Preventing Chiro Cash-to-Crash
IN BRIEF
Mike Carberry
With only 10% of U.S. citizens utilizing chiropractic care, payment complexities play a role in a chiropractor’s inability to reach the other 90%. Our success is embodied by how many patients we can help heal. However, when most of the population needs pain care, they often look only for what’s “covered by insurance.” That often leads to more people getting stuck in the medical system and not always getting the help they need to heal.
Many chiropractors have seen great success by going completely cash-only. While this approach has produced some healthy financial yields, cash-only practices are at the mercy of potentially fragile local economies, evolving demographics, increased competition, and other marketplace forces.
Cash-only chiropractic offices are often successful with patients who are loyal to chiropractic. These patients understand the focus on restorative, cure-based treatments as opposed to symptom relief. However, we know that the general population doesn’t always think that way first, especially when paying out of pocket. This can lead to challenges when finding new patients and driving revenue into a clinic.
So how do chiropractors and industry leaders with cash-only practices avoid the risk of a practice crash? Today’s chiropractors have two basic options: continue with the current chiropractic model or expand their scope of care through the practice of medical integration.
With a more informed and focused patient base seeking broader and more comprehensive alternatives to conventional medicine, medically integrated practices are the wave and promise of the future. Medical integration enables chiropractors and medical doctors to deliver insurance-covered and hyper-focused care to an expanding base of patients who wouldn’t otherwise seek chiropractic treatment.
With integrated medicine, patients often get exactly the care they need, and providers are compensated for it. Since integrated medical practices offer a wide range of services, they are less likely to be forced out of business by changes in healthcare legislation or health insurance policies. If one service is no longer reimbursed or permitted, the clinic has other options for benefiting patients while generating revenue.
Additionally, integrated clinics provide more billable services per patient. Because of that, there is no need to double or triple the number of patients to receive a higher income.
When done correctly, a medically integrated office avoids the risk of a crashing practice and offers your community a one-of-a-kind healthcare model that will change the way people think about health care. It will put you in a position to educate the public on the merits and health-restoring benefits of chiropractic.
Dr. Mike Carberry is an entrepreneur, author and public speaker. He earned a Bachelor of Applied Science in Stockton University with a major in marketing, and his Doctor of Chiropractic at Life University. Dr. Carberry is co-founder of Advanced Medical Integration and his mission is to help end the Opioid Crisis in the US through healthcare reform. You may contact him at 727-205-8884 or Discover@ amidoctors.com.
