Chiropractic Business Tips

Money Management Last December’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) presents both a challenge because of its wide-ranging scope and an opportunity to reap a share of that law’s much-touted tax savings. Small businesses, including many chiropractic practices, should begin seeing the promised tax savings when their tax returns for the 2018 tax year are filed—but you can benefit from the full potential of the TCJA by planning now.

Marketing Matters As a concept, the law of attraction has been around for thousands of years. The idea was first introduced in ancient times by a mystic named Hermes Trismegistus, when he composed his seven Hermetic Principles. Fast forward several thousand years, and the modern interpretation of the law of attraction is the belief that positive thoughts attract positive outcomes while negative thoughts or energy produce negative consequences.

Feature As more practices adopt the multidisciplinary model, the inquisitive doctor of chiropractic will want to learn more about alternative therapies. While some chiropractic practices have expanded to offer multidisciplinary services so that patients can get the care they need at a one-stop shop, others have begun teaming up with alternative therapy (AT) practitioners, but keeping their own independent business.

All chiropractors have a choice as they emerge from college and launch into their first days in practice. Will they be pain-and-symptom based or vitalistic? If you choose pain and symptoms, then the road forward is clear: Use the orthopedic tests you learned in school. When the test is positive, there is pain, and when it’s negative, there’s not. In this model, your patients stop care once their pain resolves.

Tech Talk You own a small chiropractic practice. You’re confident that you provide exceptional chiropractic care once your patients are in the door, but what about when they’re outside of the building? When someone calls your practice, what type of experience do they have? Research shows that people prefer to speak with a live human when they’re considering a business and also when they have questions or issues.

Practice Central Some of the most heartbreaking cases I’ve handled over the years have been in the medical field. There’s something inherently tragic about a doctor who opens his or her practice with the intention of helping people heal, recover and feel better, only to realize that despite their altruistic efforts and Hippocratic Oath, they were victims of fraud. For many practitioners, it’s the last thing they ever expected to happen to them.

Practice Central Your staff is your most valuable asset. They make or break you. They can love or hate you, and still work for you. They can help you achieve stellar statistics into highest-ever ranges or they can crash them. It is all up to you. As Bob Nelson, a stand-up comedian put it, “People may take a job for more money, but they often leave it for more recognition.” In other words, most employees are in your office for more than a paycheck.

Practice Central Details, details, details—it’s all in the details. Even among long-term practitioners, there is still a great deal of confusion about the Medicare enrollment and revalidation process. Doctors of chiropractic should know that they must enroll with Medicare if they wish to deliver manual manipulations to a Medicare patient. Unfortunately, there are some who are still not aware of this, so note that absolutely no manual manipulation can be performed on a Medicare patient without first enrolling with Medicare or completing a successful revalidation.

Marketing Matters Every chiropractor needs a predictable and scalable way to increase their new patient load. Predictability means it will work every month and scalability means not trading precious time for “new patient leads” by doing screenings or attending business mixers. Many chiropractors have a promotional calendar of internal events such as Patient Appreciation Day, an in- office food drive, and even sweepstakes for those who refer.