Chiropractors are seeing an increasing number of patients, and thus they need to be efficient in their practice. However, despite rapid medical innovation and advancement, the healthcare industry and chiropractic field are still mid-development, at a stage of “growing pains” in their efficiency. Here, we explore six of the greatest challenges of being a chiropractor.
Challenges of Being a Chiropractor
Being a chiropractor comes with its own set of challenges, ranging from managing patient care effectively to navigating the complexities of running a chiropractic practice.
These challenges includeclinical practice, patient management, business operations, and professional development. Despite these obstacles, chiropractors play a crucial role in promoting holistic wellness and addressing musculoskeletal issues. Understanding and overcoming these problems faced by chiropractors are essential for chiropractors to thrive in their field and provide optimal care to their patients. Let’s explore some of the key challenges faced by chiropractors or those who going to start a chiropractic business. Also, learn the strategies to address them effectively.
1. Tedious Administrative Tasks Lower Quality of Care
We usually imagine a doctor’s workday as centered around seeing patients and prescribing appropriate treatment plans. However, with the advent of electronic health records (EHRs), many physicians are spending increasingly long hours at a computer on administrative duties and paperwork, rather than focusing on face-to-face patient encounters and clinician work.
Chiropractors are no exception, spending most of their time on administrative tasks such as marketing, insurance billing, and SOAP note documentation. The trade off between providing high quality patient care and maintaining operational efficiency limits providers’ availability to treat patients. Often, they are unable to drive practice growth, let alone focus on patients’ best interests, because their time and energy have been drained. Invest in EHR and practice management software to streamline and automate your administrative tasks.
2. Difficulty Attracting New Patients and Following Up with Existing Ones
One key way to grow a chiropractic practice is to expand clientele. Given the rising prevalence of low back pain and other musculoskeletal ailments—and that in 2017, 1 in 4 adults last saw a chiropractor over five years ago while 49% had yet to ever see a chiropractor—there is a prime opportunity to onboard new patients.
Many patients start their search for chiropractic services online. Thus, it is important to present prospective patients with stellar reviews of a practice. Apart from obtaining trustworthy testimonials, many doctors also face the challenge of having reviews be accessible to the general public since there are numerous platforms to publish on, from Yelp and Health grades.
In order to collect quality reviews, chiropractors must ensure optimal long-term customer experiences. Unfortunately, administrative burdens not only hinder the in-person care that doctors provide to patients, but also contribute to the stresses of following up with patients and monitoring their treatment progress in between visits. Without an efficient approach, physicians lose productivity and encounter more frequent no-shows.
3. Declining Practice Profitability and Inefficient Billing
The healthcare space has experienced a general decline in profitability due to diminishing revenues, rising expenses, and decreasing reimbursement rates. Additionally, medical practices often lose significant income due to operational inefficiencies: incorrect ICD-10 and CPT coding, underpriced or outdated services, unsubmitted billing claims, and improper or missed follow-ups.
Of these tasks, medical billing perhaps requires the most comprehensive, strategic approach to manage patients and insurers. Many practices have implemented EHR systems expecting to solve all medical billing problems. However, most EHR services are not customized to a specific practice, creating unexpected or hidden gaps in completing the billing process.
4. Predicting Cash Flow
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- Inconsistent Billing Processes: Without standardized billing procedures, clinics may struggle to accurately predict cash flow, leading to financial uncertainty.
- Payment Delays and Errors: Manual billing and payment methods can result in delays and errors, causing disruptions in cash flow management.
- Lack of Financial Visibility: Limited access to real-time financial data and reports makes it difficult for clinics to forecast revenue accurately.
5. Practice Growth
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- Limited Marketing Resources: Chiropractic clinics often have limited marketing budgets and resources, making it challenging to implement effective marketing strategies.
- Competition from Other Practices: With numerous chiropractic clinics in the market, standing out and attracting new patients can be a daunting task.
- Negative Online Reputation: Negative reviews or lack of online presence can hinder practice growth by deterring potential patients from seeking services.
6. Time Management
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- Manual Administrative Tasks: Performing manual administrative tasks such as appointment scheduling, patient intake, and payment processing consumes valuable staff time and resources.
- Patient Communication Overload: Managing communication channels and responding to patient inquiries can become overwhelming, leading to inefficiencies in time management.
- Inefficient Workflow Processes: Without automated systems and streamlined workflows, clinics may struggle to prioritize tasks effectively, resulting in time wastage and decreased productivity.
Overcoming Obstacles
Although it seems that chiropractors face many daunting challenges, there are innovative software solutions available to address multiple problems at once. The ideal chiropractic EHR management software should have the following qualities:
- Automates scheduling, reminders, and check-in
- Increases practice profitability using automated health insurance billing for more accurate submissions, coding, and reimbursement
- Tackles the tedious process of documentation with hands-free dictation of SOAP notes, powered by voice to text integration
- Creates a customized, paperless patient experience tailored to each chiropractic practice
A Centralized Solution
One example of a centralized platform that streamlines all key aspects of a practice is zHealth, a cloud-based software for chiropractic EHR management. Apart from eliminating operational inefficiencies using automation, the system also expedites back-end paperwork and customer accounting.
zHealth effectively addresses all of the qualities an ideal chiropractic EHR software should have. Furthermore, patient data is protected with full HIPAA compliance, and stored in the cloud for access from any device at no additional implementation cost.
With zHealth, chiropractors are able to maximize customer satisfaction. By aligning current patient procedures with digitally-optimized customer review automation technology, practices that employ this software are better able to attract new patients and grow their business—with reduced stress and higher productivity.
