Top 5 Chiropractic Business New Year’s Resolutions for 2019

Your chiropractic business will thrive in 2019 with these bold goals to increase revenue, streamline billing processes and grow your practice.

It’s that time of year again … when articles and advice on how to set and maintain resolutions for the New Year are popping up online and everywhere you turn. Like them or not, resolutions – or goals – are crucial for chiropractors when it comes to growing and maintaining a thriving practice.

But how, exactly, do you want to grow your business? What processes need improvement, and what areas should you focus on? It’s important to be proactive,  clearly identify your 2019 goals, and strategize how you’ll achieve them.

We asked our team to identify some of the most common goals we’ve helped chiropractic clients meet and exceed. Here are our recommendations for five awesome and effective New Year’s resolutions and goals.

1. Transition to Cloud-Based Chiropractic Software

If your practice is still relying on an in-house server, transitioning to cloud-based software should be at the top of your list. The benefits are extensive, but one of the most compelling reasons is that you’ll have emergency protection from accidents, natural disasters, theft or technical failure.

If you are unable to quickly recover and restore patient records, billing information, financial documents and other critical files, your practice will suffer devastating consequences. In addition to having peace-of-mind, cloud-based storage will offer:

• Freedom. You won’t have to purchase, install or maintain a local server within your practice. This saves money and time.
• Mobility and flexibility.  You and your staff can access your data from anywhere at anytime.
• Compliance. Cloud-based systems offer an efficient and easy solution for maintaining compliance within your practice.
• Scalability. The software grows in proportion with your practice growth.

2. Know Your Codes and Modifiers

Coding and modifiers are one of those tedious but no-way-to-get-around-them elements of running a successful chiropractic business.

First of all, they’re always changing and it’s hard to keep track of them. Secondly, when they are inaccurate, the consequences are great. You will see a decrease in revenue, unwanted attention from auditors, and an increase in unpaid claims.

For the new year, make codes and modifiers one of your priorities by utilizing resources and staying abreast of changes. Here’s help for getting started:

• Brush up on 2019 ICD-10 code changes (they went into effect on Oct. 1, 2018).
• Learn more about BCBS claims processing protocol for chiropractors regarding code 97140.
• Do you know which chiropractic billing modifiers you should use with extra caution? What about the ones that should be avoided altogether? Here’s a  downloadable list that will help.
• Increase your knowledge and understanding of how codes and modifiers affect revenue, potential for audits, and claim denials.

3. Focus on Growing Your Practice

There are numerous factors involved in the growth of your practice. Marketing strategies and initiatives are vital, and should be a part of your annual budget. But there are significant internal processes that can be improved or tweaked to positively affect your growth throughout the year. As you identify your top goals, here are some key areas to consider:

• Efficiency of your billing process and areas of improvement.
• Quality of your practice management software, and if it’s meeting your needs.
• Digital marketing efforts, and how to get the most bang for your buck.
• Ways to promote your practice, including patient testimonials and special promotions.
• Rate of claims collections.

For additional ideas, see 11 Tips for Growing Your Chiropractic Practice.

4. Increase Revenue

Who doesn’t want to see practice revenue on an upward trend? It’s getting there that’s the challenge. If we could sum up how to do it, it’d be to streamline your financial process. But there’s no magic wand that can make that happen.

The more efficient your billing process is, the higher the revenue. We know, because that’s exactly what we do for our clients. But you have to know where you stand before you now where to improve.

Start by evaluating your accounts receivable and identify ways to trim any access. Next, improve your code accuracy and decrease denied claims by sending clean ones. Your registration process is another area where you can improve and directly impact your revenue stream. For details, see Top 7 Chiropractic Billing Tips for Increasing Monthly Revenue.

5. Support Staff Training

Providing your patients with quality care, helping them heal, and serving their needs are at the forefront of every chiropractor’s mind. But the business side of your practice has to be healthy too.

That’s why continuous billing training is so important – it leads to increased revenue. And the more your billing staff knows and understands current trends, processes and requirements, the more money you’ll see at the end of each month. This, of course, allows you to provide the best of services and treatments.

Our team of U.S.-based chiropractic insurance billing experts monitor payer habits, rules and trends across the nation and ensure immediate client billing.

They know how to help chiropractors increase revenue. We asked them to put together recommendations for chiropractic billing training, and here’s what they put at the top of their list (bonus, there’s a downloadable PDF too): Best Chiropractic Billing Training Ideas to Increase Revenue.

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