Top Chiropractic Practice Challenges and Their Solutions

Top Challenges in Managing a

Chiropractic Practice and Their Solutions

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Contents 1. Introduction……………………………………………………..….3 2. Challenges in chiropractic practices………………….…………4 3. Administrative constraints…………………………….………….5 4. Too much paperwork…………………………………..………..…7 5. Billing challenges………………………..……………..………..…8 6. Missed appointments…………………………………..……….…9 7. Drop in new patients…………………………….…………….…10 8. Conclusion………………………………………..…………….…11 9. About zHealthEHR……………………………………………..…12

Practice Management Challenges

Introduction Every chiropractic practice, no matter what the size, has challenges and problems that it frequently grapples with.

If these issues are not addressed and solved, they can obstruct your practice’s patient base and profitability.

Read this eBook to know the top challenges in managing a practice and how you can solve them.

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Introduction Providing exceptional patient care and integrating new treatment technologies can help you pave the way for the success of your chiropractic practice. However, there is more to running a successful practice.

There are administrative burdens, billing challenges, patient retention issues, and other obstacles that can hinder the growth of your practice.

Use this ebook as a guide to find out the top challenges your practice might be facing and the solutions that can help you build a profitable practice.

Practice Management Challenges

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Challenge #1 - Administrative Constraints

Administrative requirements in a chiropractic practice are constantly increasing. It will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. So, managing a practice isn’t just about patients; it’s also about documentation, record keeping, billing, scheduling, and much more.

In a small solo practice, a provider will undoubtedly be involved in providing treatment services as well as administrative duties and responsibilities. In a large practice with multiple providers, the administrative responsibilities like recording routine data, taking care of X-Ray procedures, managing appointments, talking to patients, handling room assignments, and other tasks are handled by appointment clerks, office manager, and administrative staff.

For solo practitioners, managing day-to-day tasks and attending to patients can be a constant challenge. Managing the practice and treating patients can lead to physical burnout for a solo practitioner.

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Practice Management Challenges

Large practices with two or multiple providers need to hire highly skilled administrators who will be dedicated to keeping the practice in line. Such practices also hire professional billers and coders or managed billing services to manage their insurance billing process.

The Solution - Chiropractic Office Management Software The best way to solve this challenge is to invest in highly-rated chiropractic office management software. Check chiropractic software reviews on software review sites to find the best solution for your practice. Use the best chiropractic clinic management software integrated with billing, scheduling, and SOAP notes tools to optimize and simplify workflows in your practice.

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Challenge #2 - Too Much Paperwork You know the drill - the moment a patient walks-in or books an online appointment with your practice, the documentation process starts. From getting intake and consent forms filled by the patient, taking daily chiropractic SOAP notes, creating invoices to posting ERA payments, your practice needs to document everything.

If a business uses only paper for documenting everything, it costs about $25,000 to fill a four drawer filing cabinet and $2,100 per year to maintain it.

If a solo practitioner or an administrative staff has to spend half of his or her time looking for paper documents, it can ultimately impact productivity.

The Solution - Go Paperless Going paperless is the best way to eliminate expenses (paper, storage, and labor costs), improve efficiency, and reduce carbon footprint.

Using cloud based chiropractic EHR system lets you automate and modernize your practice.

You can save office space, access patient information anytime, create SOAP notes online, stay compliant with HIPAA, and keep patient data secure.

As far as your cloud chiropractic EHR software is integrated with scheduling solution and patient portal, your patient’s data will be directly submitted to your database, thus eliminating redundant data entry for you or your staff.

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Challenge #3 - Billing Challenges Billing regulations are always changing in the chiropractic industry.

Chiropractic billing and coding processes are complicated. Incorrect patient information, coding errors, incomplete provider details, and other mistakes could result in denials and delayed payments. The chances of leaking revenue increase when practices follow manual billing processes.

The Solution - Chiropractic Insurance Billing Software Chiropractic billing software comes integrated with a clearinghouse. A provider or billing staff can automatically submit claims, track them, and manage ERA payment posting. zHealthEHR chiropractic EHR and billing software is designed to improve your billing efficiency, increase collections, and help you bring more money to the table.

Benefits of Billing Software for Chiropractors

• Error-free coding

• Access to financial reporting

• 2-click claim submission

• Automated patient statements

• Automated ERA posting

• Automated EOB posting

• Accelerated payments

• Manage patient balances

• Track claim status regularly

• Increase revenue & bottom line

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Challenge #4 - Missed Appointments Patients not showing up for appointments is one of the biggest challenges of practices today. Missed or canceled appointments disrupt schedules and create gaps during the workday. Beyond the workday hassles, missed appointments can increase patient attrition rate and leave practices with a financial gap as well.

One of the reasons why patients do not show up is that they are not reminded about their appointment.

Sometimes they are too busy with their work schedules to visit a practice for their appointments. Whatever is the reason, “no-shows” make practices lose revenue.

The Solution - Improve Patient Management The best way to prevent and manage no-shows is to use chiropractic online scheduling software that helps you send automated patient reminders via text messaging or email notifications. With online scheduling software, practices can better manage: • • • •

Schedules and fill appointments gaps Save time and bring admin efficiency Patient experience Improve patient retention

Communicate more readily with patients about missed appointment and cancellation policies and the importance of completing chiropractic treatment schedules for their well-being so that they never miss appointments.

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Practice Management Challenges

Challenge #5 - Drop in New Patients A drop in the number of new patients coming into the practice can affect your cash flow. Getting new patients is essentially good for any practice, but how to attract new patients? Large practices with multiple locations sometimes hire marketing professionals to find potential patients. For small practices and solo practitioners, finding new patients can be particularly difficult.

The reason for a drastic patient drop off might not be linked to your treatment services. It could be because of patient expectations. Today, patients expect great experiences and more support from their care providers. Satisfied patients are always happy to refer their friends and family to your practice.

The online reputation of a practice also affects patient behavior.

The Solution - Improve Patient Experience and Manage Online Reputation The best way to prevent patient drop-offs and increase the number of new patients coming into your practice is to provide exceptional patient experiences.

• Manage your online reputation by automating the post-appointment feedback process.

• Use chiropractic scheduling software that to manage appointments and automate patient reminders.

• Make it easy for patients to book an appointment online.

• Provide the convenience of completing intake forms from home.

• Improve communication with patients and spend more time with them.

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Practice Management Challenges

Conclusion Chiropractic practices face many challenges as they grow their presence, but identifying the problems and their solutions can help them drive long-term success. Here is how practice owners can reap the rewards of building a profitable practice.

Invest in the best chiropractic office management software to streamline workflows in your practice.

Go paperless and start using cloud based chiropractic EHR system to manage patient records.

Get paid more and get paid faster by improving billing efficiency with chiropractic EHR and billing software.

Transform the way you manage patients to reduce no-shows or missed appointments. Online scheduling software is the best way to do so.

Patient experience matters. Make it easy and convenient for patients to book, cancel, and communicate with your practice.

Managing online reputation can help to bring in new patients. Attract new patients with five star reviews on Google & Yelp on autopilot.

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About zHealthEHR zHealthEHR is all-in-one cloud based EHR and practice management software built specifically for chiropractors. zHealthEHR is designed to automate your patient scheduling and intake paperwork, appointment reminders, billing, claim submission, online reputation management, and patient recall processes. Use readily available SOAP note templates and happily dictate notes with our voice-to-text recognition feature. Our team can build a fully customized SOAP note template to meet the exact needs of your specific practice.

Request a free demo

www.zhealthsoftware.com

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