The value of statistical analysis for your chiropractic practice

Running a chiropractic business certainly has its challenges. In addition to patient management, the list of duties for most chiropractic entrepreneurs goes on and on.

There is one activity that can help bring some predictability to your practice and help focus your vision on success. Statistical analysis. But who wants to play with math, after all, we’re doctors right? However, when you understand the depth of information that can be derived and the value this statistical analysis brings to your success, you will actually appreciate the process.

Three levels of statistical analysis

There are three levels of analysis: surface statistical analysis, deep statistical analysis and trending statistical analysis.
Surface statistics are simply a quick examination of services, collection, new patients and patient visits. Deep statistics look at averages across certain sectors of the business, such as patient visits, collection averages and service averages. The trending statistics offer a broad range of information allowing you to monitor the “direction” in which your practice is moving. Trending also helps us identify where problems may be arising, often before they become big issues. With a basic understanding of statistics, we can better appreciate their value. The next step, which is part mathematics and part art, is to determine how to decode the numbers and utilize them successfully.

How to decode the statistical analysis and use them successfully

The first step is to look at the trend of your surface statistics. Quite simply, are they up or down? For example, a rise in collections and patient visits month-over-month usually indicates a positive direction for the clinic. However, even a positive statistic should be investigated as to why it occurred. Did collections and patient visits increase due to a marketing campaign or maybe an influx of referrals? If that’s the case, your marketing and referral strategies are bringing you a solid ROI. Or did the increase in collections come from accounts receivable and the jump in patient visits was due to a patient-appreciation-day?

Reviewing our deep statistics can provide us with a broader level of information to help us manage the practice. The deep statistics look at your averages and how they are trending over time. A common metric is collection visit average (CVA) which indicates how much you are collecting per patient visit. This statistic indicates the strength of your treatment plans. But it may also indicate how much the insurance companies are discounting your reimbursement. In addition to CVA, statistics that fall into this category include collection visit average, dollar visit average, patient visit average, unique patient visit average as well as others.

Trending statistics bring on a whole different dimension of analyzing the economics of the practice. These statistical charts give you insights into many of your financial strategies and help you see whether the practice is doing well, not so well, or in critical trouble in some way. For example, when we trend out a comparison of CVA to DVA we might find that your fee strategy is not effective.

Analyzing your statistics beyond the surface metrics

Your statistics tell you the black and white of your practice. In fact, when you take a deep dive into the statistical analysis, your statistics can tell you a lot. Plus, not analyzing your business in this manner can be disastrous, causing you to miss important cues that could prevent you from reaching your profit goals. But be careful as statistics can also fool you if you don’t know how to analyze them correctly. For example, I was recently working with a DC who was struggling to keep the clinic’s profit-per-visit in a positive mode. He thought it was because he was not seeing enough new patients, but when he increased that number, the problem became worse. The analytic charts showed us the problem was within the fee strategy. Once corrected, the clinic started becoming profitable again.

As such, it’s always a good idea to have a practice consultant who is well-versed in analyzing your statistics beyond the surface metrics. They should also have the knowledge to help make sense of the deep statistics and trending statistical analysis.

Final thoughts on the value of statistical analysis in chiropractic

Utilizing and understanding business statistical models and trending statistical analysis can help you track the true success of your practice and offer the peace of mind that every chiropractic service you deliver has you on track with your goals, your patient outcome expectations and your profit objectives.

MICHAEL PERUSICH, DC, is a solutions-focused advisor with more than 25 years of success across the healthcare and consulting industries. His broad areas of expertise include coaching, training, content development and motivational speaking. Perusich is the CEO for Kats Consultants, LLC., where he and his team offer a unique platform of business knowledge and tools for today’s chiropractic entrepreneur. For more information, visit katsconsultants.com.