Do your fees measure up?
See what our 8th Annual Fees and Reimbursements Survey shows
By Linda Segall

Are you charging enough for your services? That’s a question only you can answer, based on the socio-economics of your patient base, the positioning of your practice, and the usual, customary, and reasonable fees charged for specific procedures.

Charging the right amount for your services is perhaps even more critical today, because of reimbursement rates are on a declining trend. (See “Reimbursements trend downward,” on page 26.)

To help you determine if your fees are targeted, during May and June 2005, Chiropractic Economics conducted its 8th Annual Fees and Reimbursements Survey. The results of our survey provide insights into how colleagues within your geographic region, as well as nationwide, charge for the same CPT codes. We also analyze fees and reimbursements in terms of gender, age, group vs. solo practice, and — new this year — cash-only practices vs. not-cash-only practices.

Collecting reimbursement information is problematic: Survey respondents comment, “I participate in many different plans and they each reimburse differently.”

Consequently, we encourage you to keep in mind three things:

• The fees and reimbursements indicated in our survey results are mean averages of all reported;

• Doctors themselves reported averages for reimbursements for the various codes; and

• The overage average fees and overage average reimbursements are calculated on all reported codes. These codes are not inclusive, but they are used in most chiropractic offices.

You should also be aware that the survey and analysis are done for informational purposes only. They are not intended to be used as a recommendation for setting fee levels.

With these items in mind, we hope you will find the survey results helpful to you.

Linda Segall is editor-in-chief of Chiropractic Economics.

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