Welcome to 2021!
If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that the world is unpredictable. Practices from all over were impacted greatly by the events of 2020. One thing we observed is that practices that had an easier time getting through the year had one thing in common. What was it? Read on to learn...
As the head of a software company with thousands of users, I know that we have a tremendous amount of data that we can analyze. This gives us a unique perspective to see what really happened in practices all over the nation. We hope to help you use that knowledge so that you’re better prepared for the uncertain future we all face. So what did our data tell us?
In April 2020, at the height of the shutdown, we saw:
• One-time payments were down 50%. In essence, chiropractic offices that used one-time payments as the bulk of their revenue model were hit harder.
• In comparison, recurring payments were down less than 3%. Meaning, chiropractic offices that used recurring payments as the bulk of their revenue model stayed at almost the same level of revenue, if not the same or more.
Which would you rather be? The office that saw a 50% drop in revenue or the one that had less than a 3% drop? Which group do you think is in a better position at this point? Now, this may come as a surprise to some of you reading this, or maybe not. It certainly was not a surprise to us. Why? We know that recurring auto-debits are a major component of having high patient retention that results in loyal patients.
I cannot stress enough the power of having a high-retention practice. Implementing these strategies is one of the most important operational decisions a chiropractic office can make. This ensures financial security and independence from external events because it makes it easy for our patients to incorporate us into their daily lives. When things like a pandemic happen, you are less likely to struggle.
Loyal patients will complete their recommended treatment plan, whether insurance benefits have been exhausted or not. They will also continue to their wellness phase of care and become lifetime chiropractic advocates.
So how do you build a practice that can weather storms that may come your way? You must adapt and implement solid procedures. After working with thousands of offices and having my practice survive and thrive during hard times, I have been able to identify four key aspects that these practices have in common. I like to refer to these pillars as the Four Fs:
1 Forecast Care
This is a crucial step! Patients need a game plan for their treatment from the very beginning to the very end. When you give patients a full treatment plan that outlines all of the visits to reach their goals rather than asking them to buy care a little bit at a time, they do not feel like they are constantly being sold something else. This will not only help reduce awkward financial conversations but also will drastically improve conversions to wellness care. When your patients are on plans, and their payments are processed automatically, they don’t have to think about whether they can afford the next visit.
2 Frictionless Payments
The more friction there is for your patients to pay, the less likely they’re going to continue. Make sure to always have frictionless payments in your practice; it will save you a ton of time in the practice and help your patients say yes to care. Even when their insurance is exhausted, they’ll transition to wellness care because they’re not wondering if they can afford the next visit — even in pandemic times. Remember what I was saying about one-time payments versus recurring? This simple step can change everything.
3 Feedback
You know the story; patients get the “big idea” and know that chiropractic works. Once the symptoms that originally brought them into the office wear off and they’re out of pain, they drop out. However, you know that they need more care to correct the cause of their issues, not just mask the symptoms. The solution is to give regular feedback about how they are progressing with care. This feedback needs to be in a format that is easy for patients to understand.
There are many ways you can achieve that, but I like to produce a report with a letter grade at the report of findings that shows the true state of their health in an objective manner and in language that the patient can understand. During reexams, we run another report and present the patient with the amazing progress they have made. They also see that even though the pain has stopped, there are still improvements to be made. These wellness reports will take the conversation away from, “I just want to get out of pain,” or “What does my insurance cover?” to “Wow, I really need to get my grade up. How do I do that?” This will drastically improve your retention rates too. Patients must always know how they’re progressing with care, or they will more than likely drop out. Avoid that issue with feedback!
4 Frequent Contact
Routinely contacting the patient is important to remain at the top of their awareness. If you can automate that, even better! Automated email campaigns that slowly drip patient education on the benefits of chiropractic, as well as marketing content that spans from office announcements to Happy Birthday emails, have proven to be effective. Although there might be other creative ways of achieving similar results, I have found automated emails to be the most efficient for my team and me. Having emails geared toward education and marketing efforts will not only give you a constant connection with your current patients but also will bring in new patients. The key here is to make sure that these are automated. Having campaigns sent out automatically can save you upward of five hours a month, and you can then spend that time elsewhere instead of manually sending out content.
Those chiropractic offices that implemented these strategies in 2020 were able to not only survive and thrive, but some also set office records even amid a pandemic. If you haven’t started putting these procedures into place just yet, don’t fear because it’s definitely not too late to implement any of these. Taking the lessons that we learned from 2020 and applying them to your practice for 2021 will ensure that your practice can survive whatever the upcoming year has in store for all of us.
Dr. Miles Bodzin, Founder & CEO of Cash Practice® Systems speaks internationally on the topic of client retention, and his company offers web-based software for chiropractors to streamline their practices. The Cash Practice® Systems, which includes The Wellness Score®, Cash Plan Calculator®, Auto-Debit System® & Drip-Education® Email Marketing System, have helped thousands of chiropractic offices collect more cash in their practices, skyrocket their patient retention, and reduce their dependence on insurance. Learn more at www.CashPractice.com or call 877-343-8950.
