The Churn and Burn of Chiropractic Practice
By Dr. Michael Perusich, DC
Recently, I was doing something I don’t normally do. I allowed myself to fall into a rabbit hole on social media. Thankfully, it only lasted about ten minutes, but during that time, something disturbing happened. Nearly every other post was a promise of how to drive new patients into your practice.
The messages all had similar themes.
“Doctors, do you need 40, 50, or even 75 new patients per month?”
“Doctors, we’ll send you 100 qualified neuropathy leads each month.”
As I watched those video posts, I thought it was great since many docs could benefit from an infusion of new patients. Then I realized there’s actually way more to business success than a constant high-volume flow of new patients. In fact, a steady high level of new clients into any business can have detrimental effects.
Before we go any further, please know that I am not speaking badly about any new-patient marketing program. I have no doubt they could offer you the results they mention. However, a balanced management approach is necessary after the new patient arrives on your schedule.
As with any business, retention is more crucial than acquisition, in my opinion. Without solid patient-retention strategies in place, practices that see a high volume of new patients may fall into the “churning” trap.
Churning is the phenomenon of rapidly cycling through new patients without focusing on long-term treatment success, building relationships, or the potential lifetime value each patient represents. This approach can undermine the therapeutic goals of chiropractic care and significantly damage the practice’s reputation and financial stability.
At its core, chiropractic care is built on trust and the relationship between the chiropractor and the patient. When a practice focuses more on new-patient volume rather than quality of care, it risks losing the trust that patients place in their healthcare providers. When we are constantly bringing in new patients, our existing patients often feel undervalued.
We’ve all seen instances like this in the marketplace as many companies, which will remain anonymous, are notorious for attracting new clientele using deep discounts for their services. Once you buy, though, you quickly discover that you no longer have access to any preferred type of service or price. You’re just another number.
In a chiropractic practice, creating this perception can make it difficult to establish the trust necessary for a patient to commit to your care plans, making them more likely to show up in the dropout column of your stats, rather than in long-term revenue.
As chiropractors, we all know that most patient cases require a personalized approach, whereby the doctor needs to understand the patient’s need for care and track their progress. When we create high patient turnover, that level of individualized care often becomes our secondary focus as we turn our attention to new-patient acquisition. This potentially leads to inadequate treatment outcomes, which can discourage patient loyalty and damage the practice’s reputation.
In today’s digital age, a practice’s reputation is more visible and more vulnerable than ever. Online reviews and social media can amplify individual patient experiences, whether good or bad. A practice focused on new-patient development over lifetime-patient value could potentially expose themselves to an increased number of dissatisfied patients who feel their care was rushed or impersonal. Negative reviews and word-of-mouth spread quickly, deterring potential patients from choosing your practice and limiting the ability to attract and retain new patients.
While it might seem counterintuitive, a high patient turnover rate can lead to financial instability. Acquiring new patients typically costs more than retaining existing ones because of marketing, administrative expenses, and the amount of time the doctor spends with a new patient versus a recurring one.
By contrast, your long-term patients are more likely to refer others and add to a practice’s services, enhancing revenue stability, and creating the potential for sustainable growth. Churning, on the other hand, tends to undermine growth by focusing on short-term gains rather than cultivating a stable base of satisfied and loyal patients.
Lastly, high patient turnover necessitates constant marketing efforts and administrative processes related to the onboarding of new patients. This can strain both capacity and clinical resources, leading to operational inefficiencies. Staff may become overwhelmed with the administrative burden, detracting from patient care and potentially increasing errors. Over time, these inefficiencies can erode the overall quality of care provided and increase your operational costs. In other words, don’t put attractive new patient numbers ahead of profitability.
When you create patient turnover in your practice, as in any business, it undermines the therapeutic relationship necessary for effective care and jeopardizes the financial health and reputation of the practice. Fostering a patient-centered approach that emphasizes quality care, continuity, and patient satisfaction is essential.
Simon Sinek appropriately said, “There are only two ways to influence human behavior: you can manipulate it, or you can inspire it. If we inspire people, they will give us more than we asked for. If we manipulate them, they will give us exactly what we paid for.”
By focusing on long-term patient retention and satisfaction, chiropractic practices can build a reputation for quality care, improve patient outcomes, and achieve sustainable business growth through loyalty within your community.
Bringing new patients into the practice is only a small part of your success story. Knowing how to turn them into lifelong-value patients is the real key. Let’s limit the churn and inspire our patients and the community to create a more-than-we-ask-for scenario. That’s a win-win for you and your patients.
About the Author
Dr. Michael Perusich is a solutions-focused advisor with more than 25 years of success across the healthcare and consulting industries. His broad areas of expertise include coaching, training, content development, and motivational speaking. Dr. Perusich is the CEO of Kats Consultants, LLC, where he and his team offer a unique platform of business knowledge and tools for today’s chiropractic entrepreneur. He can be reached through katsconsultants.com.
