In order to better understand trends within the chiropractic profession, we periodically survey DCs throughout the U.S. and share the findings of our Expanding Chiropractic Practice Survey for your review and reflection. Here's a snapshot of what's trending in chiropractic practices as we enter the new year; how does your practice compare?
Less Dependency on Insurance
Forty percent of DCs receive a quarter or less of their revenue from third-party payers. More than a fourth (27 percent) of DCs responded that their third-party reimbursement is less than 10 percent (12 percent of respondents) or none (15 percent of respondents). Thirteen percent receive a quarter of their revenue from third-party payers, 28 percent receive half, 26 percent receive three-quarters and 6 percent receive almost all.
This trend away from third-party dependency is on the rise; in our 2015 Expanding Chiropractic Practice Survey, only a third (34 percent) of DCs reported receiving a quarter or less of their revenue from third-party payers.
Expanding Revenue Channels
Chiropractors are increasing their revenue by offering more products and services. More than half of DCs (57 percent) report that they plan on increasing the products and services they offer their patients. Forty percent believe they will stay the same, with only 3 percent stating they will decrease the products and services they offer.
Again, this is an increase from the 2015 survey in which less than half (49 percent) stated they would increase the products and services they offer, with 45 percent staying the same and 6 percent decreasing.
More Products for More Patients
A little less than a third (29 percent) of DCs stated they offer products to "almost all" of their patients. In total, 50 percent of respondents are offering products to half or more of their patients. This response shows considerable growth compared to the 2015 survey, in which 41 percent of DCs reported offering products to at least half of their patients and 23 percent reported offering products to almost all patients.
Top Products, Up-&-Coming Products
Nutritional supplements (75 percent of respondents), topical analgesics (72 percent), orthotics (61 percent) and pillows (55 percent) are offered by more DCs than any other products. Of the products doctors are "thinking about offering," CBD products (27 percent thinking about offering), weight-loss products (15 percent), rehab products (13 percent) and laser products (11 percent) top the list.
Top Services, Up-&-Coming Services
Topical analgesics (73 percent), practice software (66 percent) and rehab services (51 percent) are the top services used in chiropractic practices. The top services DCs are thinking about using include reception-area videos and patient e-newsletters (18 percent apiece) and kinesiology taping (15 percent).
Fewer Solo-Practitioner Offices, More Multi-Practitioner Offices
Single-DC offices are still the preferred practice model, with 59 percent of DCs surveyed stating they are in solo practice. However, this is down from two-thirds (66 percent) as reported in the 2015 survey. Multiple-DC offices rose to 28 percent vs. only 21 percent in 2015.
New-Patient Sources
Where do new patients come from? When we asked DCs where they get new patients from, patient referral was the obvious leader at 96 percent, followed by practice website (57 percent) and social media (38 percent).
News and Information Sources
When it comes to the best place to get the news, chiropractic print publications remain the top choice (68 percent of respondents), but followed closely by chiropractic digital publications (65 percent). Chiropractic webinars come in third (52 percent) beating out e-newsletters (42 percent), publication websites (40 percent) and publication social media (30 percent).
When looking for information on new products and services for their practices, DCs are most likely to rely on seminars / webinars (68 percent), followed by trade publications (60 percent) and colleagues (55 percent).
So, how does your practice stack up in terms of the direction many chiropractic practices seem to be taking as we enter 2019? With these trends in mind, now is a great time to review the direction of your practice and consider if adopting some of these trends could assist you at being more successful.
Resource
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