants it. And while providers know the medicine, many struggle with the business side of their cash practice. And that's where I come in. See, this podcast is here to share real strategies, real stories, things you can implement in your practice right away. So I am so glad you're here. Come on, let's go. Hey everybody, welcome back to the Beyond Hormones, the Business of Wellness podcast. I'm your host, Jody Lane, and today I want to start with a question. How many of you have ever used the term confirmational bias? And how many of you have used it in the last year? Maybe you used it in a training? Maybe you used it with a patient. Maybe you've heard it so many times in the hormone world that it's just part of how you talk about what we do. If you know this term, and I'm guessing most of you do, it's probably because of the fight that we've been fighting for such a long time around hormone therapy. You see, when the WHI study came out back in the early 2000s, it scared everyone. Patients, providers, the whole medical establishment decided that hormone therapy was dangerous, would cause cancer, and needed to go away. And even as the science has evolved, even as better studies came out, even as providers like you showed up with better data and better outcomes, the original belief stayed locked in. That first fact became the truth. And everything that contradicted it got filtered out. That is confirmational bias. The first time we hear something as truth, our brain locks it in, and every contradiction that follows gets dismissed because it doesn't match what we already believe. Now I want you to sit with that definition just for a second. Because in the hormone world, we know exactly how damaging that bias can be. We've actually dedicated our careers to fighting it. We train, we educate, we advocate all in the name of overcoming a belief that got locked in incorrectly. So, my question for you today: if you can see this bias so clearly in your patients, why can't you see it in yourself? Listen, I want to take you back to a moment in my life where I was in a hormone training at World Link Medical. I was sitting in the back of the room. The incredible Dr. Neil Rousier was at front and he was talking about labs and thyroids, all the things you providers would have loved to have been listening to. And then he said these words confirmational bias. And something just clicked inside of me. For that moment, I understood something I never had heard before. Ever since the WHI study came out, the fear that got baked in, the patients who got dismissed, everything we had told them was suddenly gone, and their lives were altered forever, all because of this one fact. And it completely made sense to me. I remember sitting there thinking, this is now why I'm here. This bias has hurt so many people that I want to be a part of fixing it. That was one of the first moments in this industry where I felt completely bought in. Like this is the work. This is what I want to commit my life to. You may have had that same feeling. Now, fast forward to today. I have worked with hundreds of hormone and functional medicine clinics. And I tell you, I see confirmational bias everywhere. But it's shifted. It's not in the patients as much anymore. It's in you, the clinic owners. And honestly, it's absolutely killing your practices. So today I want to walk through the three most specific places I see it. Because I think if you hear yourself in one of these, and I think you just might, it's going to change something for you. Not because I told you to change it, but because once you see it, you can't unsee it. You ready? All right. Bias number one. I'm not a business person. I have heard some version of this from nearly every clinic owner I have ever worked with. And I get it. There's almost a cultural story in medicine that doctors are brilliant clinicians and terrible business people. It's practically a joke at this point. Maybe you even said it to yourself. But here's the thing: what does it actually mean to be a business person? A certification? A specific degree you had to earn? No, there isn't. Do you know what a business person does? They get an idea, they go get the training they need, they rent a space, they get the tools, they build the systems, they show up every day and figure out what they don't know yet. Sound familiar? You did all of that. You got your clinical training, you rented the office, you applied for the business license, you got the EMR, you built a website. Those are not patient care decisions. Those are all business decisions, and you made them. So where does this I'm not a business person story come from? I'm gonna tell you exactly where it comes from. Doubt. Fear. It's the same fear that lives in every entrepreneur on the planet. I'd like to share a personal story here because I think it might resonate with some of you. When I was 26 years old, I had a dream of running a marathon. I had tried running before and I quit every time. My dad was a runner. I desperately wanted to do it, but I couldn't. So I would tell people, I'm not a runner. And that was my truth. That's what got locked in. Then my husband at the time walked into our house and saw me sitting on the couch holding a postcard from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, learning about their program where you raise money and they train you to run a marathon. And I said, I'm gonna do this. And I need to tell you something that is really embarrassing, but I have to tell you this part. I had a cigarette in my hand when I said it. It was back in the early 90s, so you know, give me a break. Anyway, my husband at the time laughed at me and he said, No, you're not. You'll never run a marathon. Well, that's really all it took for me. I signed up, I got the training, I put in the miles, and I ran that marathon. Now I am 55 years old, I have run 27 marathons. I walk around proudly calling myself a runner. The only difference between the person I was when I said I'm not a runner and the person I became was the work that I chose to do. That's it. Now, every single clinic owner I've ever met who tells me they're not a business person is just someone who hasn't put in the work to learn what they need to know. The gap is knowledge, not identity. And here's the thing about knowledge: you have done this before. When you first heard about hormone replacement therapy, and trust me, I know it was not in medical school. It was brand new to you. It was different. It might have even been a little scary, but you got curious and you went and you learned it. It's that same muscle, is the one that you need right now. Now, this next part may be hard to hear. But the reason I'm not a business person's story feels so safe is because it lets you off the hook for trying. If you are never a business person, well then you can't fail at being a business person, right? It's fake fear. Look, I may have owned many businesses since the early 90s, but in my first year of running this business, accelerated medical practices, I made several mistakes. First, I spent $15,000 building an e-learning system with a major company that kept breaking down and we never marketed it properly. Waste. Then I spent $6,000 on a training program for marketing, something I've been doing for 30 years, and it turned out to be nothing more than a three-ring binder. Before I had barely started this company, I lost more than $20,000. Yes, I am embarrassed. I made those choices, but I got back up. Because fear is not the opposite of success, it's the path to it. Like my mom used to say all the time, be afraid and do it anyway. I love that quote because it doesn't ask you to stop being scared. It just says, feel the fear and move forward anyway. So the next time you hear yourself saying, I'm not a business person, I want you to hear it for what it is. It's just a belief that got locked in probably way early on and has been running the show ever since. And I need you to ask yourself, is that actually true? Or is it just the first thing you decided? Hey listeners, whether this is your first episode of Beyond Hormones or your 50th, I hope you can tell by now how much I love working in the hormone industry and sharing my tips, experience, and guest stories to help you succeed. Your success is truly my personal joy. So if you don't mind, I want to take a quick moment to share a product of ours that I know will truly help many of you build the clinic you have been dreaming of. It's called Practice Automation System. Now here's something that most of the clinics I've spoken with that have scaled past seven figures have quietly figured out. Most marketing doesn't fail trying to get leads. It fails after you've already reached them. According to studies, up to 87% of people don't pick up unknown calls anymore. Isn't that crazy? But deep down, I bet you realize it's true. I know I don't answer unknown phone calls, do you? So that means even if your front desk is being incredible and calling them as soon as they come in, there's a good chance they're not gonna reach them. And if that's all you try, your marketing dollars just vanished. Not because your advertising didn't produce, it's because your message didn't get through. The practice automation system is what we built so that doesn't happen. To reach someone these days, you need to nurture them. They used to say it took five to seven touches to reach someone. Now it can be as high as 20, 30, or even more. We help you text them within five minutes, nurture them automatically for weeks and months. The pipeline keeps moving even when your front desk is busy. I spent years running and growing a hormone clinic in Orlando where we grew to over a thousand patients, four providers, and 23 staff members. So we know this works. You know why? Because we used it ourselves well before we turned this into a product. We're not guessing what hormone patients need because we experienced it. To find out if Practice Automation System is the solution you've been looking for, go to accelerated medical practices.com slash automation. That's accelerated medical practices.com slash automation. All right, let's get back to the show. Okay, bias number two. And this one's sneaky because it's partially true, which makes it even harder to spot. Here it is. If I hire someone to do a job, they'll take care of that part of the business for me. Now, yes, you absolutely should hire people to handle things you're not the best at. That is just smart business. But there's a version of this belief that crosses into something really damaging, and I see it more often than I like. It's the expectation that once you hire, once you write the check, your job is done. That if things don't go well, it's on them and not you. Let me put this in terms that maybe you'll understand a little bit better. Imagine you have a patient who comes in with some pretty serious markers. They have cardiac concerns, pre-diabetic symptoms, all things pointing in a bad direction. You run their labs, you do the full consult, you start them on hormone therapy, you give them lifestyle guidance, and you lay out exactly what needs to happen and what the consequences are if it doesn't. They come back, three months later, they've gained 25 pounds. They haven't followed any of your recommendations. In fact, things have gotten way worse. They look at you and they say, these hormones just aren't working. You are a terrible provider. I did everything you told me to do, and look at me now. Now, you can see clearly that the patient wasn't doing their part. No amount of anything you provided was going to overcome what they weren't willing to do outside of your office. That's obvious, right? Well, the exact same dynamic plays out when you hand off a piece of your business. Let's say you hire a marketing agency. They ask you to film some short videos for their ads, but you don't quite get around to it. They ask you to post on social media three times a week to support the campaign that you're paying for, but you haven't identified who in your office is going to handle that and you're not ready to pay anybody else to do it. They tell you that your front desk person is hanging up on leads because they're tracking the phone calls, but you can't bring yourself to address it because she's been there forever. Six months into the contract, no new patients. And somehow it's the marketing agency's fault. How about this one? You hire a bookkeeper, you spend several hours getting them up to speed. They start balancing the accounts, categorizing expenses, they send you a profit and loss every single month, which you never look at because you're too busy, and that's what you hired the bookkeeper for anyway. And then one day you look up and you're out of money. Well, the bookkeeper should have called. Well, sure. But ultimately, whose business is it? Is it hers? No, it's yours. Now I'm not saying this to be harsh. I am saying it because I have watched too many incredible providers go through the same cycle. They get burned, they blame the vendor, they hire a new vendor, repeat. And then they're out of money, out of time, and they wonder why nothing in the world is changing. The answer is that the one thing they didn't do when they handed off the work was hold themselves accountable for the outcome. You, the person who hired. Look, when you own a business, you are responsible for its health. Sure, you can delegate tasks, but you cannot delegate ownership. Go back to that patient analogy for a second. You were the one who prescribed the hormones, you were the one that gave the lifestyle plan. You did your job. But if you never followed up, you never checked labs at 90 days, you never asked how they were doing, and things got worse, you wouldn't say, well, I gave them the plan. What else could I do? No, you'd say, I should have followed up more. That's on me. Look, your clinic is no different. So do me a favor, check the profit and loss statement, review your lead numbers, make the videos when asked, stay in the loop. Hiring great people is a skill, but managing great people is also a skill. And you, as a clinic owner, need to do both. Now the last one is tough. And I want to lead with this because I am absolutely terrible at this next bias, like embarrassingly so. You see, I am a consultant by trade. So the way I make money is by showing up, sharing my experience, and helping my clients make good decisions. And I am awful at tracking my time. I'm awful at charging for the Sunday night text that turns into an hour-long phone call. I give it away all the time because I genuinely love my clients and I want to help them. So when I say that I understand this next one, I mean it from my core. But let me tell you what this particular confirmational bias actually costs. See, the belief is I got into this business to take care of people, not to make money. And on its own, that is a beautiful thing to believe. But here's what happens when that belief drives the business decision. When that belief drives the business decisions. A patient sits across from you in tears, marriage falling apart. They feel awful. You know, pellets could absolutely change his life, but he can't afford it. And you can't leave the room knowing that you could have helped him. So you discount or you give it away completely. I understand that feeling. It's a real, human, compassionate response. But I want you to understand what's actually happening financially behind the decision. A male pellet typically charges around $750. And the cost to you is roughly $350, depending upon, of course, what pharmacy or pellet company you use. But here's what most people miss. When you give a service away, you're not just forgiving the profit margin. You're paying out of pocket for the hard cost of the product and every overhead expense attached to that visit. That's your EMR costs, that's your staff salaries, that's your rent, your malpractice insurance, your supplies, all of it. You paid for that visit. You didn't just not get paid for it. Let's talk about initial consultations for a second. Because I know a lot of providers who give these away because they want the patient to be able to ask questions before they commit. I get that. A 15-minute informational phone call, I actually support that. But when that 15-minute call turns into a 90-minute complex case consult because you couldn't leave someone hanging because they ask a thousand questions and you give it away for free, you essentially wrote that patient a check for $500 or more because that's what your time is worth when you factor in your overhead, your training, all of it. Here's another piece I really want to bring up because it's the most underrated problem with ad hoc discounting, and it truly has nothing to do with money, and it drives me crazy. It's not fair to your patients. When you discount in the moment because someone's story moved you, you're making a decision based on who is willing to share their hardship in your office. But what about the patient right after them who is equally struggling, maybe even more, but is too proud to say so? They paid full price, and they'll never know that the person before them didn't. Look, when I was running our clinic back in Orlando, this would drive me absolutely crazy. I would watch a provider discount based on whoever was sharing the saddest story at their desk without even thinking about the patient who came in quietly, paid full price, and went home and went into debt to afford their care. That's not just compassion getting the best of you. It's inconsistency and it's not fair. Here's what I recommend instead: just make a real discount policy. Decide in advance who gets discounts: veterans, first responders, spouses of existing patients, whoever aligns with your values, write it down, publish it, apply it consistently. Then everyone knows the rules, including your staff and your other providers. And when someone comes in with a heartbreaking story that makes you want to help, feel it. That's your heart. That's why you do this work. But then take a breath and think about the health of the practice that lets you help the next hundred people who walk through that door. Because if the practice isn't financially healthy, you don't get to help anyone. Now I want to bring this all back to where we started. Confirmational bias. The idea that the first thing we decide is true becomes the lens through which we see everything else. You've built a career around fighting that in your patients. You know how stubborn those beliefs can be. You know how much they damage when they go unchallenged. So I'm asking you today to turn that lens on yourself. Because after working with hundreds of hormone clinic owners, I can tell you this. The providers who grow are not the ones who were born business people. They're not the ones with MBAs or some natural gift for numbers or risk tolerance that doesn't phone them. They're the ones who got honest with themselves about the story they were telling. And then they got to work on learning what they didn't know. It is true that some people are naturally wired for entrepreneurship. I am not one of them. I walk around calling myself a business person and an entrepreneur anyway. You know why? Because I did the work. That's the only qualifier. The next time that voice in your head says, I'm not really a business person, or I just handed it off, or I'm here to heal and not make money. I want you to hear it the same way you hear a patient who tells you that hormone therapy is dangerous. It's a belief. It got locked in early and it's not the truth. So do the work. Get the support. Don't do it alone. Find a mentor, join a cohort, a fellow provider who's already been where you're trying to go. There are more resources available to clinic owners right now than ever before, certainly before I got into this industry. And when you decided to open your doors, you did it because there are people out there who are suffering, who need exactly what you offer. The only thing standing between them and help is a practice that's too stuck in its own story to grow. So do me a favor. Put the bias to rest. Go build the thing. Thank you so much for being with me here today. I will see you next time on Beyond Hormones. Thank you for listening to Beyond Hormones, the business of wellness. I hope that you're walking away with fresh ideas and real strategies you can use to grow your practice with profit and purpose. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to follow the show so you never miss a conversation. And if something you heard today resonated with you, do me a favor, share this episode with a friend or colleague. It's one of the best ways you can support the show, and it might be exactly what they need to hear right now. If you want even more tools and support, go ahead and head over to accelerated medical practices.com. Until next time, keep doing the work that matters. Your patients need you, and I am cheering you along every step of the way.