All chiropractic practices to service patients and they exist because they are a business. This is where many miss the mark since many chiropractic practices forget that they are actually a business. Chiropractors today must think in terms patient care efficiency and profitability. To help the chiropractor and his or her staff must think daily about the five things that actually influence their business side of their practice.
The five areas of a successful practice review:
- Time
- Talent
- Money
- Systems
- Processes
All five must be focused on daily in order to operate an efficient practice. My work with hundreds of chiropractors and businesses suggests that the lack of attention and focus will throw any practice into panic and survival. Focusing on the five concepts can mean the difference between thriving and barely surviving. Over the course of the next several days will share with best practices so that you can implement them into your own firm.
First a brief explanation of each:
- Time – Most chiropractors are so busy attempting to see as many patients as possible they lose focus on items that are equally as important such as 1) creating awareness and community, 2) staff development and communication, 3) building alliances to aid the practice, 4) reviewing the systems for key performance measurements.
- Talent – In the crazy busy world in which we live it is essential to focus on those people that can make a difference in the practice. From the front desk staff and first impressions to billing and coding. Dismissing the benefits of good staff can make or break your practice.
- Money – It is unfortunate how many chiropractors pay little heed to numbers and metrics. When recently asked a chiropractor I spoke with did not know what his accounts receivables were. When there is little knowledge of those things that keep the practice afloat as well as few benchmarks that denote the status of the practice – there is a recipe for future issues.
- Systems – I find that building your practice is similar to building a residential home. Before the framework is being installed, the foundation is built. Similar to a home or commercial building, the foundation vital for the home remaining for years. Without proper systems such as a business model, a business plan which are your systems, the business cannot operate towards future success.
- Processes – Processes are those items that operate the systems. They are the pathways to indicate how patients are acquired, how they are treated when they enter the practice and just as important how to get them to remain.
While there are more items and more procedural methods that I will introduce in my forthcoming book “Practice Acceleration”, do note that these five are the foundations for operating an efficient practice.
Over the course of the next few posts, I will separate each one and help explore how you can implement some best practices into your practice. Stay tuned when I provide information on how to implement best practices in time but more important where the doctors time is best spent.
© 2012. Drew Stevens PhD. All rights reserved.
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Drew Stevens Ph.D. is a world-renowned marketing mentor for chiropractors. Drew is one of those very rare chiropractic-marketing experts with not only 30 years of true experience but advanced degrees in marketing productivity. Not many can make such as claim. Drew works with chiropractors and professional services firms who struggle like crazy to create customer centric relationships that create new revenue. Dr. Drew has aided professionals to reach billions of dollars in new revenue by strategically implementing processes and methods that develop new relationships and new revenue.
