Dr. Craig Revermann (2026 ICS President) Interview
ICS President Dr. Craig Revermann discusses leadership, member value, innovation, and why staying engaged builds stronger practices and a stronger chiropractic profession in Illinois.
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Transcript:
Marc:
We are super excited this week to have a conversation with Dr. Craig Revermann, out of Breese, Illinois, who is the Illinois Chiropractic Society’s president for 2026, and this gives us a chance to really talk about leadership, the ICS, and everyday practice, and what it means for you and all of these things. So Dr. Revermann, you’ve been a part of the ICS and the ICS leadership team for a really long time, but it really starts from a personal place. So my question is really to kind of kick things off. Why has it been so important to you to be a part of the Illinois Chiropractic Society, not just as a member, but also what’s kept you engaged over the course of the last however many years it’s been that you’ve been a part of the leadership team.
Dr. Revermann:
Oh, good question, Marc. So yeah, I’ve been an ICS member for coming up on 20 years now, and I attend the conference in Chicago, and I remember one year well, specifically in 2017 when one of their goals was 18% in 2018 so they wanted 18% of the population seeing a chiropractor by the year 2018 and I just thought that that number was really, really low. And just kind of made me, think about it a little bit more, because I felt like a lot of our community, our patients, you know, see chiropractic, seek chiropractic care, and but then it also kind of, I was inspired by a lot of the current board members and the current leadership, and it just, it made me want to get involved. And I really think a lot of it is just, it’s showing up, you know, showing up at conventions, showing up and being there to advocate for our profession and to help each other out. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s about networking. And we get to know each other, know each other’s practices, get to know each other’s, you know, tricks of the trade, of the way things work, and you get to meet fellow, like-minded individuals, and that’s probably been my biggest reward, is the friendships I’ve made through the colleagues that attend.
Marc:
Yeah, and you probably have a couple of things. One is the 18%, right? And it is low, but it’s really based on and if, by the way, if you’re, if you’re watching this and you’ve never read Malcolm Gladwell’s, The Tipping Point, I would encourage you to do that. It’s a great read from a leadership perspective. It’s a great read anyway, but it talks about that tipping point, the difference in something being just something you adopt early on, or something that becomes more mainstream is right at about that 18% mark, and so that’s what that target was. But you said something else I always like to focus and hone in on, and that is, it’s that being present, it’s being there, and the hallway conversations and all of these things. And I get the privilege of traveling to a number of different events for the Illinois Chiropractic Society and for the profession across the country. And the relationships that are established and grown during that time frame are absolutely invaluable and incredibly important to be a part of, and you want to make sure that you are present. So that is super key, and thanks for bringing that up, because I think it’s super important as well.
So here’s something else I want to ask you, Doc, and I always want to know this, so a lot of doctors hear about the ICS, but they don’t know what it really looks like in real life. If you talk to doctors who aren’t involved in the ICS, who are not members, what do you tell them that they’re missing in their day-to-day practice? How? How would it impact them if they were a part of the ICS in their day-to-day practice?
Dr. Revermann:
And I think that’s two questions. Number one, for those that are not members, the value of being a member is actually invaluable. I mean, the amount of continuing education at your fingertips, the advocacy that our leadership team. We have a great leadership team when it comes to our doctors, but the staff at the ICS is second to none, and they’re known on a nationwide basis. I mean, with our executive, yourself, Marc as an executive director, you do a fantastic job, but your team does a wonderful job at giving us the ability to practice every day and protect our rights as chiropractors. That’s one of those things that just, you know, you’re just unconscious of the fact that we take it for granted that that happens every day, and I appreciate that about the Illinois Chiropractic Society.
But on the flip side, I mean, when it comes to other like member value and just the Statusfi for compliance standpoint. I mean, that came just within the last several years. Practisync, when it comes to, you know, billing and so forth, it’s developed by the Illinois Chiropractic Society. The AI with Paxson. I mean, just within the last couple of years, that’s come about. I mean, there are just so many things evolving with great leadership. And again, I think back of the past presidents and past officers, and with the ICS and the friendships I’ve made, I still reach out to these people on a daily basis, you know. And I text them, email them, call them, you know, you just got resources. And the end of the day, it goes down to, you know, you get out of the ICS, what you put into it. And I just feel like, you know, getting more engaged is a challenge I would make to our members for 2026 so.
Marc:
Yeah, and we want that, and it’s funny, because we talk about these things all the time as a staff team, to make sure that we’re not replacing the human side of us, right with technology. Although we are huge technological adopters, we really believe it’s a critical part of how we can serve our doctors and our members across the state. But we also never want to lose that personal connection. One of my favorite time it is my favorite time of year is when we’re able to get together at our conference in the Chicago land area, or when I’m able to sit down with our members and just have those conversations about what’s happening in their practice and what do things look like for them directly, but to see people face to face and have these conversations, it really is, it’s phenomenal. And all of those things that you mentioned right are all in many ways, technologically driven, especially when you start talking about Statusfi, and you start talking about Paxson, which is our AI, and that is specifically trained for Illinois chiropractic physicians. So if you haven’t used either one, it is pretty fantastic. In fact, we’ve had two different members reach out to us. I don’t think I’ve told you this over the last two weeks, talking about how important the Statusfi component has become for them and how much it has done for them. One of them saying it is the best HIPAA compliance, although it’s a whole lot more than just HIPAA compliance, but the HIPAA compliance platform that they have used yet, and I would say this, and the other side is another one that reached out and said that they didn’t realize they kept avoiding using the Paxson integration with with Statusfi. But he sent an email almost immediately after he started using it, saying, I cannot believe how easy it makes all of these complicated compliance tasks, and so that has been huge, and I’m glad you brought that up. I was gonna even ask you, what, what are you most proud of over the last couple of years? But I think you just touched on it, some of these really cool things that have come out, but we still, even with all of the technological advances, we still really do appreciate our members reaching out to us and calling and use the technology. It’s there for a reason, but don’t ever hesitate to reach back out to us as well.
Dr. Revermann:
Well, to liken it to just our everyday practice, I mean, technology. I mean, we utilize technology to be more efficient in the way we deliver care to our patients, through scheduling, through billing, through prescription of exercise, to show them how to do it and monitor it, makes our lives more efficient. You and I are having a conversation via Zoom right now, versus me driving two hours to meet you live. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the personal connection, but the one thing that’s not going away is our profession is very hands-on. We interact with people on a day-to-day basis. That’s what we do. We palpate our patients, we adjust our patients. Majority of us adjust our patients manually, but you have that personal interaction with them, and really it shouldn’t be no it should be no different for your colleagues. I mean, you have to have that personal interaction with one another. You grow more professionally, the more you have those personal interactions. I mean, think of it like when you’re treating your patients. I mean, the more you get to know your patients, the better the under you understand your patient, the more you educate your patient, the more compliant they are with what they do. It makes your day better. You know, I think the more you get involved in the ICS, it just makes your profession better, and it makes it more fun for you as an individual. So just professional growth at the end of the day.
Marc:
So I’ve got one for you. I mean, you are, you’re now the Illinois Chiropractic Society president. As you look ahead to the next year or so, what is something? What is something that you believe is coming for ICS members that genuinely excites you and makes you optimistic?
Dr. Revermann:
Oh, there are so many things coming down the pipe, but, um, yeah, actually, I’m going to just kind. To kind of veer off. A little bit. I want to make our members know that this year is our 100-year anniversary of the Illinois Chiropractic Society. So we’re having an event this summer. I gotta check the dates on my calendar.
Marc:
I’ll help you out, July 31, August 1, and August 2. And the gala, the big celebration, is actually the night of the first. I’m excited about it. I think it’s going to be fantastic.
Dr. Revermann:
Yeah, it’s, I have it booked on my calendar, yeah.
Marc:
And here’s what I would say about this: it kind of lets us celebrate our association.
Well, and it’s more than that, I think, I think it’s, I think it’s important to celebrate, because we don’t, and I think we fail at this at the ICS a lot. I know our doctors miss this as well. We get so focused on some of the pressures that we have and the heaviness of practice, or the heaviness of how fast everything seems to be moving right now, and we forget to celebrate the small wins. Well, this is actually a big win. 100 years is a lot, and it’s more than just for the association. It’s really celebrating the chiropractic profession and where we’re going. We’ve structured this differently. We’ve structured it more like a celebration where we’re tying in practice management, how to build your practice, and something to involve your team and staff. And we’re bringing somebody in that actually from outside of the country; it’s going to be a phenomenal time. It’s going to be super exciting. The educational component is going to be super smart to help our doctors build and become better inside their practices, and not the typical type of education that we, that we do, but also the celebrations with golf and with a with the Chiro Connect, which is like a job fair we’re going to do, and then the huge 100 Year celebration that Saturday night is also going to be tremendous and and it all comes back to also getting it together and being able to have those hallway conversations that I think are going To be tremendous as well. I think that is something to look forward to and be optimistic about. This profession has been around for a very long time. It’s not going anywhere. That’s the optimism in this, right? That’s the celebration, and I’m excited for that as well. Doc, I really am.
Dr. Revermann:
Yeah, yeah. We’re bringing some of our team up. I’m bringing my family up. I mean, I’m looking forward to spending the weekend with colleagues, and just kind of getting a little recharge, if you will. I mean, and I think that’s one thing that’s key to attending events, is it really kind of recharges your battery a little bit to get your your your mindset and focus back on what you originally went to do back in the day, you know? Because, let’s face it, we all have our stresses. We all have our problems in practice. And honestly, that probably is one of the best benefits of being an ICS member. When you have those struggles, when you have those problems, you have the ICS to reach out to to help you solve those problems and fix those problems. You know, it’s just again, it’s a huge member value to be able to pick up the phone and call, to be able to, if you’re sitting there, two o’clock in the morning stressing over something, get on, log into your account and ask Paxson, you know, I’m you’re going to get a pretty thorough answer, you know, just through AI so, you know, again, just so many value, so much value to such a small dollar amount every month for your membership.
Marc:
Doc, we appreciate it. Actually, I was going to ask you what mindset, because I think sometimes we think leadership is all about the decisions, but it isn’t. Sometimes it’s more about how people feel as well, right? So, and I think you may have already answered this, but I’m going to ask it anyway. What mindset during your presidency do you hope that ICS members are able to take away? You know, when everything seems to be really pressured and heavy, what’s the mindset that you hope that our members are able to walk away with?
Dr. Revermann:
Oh, man, you stumped me there a little bit. Marc, you were kind of cutting out a little bit.
Marc:
Sorry if I did, I think I cut out, so let me say it again to make sure. So what’s the mindset with everything going on, with everything moving so quickly, with the pressures and the heaviness, and we can even talk about the terrible I word and insurance, right? But with all of those challenges that are happening, there’s still so much to be optimistic about, like you just talked about, even, what’s the mindset that you hope that our members, that ICS members, can really walk away from at the end of your presidency? What do you hope that they feel?
Dr. Revermann:
I want someone who just walked across the stage from graduate and graduated from chiropractic school to interact with someone who’s been practicing for 40 years, okay, and everyone in between, to be able to help one another out through the struggles. You know someone who’s just coming out who may have take my kids, for instance, okay, my kids are both in college right now. When it comes to technology, they always hear me screaming and cussing, and this that the other one I’m struggling with it. They’re a good resource to help me through a lot of these things, these younger ones coming out, but on the, I guess, in essence is I want everyone to kind of understand the history, be aware, and present and plan for the future.
Marc:
It’s about the optimism, right? It is. It’s about that where things are going, and this is good. It’s going good. It just seems heavy in the moment. Brene Brown calls it the messy middle, right? And things are going to be fantastic. And I think that’s what I hear from you, and that’s what we talk about a lot, Doc, when you and I chat and discuss is that things are really messy now, but we can see where they’re going and how phenomenal they’re going to be for the chiropractic profession, and most importantly, for our patients, as you and as your colleagues help bring them back to health.
Dr. Revermann:
Well, and back on that too, like when you talk about the leadership team, it is exciting to know that I talk about the past, I talked about the present, and I talk about the future. The past leaders in our profession, the past leaders in the Illinois Chiropractic Society, have been phenomenal to set the stage and put things in motion. Presently, we have a great team of people. I enjoy and look forward to our planning sessions, you know, every quarter, where we discuss our pillar value, our pillars, like the member, membership value and the strong advocacy, voice, the practice vitality, visionary leadership, those are our pillars that we’re really trying to work together on as a team, but then also the future, like we’re we’re truly looking for people who want to be involved in the ICS, who want to get involved and bring something to the table. And at the end of the day, I mentioned earlier, it’s just showing up, you know, volunteering, saying, hey, you know what, I believe in service. I want to provide my I want to volunteer to help this association become better. And the best way we do it is just to kind of be, you know, where we expose yourself. I mean, we all deal with problems on a daily basis, you know, be vulnerable. Throw it out there, because chances are, the guys sitting and ladies sitting across the room for you are sitting in the same boat, where they’ve dealt with this problem, and they found a way to overcome it, and now they’re going to help you overcome it. And if we all work together, and it’s strength in numbers, I mean, the more members we have, the stronger we are, the more we can help one another to succeed in 2026 and beyond.
Marc:
Yeah, super excited, Doc, thank you for how much time you give, and I want to give you that thank you, because I think that gets missed a lot of time, a lot of times with our leadership team, there’s no personal anything. This is all give. And the amount of effort that you and the rest of our board gives and has given over the course of the last decades, if you will, or really 100 years, it is really quite remarkable. So I want to say thank you for the amount of time that you give, for your ministry of presence, if you will, for being there for other people and being present in those moments and having those conversations. Thanks for today. Thanks for having this conversation and talking about the future as well as the past. For those who are still are listening in and watching this, we want to say thank you from the Illinois chiropractic society, both Dr. Revermann and I, thank you for being a part. Thank you for who you are, and thank you for what you do for your patients. And we’re really looking forward to a phenomenal 2026, and we’ll catch you next week.
