While demand for chiropractic care is growing quickly, your practice is likely facing an increased amount of local competition each year. The ACA estimates there are 77,000 licensed practitioners in the U.S., with 2,500 newly licensed chiropractors entering the workforce each year.
As your competition rate soars, working to maintain patient loyalty and adopting smarter practice management habits could be key to revenue growth. Today’s practices are finding that better financial decisions and chiropractic software are two ways to avoid some of the costliest missteps that many of your competitors make on a daily basis. Read on to learn three of the most common mistakes, and how to avoid them.
1. Not Going Paperless
If your practice is still using paper for patient tracking, billing, payments and patient admission, you’re working too hard. Going paperless doesn’t just save on space and filing cabinets, it’s a tool to improve your information security, reduce errors and ensure records are never lost. With electronic health records (EHR) software designed for the chiropractic workflow, you can achieve new efficiency while maintaining constant compliance.
2. Consolidating Roles or Hiring Unqualified Help
Talent is costly, which is why many practices decide to blend roles or hire inexperienced staff with the intention of training them on the job. If you don’t have the demand to justify a full-time, highly skilled billing, it’s not a sign you should hire cheaper. It’s also not a message to task your chiropractic assistant with admin duties. Instead, using a chiropractic billing service can let you unlock expert help on-demand. A professional service could raise your first-time claim acceptance rate to 98 percent, allowing you to achieve consistent cash flow.
3. Failing to Use Digital Marketing
An impressive 80 percent of American adults are now using digital health tools, like apps and websites. Today’s patients are actively involved in choosing their wellness options, which often includes researching their local chiropractic options on review websites, social media and search engines.
Smarter marketing is one business skill that chiropractors need to develop for better practice outcomes. Establishing an online presence can allow you to attract new patients and manage your reputation as a practice that protects your client’s time and money.
Compliant, Efficient Practice Management is Possible
Effective practice management is demanding and competitive. Maintaining paperless records, using unqualified billing specialists, or failing to establish an online presence could all present serious risks to your long-term revenue potential and ability to compete.
Adopting a smart, compliant approach to chiropractic electronic health records software can help today’s practices achieve speed and automation. Billing services allow you to access expert help, without having to hire a full-time specialist. Efficiency in your business decisions will ultimately give you more time for marketing, reputation management and patient relationship management.