Life-Long Patients
Several years ago, I was visiting my mom, who at the time lived just outside of Dallas, Texas. My curiosity and interest in seeing new places led me to make a spontaneous decision to explore downtown. If you’ve ever been to downtown Dallas—at least during the time I was there—you might understand how difficult it is to navigate from the inner city back to the freeway. But despite the challenge, I was fortunate enough to hear a radio advertisement that has stuck with me to this day.
It was an ad for a local, family-owned dental office. The words that cemented into my memory were:
“We want to be your dentist for the rest of your life”
That statement struck me and it still resonates with me. As it turns out, dentists do have some of the highest patient retention rates among medical professionals. If a patient stays with a dentist for five years, they are likely to remain a patient for life.
Healthcare professionals in general face more challenges in maintaining long-term patient/client relationships compared to professions like accounting, financial advising, mechanics, or insurance agents. This may be due to the linear, logistical nature of industries outside of healthcare—numbers follow patterns, machines/automobiles, and financial outcomes can often be predicted with a degree of certainty. However, health is not linear.
“The body is under no obligation to make sense”
The human body is complex, and no two people experience the same trajectory of wellness or recovery.
Beyond that, you don’t necessarily need to like your tax accountant, financial advisor, or mechanic in order to continue using their services (in fact, I have many patients who dread hearing from their accountants). While trust and competence matter in those fields, a deep personal connection isn’t always necessary. Healthcare, however, is different. It requires a level of trust that extends beyond transactions; it’s about how well a provider facilitates a patient’s connection to their own body.
Since hearing that radio ad, the idea of building lifelong relationships through bodywork has been a guiding principle in my practice. I had always valued the long-term well-being of my patients, but hearing it articulated so clearly from a dentistry perspective made me accept and embody the life-long patient mindset. If we, as healthcare professionals, focus on not just treating symptoms/conditions but fostering lasting relationships—helping patients feel seen, heard, and supported—then we, too, can be their provider for life.
In my 15 years of practicing, I’ve had the privilege of constantly treating some patients for 12 years and counting. In that time, I’ve listened to their stories, seen them through life’s ups and downs, and for some, even shared in their joy as they reach retirement from their careers. Their trust and consistency remind me that healthcare isn’t just about fixing pain in the moment—it’s about being there for the journey. That’s the kind of provider I strive to be.
Edgar Hurtado
