How to Spring into Growth in Your Chiropractic Practice
Do you feel like you are spinning your wheels?
Chiropractors are often busy in their clinics, but the statistics show month after month that they are not growing their practice. Financially this means that they are stagnant in their income but worse than that, they are not reaching more of their fellow community members and teaching them the principles of health and wellness. We will cover this month why that this so important for both the chiropractor and the patients. Also, we will go over why this will tremendously affect your earning potential.
Do you know your capacity?
Capacity is the amount of people that you can serve on any given day or week through the gift of chiropractic.
What affects capacity?
Capacity is affected by 5 key areas
- Speed
- Energy and Attitude
- Technology
- Hours of Operation
- Help
The 5 Key Areas of Capacity that affect Chiropractic Marketing and Growth
Speed is the first and easiest way to increase your capacity. In every office, even the most disorganized, there is a flow or rhythm by which the doctor and the staff works. By increasing the rate at which everyone works, you will be able to serve more patients in a shorter amount of time.
Look for areas that you can speed up.
Cut down on Chit Chat.
Next is attitude and energy. A high frequency is developed just by having a positive attitude and energy in the office. This starts with the doctor and disseminates to the staff and from the staff to the patients. If you want to have a large capacity for seeing patients then you must learn to increase the frequency in the office. This means not talking in a slow and dull way with long pauses. Be intentional in what you say and lead the staff to be happy, joyful, and enthusiastic.
Technology is perhaps the costliest area, but this should be looked at as an investment. Where can you invest into your clinic to bring the best patient outcomes. Using high quality EHR software, diagnostic tools, updating old equipment, x-ray technology and other items can bring a sense of dedication and excellence to your office. These technologies can also free up staff to do other important items.
Configuring hours and days should be a simple formula. Start early and end late and keep it consistent. Do not have confusing hours that are different every day. The patients should be able to recite your hours and know when you are open. People do not like to try to remember which day you are open late or close early. Most doctors want the 9-5 schedule, but the reality is that you can help more people by expanding your hours and then you can hire more doctors.
Hiring more staff. The last step is to hire new staff, this could be an assistant or a new doctor. Depending on the circumstance, the rule is to hire when you are at 80% max capacity. First you would start with an assistant and then two and when the doctor is approaching 80% capacity with two assistants it is time to get a new doctor on board. This will also help with the increased hours of the clinic. The chiropractor can share Saturdays or other shifts with the new doctor to help as many people as possible during the working hours of the clinic.
There you have it, the step-by-step way to grow your chiropractic office. Once your marketing is in place and you are a referral machine then you can follow this simple step by step tutorial to maximize your capacity both mentally and physically.