A path to comprehensive healing and long-term health
WHIPLASH, SOFT TISSUE DAMAGE, SPINAL MISALIGNMENTS AND HIDDEN INJURIES DON’T SIMPLY FADE AWAY
They linger and worsen. Left untreated, they can develop into chronic pain, restricted mobility and debilitating health issues that derail lives. These aren’t minor inconveniences; they’re life-altering challenges. This is where chiropractic care becomes essential. In personal injury (PI) cases, your expertise positions you as a key partner in recovery, providing a structured rehabilitation plan that fosters comprehensive healing and promotes long-term health.
And this is about more than healing injuries. It’s about positioning your practice as the go-to resource for meaningful, long-term recovery. This is the balance between injury care and wellness care.
With that in mind, here’s how you can build, implement and leverage a structured rehabilitation plan that helps patients successfully heal, attorneys successfully win and your business successfully grow and profit.
Start with a comprehensive evaluation
Every rehabilitation journey begins with a complete understanding of the patient’s condition. A thorough assessment and diagnosis serve as the foundation for a care plan and as crucial evidence that supports the patient’s PI lawsuit. Attorneys rely on your evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, documentation and billing to establish the full extent of medical damages and support settlement demands, making your role indispensable.
While there are many, here are three basic areas to include in your comprehensive evaluation:
Imaging and functional testing: Use X-rays, MRIs or other diagnostic tools to uncover hidden injuries that often go undetected immediately after an accident. Functional movement testing highlights range-of-motion deficits or weaknesses, further proving the ongoing impact of the injury.
Patient history: Document how the injury affects the patient’s daily life, including mobility challenges, reduced productivity, emotional strain and overall impact. This “before” snapshot, paired with the “after” healthcare recovery journey, creates storytelling documentation attorneys need to illustrate the real impact of the injury on the patient’s quality of life. Be sure to gather any emergency hospital or trauma care records for additional insight, and review for preexisting injuries and trauma that may need to be addressed in your documentation.
Concussion and TBI testing: Too many chiropractic evaluations overlook the importance of using a concussion questionnaire or conducting concussion and traumatic brain injury (TBI) testing. Consider this: PI patients are frequently involved in traumatic auto collisions that often affect the brain. Identifying these issues early can make a significant difference for both your patients’ recovery and the PI case. At the same time, missing this can open you up to potential medical malpractice exposure.
A comprehensive evaluation and proper diagnosis lay the foundation for your treatment plan, foster trust with patients and equip attorneys with the critical evidence needed to secure fair settlements. In addition to helping the patient heal, detailed assessments position you as a key player in the PI case, solidify your expertise and support your treatment and billing. When your evaluation and diagnosis are rock-solid, it becomes difficult for adjusters or defense attorneys to challenge the medical necessity of your care.
Develop a phased treatment plan
Structured rehabilitation isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. Patients need a clear road map to stay committed to the process, and attorneys rely on a strategic framework to build a strong case. A phased treatment plan accomplishes both by breaking recovery into well-defined stages, which demonstrates the value of your care at every step.
Phase 1. Acute care: In this initial phase, you tackle the immediate aftermath of the injury: pain, inflammation and instability. Acute care—through spinal adjustments, soft tissue therapy and modalities, such as electrical stimulation or ultrasound—not only stabilizes the patient’s condition but also marks the start of the comprehensive healthcare journey your patient likely requires.
Phase 2. Corrective care: After acute symptoms subside, corrective care focuses on resolving the underlying injuries that caused the pain. Here, you will address spinal misalignments, scar tissue and muscle imbalances that, left untreated, can lead to chronic issues. Corrective care highlights the depth of your expertise and showcases the medically necessary steps required for long-term recovery. Detailed documentation during this phase strengthens the legal case by demonstrating the progression of treatment and the necessity of ongoing care, especially when you tie it in with storytelling documentation; linking the patient’s treatment to their daily living activities. This further strengthens the legal case by illustrating the tangible impact of your care.
Phase 3. Maintenance care: Long-term recovery in PI cases heals existing injuries and prevents reinjury while promoting sustained health. Maintenance care transitions patients from injury recovery into a proactive wellness plan, which may include regular adjustments, mobility exercises and wellness education. While this phase may be disputed more by adjusters once injuries appear resolved, it is often essential for the patient’s long-term health. Transitioning from injury care to wellness care helps prevent flare-ups and supports overall well-being, demonstrating the value of continued care in fostering lasting recovery.
That treatment plan needs to be laid out from the start, not just because it’s PI but to comply with recent laws such as the No Surprises Act, which mandates good faith estimates laying out the entirety of estimated care and the costs associated to all uninsured and “self-pay” patients.
In PI cases, every patient is a potential “self-pay” patient, regardless of the likelihood of a lawsuit recovery or the presence of personal injury protection (PIP) or medical expense (MedPay) benefits. While this may seem like an administrative burden, it becomes a value driver. Attorneys can leverage your comprehensive treatment plan and estimated costs to strengthen early settlement negotiations, positioning your practice as an indispensable ally in securing fair outcomes.
By presenting a step-by-step progression that mirrors the patient’s healing journey, you eliminate ambiguity and reinforce that every visit serves a specific, documented purpose. The result? Better patient outcomes, stronger legal cases and an undeniable demonstration of the value that chiropractic care brings to PI.
Educate the patient
Personal injury cases offer a unique platform to elevate patients’ understanding of chiropractic care and its pivotal role in their recovery. PI is, quite honestly, the only medical segment where chiropractic takes the lead as the primary medical specialty. Many PI patients walking into your practice may have never experienced chiropractic care, presenting a golden opportunity to showcase your expertise while educating them on the broader benefits of chiropractic treatment for pain and discomfort.
By educating your patients, you enhance treatment compliance and strengthen their PI case by providing a clear, understandable narrative of their structured rehabilitation journey—one they can confidently articulate during a deposition or trial. Here are some ideas for educating your patients:
Explain the role of chiropractic in PI recovery. Help patients understand that chiropractic care plays a central role in PI recovery. If you’re the first or primary treater, position yourself as the healthcare “quarterback” leading a team approach, with the patient as the star player. Use relatable analogies, such as: “Chiropractic care isn’t just about masking pain—it’s like repairing and strengthening the foundation of a house so it doesn’t crumble later.” Emphasize that your care addresses underlying injuries often overlooked, but essential for improving their quality of life and bolstering their legal claim.
Educate your patients about the legal importance of consistent treatment. Explain that skipping treatments or failing to follow the care plan can harm both their recovery and their PI case. Consistent treatment and thorough documentation provide a clear picture of injury progression, establishing the legitimacy of their pain and suffering claims. Reinforce that compliance with the treatment plan is critical for their overall success—both medically and legally.
Connect their current injury to potential future health risks. Discuss how untreated injuries can lead to long-term issues, such as chronic pain or restricted mobility, which could compromise their future health. Helping patients understand the stakes motivates them to stay committed to their care plan and see the value of chiropractic treatment in preventing these risks.
Educated patients are more likely to follow through with care, leading to better outcomes for their health and PI case. They become active participants in their recovery. When patients see how chiropractic care directly supports their healing and strengthens their PI case, they’re more likely to stay engaged and even advocate for your services to others.
The big picture: Chiropractic care as a game-changer
A structured rehabilitation plan is more than just a road map for recovery—it’s a transformative strategy for patient healing and PI case success.
By delivering comprehensive evaluations and accurate diagnoses, phased treatment plans paired with good faith estimates and patient-centered education, you create a foundation of trust, support, accountability and results.
Final thoughts
Tracking progress and integrating wellness further reinforces your role as an indispensable advocate for your patients’ health. When your care is deliberate, evidence-based and tailored to the unique challenges of PI, you elevate not only the patient experience but also the chiropractic profession.
Moreover, your practice becomes a value driver for PI attorneys, showcasing the depth and impact of your care in legal cases. With the right strategies, your practice becomes the go-to resource for meaningful recovery, ensuring better outcomes for patients, attorneys and your business alike.
Michael Coates, Esq., is a California-licensed attorney. Over the last decade, Coates has established himself as a national authority on medical lien law, lien recovery and negotiations. He is a recognized innovator, advocate, coach, instructor and mentor. Having seen the good and the bad in the PI business, he has helped hundreds of providers recover millions of dollars from law firms of all shapes and sizes. Coates is the country’s top lien and LOP negotiator. His company, Personal Injury Made Easy, gives providers, owners and staff a true business advantage in the PI space. Coates also has a company that serves as an outsourced lien negotiator for medical providers, personalinjurybillingpros.com. His book, “Personal Injury Made Easy,” written to help guide providers, is available on amazon.com. Contact him at mcoates@pimadeeasy.com.
