t. onfronted by the remarkable growth of multi-disciplinary health care clinics across the country, you may find yourself, like many chiropractors, wrestling with the decision of whether or not multidisci-plinary practice is right for you. Chiropractors across the country are sharing the painful experience of hav- ing to scale back their lifestyles due to the decrease in the revenue their practices are generating. Market forces are also driving a trend toward practice consolidation. This trend has been well established in the medical community, where less than thirty percent of medical doctors remain in private practice. Soon, it will be equally rare for a chiropractor to practice independently, outside of a group chiropractic or multidis-ciplinary setting. This trend of "safety in numbers" shows no sign of letting up, as chiropractors embrace the economic reality that demands and rewards the diversification of the services they provide to their patients. The multidisciplinary practice has its structure set firmly upon the foundation of marketplace efficiency and patient satisfaction. The answer to the question of whether multidisciplinary practice is right for you can be answered, "Yes, if it is a practice that is operated with integrity and based upon ethical principles." It is, indeed, possible for you to create a subluxa-tion-based multidisciplinary practice that honors the art, science and philosophy of the chiropractic profession. It is time for healthcare practitioners of all disciplines to make their services more accessible to patients in one-stop holistic/allopathic blended health care practices that honor the disciplines of all of the practice members involved. Multidisciplinary practices that provide both allopathic and holistic therapies are able to deliver care with a two-pronged "corrective" and "preventive" approach. The DC-managed multidisciplinary clinic is the best-equip- ped model to bring to the market that which the public is demanding. A multidisciplinary practice in not a method to change your chiropractic practice into a medical practice with a few legal slights of hand. It is not a method of increasing your reimbursement revenues by misrepresenting your chiropractic services as medical, nor is it a method of fraudulently obtaining insurance coverage for your chiropractic treatment that would otherwise not be covered. Your multidisciplinary practice should be created for the benefit of your patients. Your multidisciplinary practice will offer your patients a much broader scope of services than those available in either a medical or chiropractic practice alone. It will also deliver these services in a more efficient and cost-effective manner. When you operate your practice correctly, legally, and with proper professional guidance, adopting a multidisciplinary model will grow your practice considerably. Your increased scope of services will attract more new patients and will result in a larger patient volume. Your multidisciplinary practice will also possess increased access to the healthcare market. While only approximately 10 percent of the population seeks chiropractic care, the majority of the population goes to medical practices. Creating a multidisciplinary practice provides you with the opportunity to offer chiropractic care to a larger segment of the population, many of whom may never have sought out chiropractic otherwise. This expanded access, alone, will significantly increase the volume of patients and services rendered in your practice. As the requirement for objective documentation grows, diagnostic testing is given an expanded role in the multidisciplinary environment. Chiropractic has traditionally placed a greater emphasis on treatment over diagnostic testing. It is frustrating for chiropractors to be repeatedly denied reimbursement due to inadequate documentation and the claim by insurance carriers of a lack of medical necessity. Your multidisciplinary practice will bring together the resources and the technology required to objectively document the necessity of care without having to overcome the special hurdles that have been selectively placed in the path of the chiropractic profession. While multidisciplinary clinics are enjoying great popularity among the general public, a few high profile practices have found themselves in the investigative limelight due to their questionable business practices. Their professional corner-cutting and unabashed greed have created an environment of distrust for the model among chiropractors, who tend to generalize their unscrupulous-ness to all multidisciplinary practices. A word to the wise, it is vitally important that you obtain very sound legal and management advice when undertaking the conversion of your practice to the multidisciplinary model. There are more laws, regulations, guidelines and Continued on page 45... MVL TIDISCIPLINA R Y ...frompage 27 protocols involved in operating in this arena. Retaining the services of an attorney and management consultant who are familiar with the legal and business structures of the multidisciplinary practice is an investment that will save you time, trouble and dollars in the long run. As a chiropractor, you possesses the ability to deliver an incredible healing modality, the chiropractic adjustment. Unfortunately, the general public has not recognized and embraced chiropractic as the valuable healing modality that it is. Chiropractors have been attempting to change the healthcare system from the "outside in" for over a century. Now is the time for you to heed your own philosophy and realized that health comes from the "inside out". Converting your practice to a multidisciplinary facility is a way for you to insure that the profession of chiropractic is robust and thriving for future generations to come. As President of Breakthrough Coaching, LLC, Dr. Sanna coaches chiropractors throughout the country to help them achieve personal and professional success. He has lectured to chiropractic audiences nationally and internationally. As a practicing chiropractor, Dr. Sanna has helped more than 100,000 people gain and enhance their health. A second-generation chiropractor, Dr. Sanna believes that the future of chiropractic depends upon a commitment to the principles of chiropractic, ethical and effective public relations, and sound business procedures. He can be reached at Breakthrough Coaching, LLC, by calling 1-800-7-ADVICE. ♦;♦
