You entered the chiropractic profession because you want to help people. That’s admirable. You convert your knowledge and training into services that improve the health and quality of life for your patients. That’s what you do. You want to be paid for your services. That’s only natural.
Your chiropractic practice is a business, and you need to make decisions based on what is best for the health of your patients and your practice. Many chiropractors depend on reimbursement from insurance companies as their only source of revenue. Unfortunately, these insurance-based clinics often lose patients once the benefits run out. If insurance covers 12 visits, the patient will only visit 12 times.
What do you do if you are insurance-based, and a patient doesn’t have insurance? Have you ever caught yourself making decisions and care recommendations based on patient coverage?
You can avoid these situations by operating a cash-based chiropractic practice. It’s a different business philosophy and requires a different business plan. Here is how to create a cash-based chiropractic practice.
Why Operate On Cash Versus Insurance Billing
An insurance-based chiropractic practice may spend 30% or more of its resources trying to collect from insurance companies. You may even need to hire the services of a lawyer from time to time just to get paid. Those are resources that take away from the patient experience.
A cash-based practice still requires you to maintain documentation as far as Electronic Health Records (EHR) are concerned, but documentation for patient reimbursement from insurance companies should still be available if needed by the patient from your front office. So, your billing and accounting are a bit more streamlined.
Your cash flow improves because you are paid for services when they are rendered. There’s no waiting for insurance to pay their portion of the cost. Managing your healthcare revenue cycle becomes simplified.
Cracking Backs Won’t Cut It
You must realize that if you decide to transition to a cash-based chiropractic practice, you must do something completely different from your competition. Simply offering osseous adjustments like the other DCs isn’t enough. To stand out, you’ll need to be perceived by your patients as a whole spectrum healthcare provider. You may need additional training in new areas of care, but it will be worth it for you and your patients.
Expand your practice to include:
- Cranial adjustments for improved respiratory health
- Neuro Emotional Technique (NET) for improved emotional and stress responses
- Bio Energetic Synchronization Technique (BEST) to correct biomagnetic imbalances
- Lab Diagnosis to identify nutritional deficiencies
- Radiographic diagnosis capabilities (X-Rays, MRIs, CT-Scans)
- Rehab for sports-related injuries including exercises, stretches, IASTM and ART
- Applied Kinesiology to correct imbalances in meridians and treat nutritional excess or deficiency
- Functional Medicine to promote wellness and identify root causes of disease
- The use of acupuncture points in your treatment plan.
In a nutshell, you need to be providing more extensive care with services patients can’t find elsewhere.
Produce Results
When people are in pain and when people are ill, they will find money to pay for treatment. People place a high value on their health and don’t mind paying for health care.
With your expanded repertoire of care, patients may only spend a few hundred dollars with you whereas they might spend thousands on deductibles and co-pays with other providers. It’s not hard to make economic sense of the cash model for your patients that are concerned about money.
People want results. And when you deliver what helps them, they will deliver referrals in return.
Results are what people talk about around the dinner table, at holiday get-togethers, and on their carpools. Believe me, when people have health problems, they talk about them. When they get relief, they talk about that even more. Many times, they are asked how they are doing. You do your job and help them out and they’ll be quick to mention it.
Always Be True to Yourself
Be a living example of the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle to your patients. When your patients see your energy levels and your passion, they’ll be more than happy to pay cash to achieve the levels of health you enjoy.
Talk to a Cash-Based Chiropractor
Talk to the Chiropractors at NutriWest of New York to discuss the possibility of becoming a cash-based chiropractic practice or just get information on how to grow your practice.
Make plans to attend a NutriWest seminar. We can help you earn your continuing education credits as well as grow your business.