‘Numb3rs’ tell their stories

I’ve become “hooked” on a television show that I never dreamed would appeal to me.It’s called Numb3rs.

This television drama showcases a mathematical genius who uses statistics to help his older brother (an FBI agent) solve crimes. If you are not a “numbers” person, the premise of the program may not sound interesting.But the way the protagonist uses math is fascinating. Really. (And I am definitely not a numbers person.)

In each episode, the math genius says something to the effect: “It’s all in the numbers. When you compile enough of them, you can see patterns. And these patterns tell you a story.”

In February, Chiropractic Economics asked you to give us your numbers in our 8th Annual Salary and Expense Survey, so that we could compile them and let them tell us their stories. In this issue, we publish those “stories” in a special report. Here are what I consider the best, the worst, the most surprising and the most interesting stories the numbers told us:

• Best story. Salaries for chiropractors are up — by about 6 percent over last year. The mean average salary for chiropractors was $104,363.

• The worst story. Although a strong majority of practitioners report increasing billings and collections, that majority is shrinking. In 2003,

78 percent said billings were increasing; in 2004, the number was 71.5 percent. This year, it was 67 percent. Collections show a similar trend.

• The most surprising story. We had more respondents from rural areas (17.1 percent) than last year (13.1 percent). The number of suburban respondents remained essentially unchanged, but the number of city DCs dropped proportionately.

• The most interesting story.This year we compared the billings, collections and individual income levels of solo practitioners, groups or partnerships and franchise owners. Not only did we look at the mean averages, but we also compared the medians and modes — since each told a slightly different tale. Groups or partners and franchise owners fared better in all areas than solo practitioners. Take a look at the special report to see the details.

Our special report contains many more numb3rs stories. We hope you’ll find them good reading, but more importantly, helpful to you in your practice.

Until next time,

Linda Segall, Editor-in-Chief