Double take: Adding an extra table to your practice

Your chiropractic practice has been flourishing.

In fact, you are now at the point of considering ways to expand your practice to make it even better. Perhaps you might want to partner up with another DC, bring an acupuncturist or massage therapist into your practice, offer more treatment modalities such as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) or laser therapy, or expand your practice to include pediatric or geriatric patients.

While all of these expansion ideas are great, they all boil down to asking yourself one fundamental question: “Do I have the ability, space, and resources to add in an extra adjusting table?” This question may not be an issue if you are just part of a group practice, but it is a strong consideration if you are a solo practitioner or looking to expand your staff to include another DC, an acupuncturist, or a massage therapist.

Cost considerations

The most obvious disadvantage to getting an extra table for your practice will be the cost. This can make it difficult for DCs who are just starting out in practice, or who are going solo, to justify the added expense of purchasing another table. This is why it is always a good idea to shop around for the best buy. Look for those tables that are listed as being on discount to determine if they will meet your needs. If you are looking to add more DCs to your practice, you may be able to set up a cost-sharing plan to buy the extra equipment needed.

Another factor to consider is the cost for maintaining an extra table. If your current table gets a serious workout, it will require regular maintenance to keep it performing at its best. You should expect that an extra table will likely also see a great deal of use. This is why it is often a good idea to also buy a service package for the table. You might consider determining if you can get a service discount if you buy your additional table from the same manufacturer as your first table.

Opening up your practice

Being able to open up your practice to accommodate not only another practitioner, but also other treatment modalities is a big advantage to getting an extra table. As just one example, an extra table that is not segmented can actually do triple duty for massage therapy, acupuncture, or for initial exams on chiropractic patients. If you instead opt for a second flexion distraction table, you and another DC can work on patients at the same time, doubling your patient load and your bottom line.

You may also be looking at opening up your practice to accommodate pediatric patients. While children can be adjusted using the standard table, they may be scared of the “adult size” table. A scaled down version of an adjusting table may be just the thing you need to make your younger patients feel more comfortable. There are actually some quite creative pediatric adjusting tables available that offer different features than an adult table.

It may appear as though purchasing another table is prohibitively expensive. However, with some planning and creative thinking, having another table could not only double your patient load, but may even be able to double your practice income.