Elements of a successful chiropractic office

Sponsored by ACOM Health

Successful chiropractic offices attract the patients they need, help their patients thrive, and stay organized and profitable.

If you want a more successful practice, you may need to update or completely change your office procedures, strategies, and practices. Greater success often starts with a willingness to embrace change.

Building a great chiropractic practice requires a willingness to constantly learn and experiment with better ways to grow your business.

Chiropractors who dedicate themselves to continuous improvement are often more aware of opportunities and threats, so you should cultivate an attitude of awareness and openness to new and different ideas.

Rethinking your business

If you are ready to build a more successful practice, you can start by reviewing your office’s business side. Make sure you are fully compliant with all health information regulations, choose a certified EHR, and streamline your office practices and workflow. If you have staff members in your office, make sure they are fully trained and receive ongoing training and practice using your office’s computer software, payment and billing systems, and patient onboarding systems.¹,²

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) maintains a list of certified EHR software to help you choose a vendor. Certified software meets certain minimum standards set by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that your EHR meets capability, meaningful use, and other criteria.²

Understanding your office’s finances is also a key element of practice success, so regularly review your payroll, expenses, billing, and income. From there, you can determine if more marketing is needed or if you should make adjustments to your office’s financial planning.

You should be carefully looking at your practice’s finances on a regular basis and should seriously consider hiring an accountant to periodically review your books. Watch your overhead costs and look for ways to reduce them, because each additional overhead expense reduces the amount of income available to your practice.³

Listening and marketing

Because your patients are key to your practice’s success, you need to constantly listen to them and what they need. Using surveys, conversations, and focus groups, invite your patients to freely share their opinions and needs with you.

When you know what your patients want, find a way to budget resources to improve in those directions. Your patients may prioritize service, greater comfort, more involvement in their care, and other needs.

Create an environment where patients feel comfortable enough to approach you with their concerns, then provide plenty of opportunities for them to communicate with you. You may want to create a social media page, complete a profile with your local phone book, or business listing’s website.⁴

You can use writing and interviews with the press to establish your expertise and inform your local community about what your clinic does. If you have interesting news, you may be able to get a story in your local paper.

Occasionally, experts are also needed for local stories, so you may be able to share your knowledge of chiropractic with the public that way. Of course, be sure to get written consent from your patients if you hope to share their story or use it in your marketing and remain compliant with all HIPAA regulations.⁴

Grow your business

By reviewing your practice’s business operations regularly, carefully planning, recognizing patients’ needs, and marketing your practice, you will grow your office and bring in new patients.

Being open to change can promote and build a more successful chiropractic practice that’s better for your patients.

About ACOM Health

ACOM Health is your trusted partner for the long term. We are a division of ACOM Solutions Inc., a 32- -year-old U.S.-based corporation that supports thousands of businesses and healthcare organizations worldwide.

 

References

¹ aafp.org. “Strategies for Better Patient Flow and Cycle Time.” Family Practice Management. http://www.aafp.org/fpm/2002/0600/p45.html. Published: June 2002. Accessed: August 2016.

²Hhs.gov. “Summary of the HIPAA Security Rule.” http://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/security/laws-regulations/. Accessed: August 2016.

³ JK Stewart. “Small Ways to Stay On Top of Medical Practice Finances.” Physicians Practice. http://www.physicianspractice.com/revenue-cycle-management/small-ways-stay-top-medical-practice-finances/page/0/1. Published: May 2014. Accessed: August 2016.

⁴ medicaleconomics.modernmedicine.com. “Marketing ideas that stick.” Medical Economics. http://medicaleconomics.modernmedicine.com/medical-economics/news/modernmedicine/modern-medicine-feature-articles/marketing-ideas-stick?page=full. Published: April 2010. Accessed: August 2016.