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ChineseYou passed your exams and you got your license. Now you are a chiropractor. Congratulations! You chose to be helpful and allow a lot of people to heal and return to an active life. But who will help you navigate through the uncertainties of a beginner in this field of work? We are here for you. We have prepared effective advice for new chiropractors that you can apply from day 1 of becoming a licensed practitioner.
1. Gain Experience in a Clinic
New chiropractors dream about running their own practice and being independent business owners. However, you need to have a solid basis before you go into business on your own. First of all, you need to learn how a chiropractic practice works. Secondly, you need to develop your bedside manners.
So, this is our first piece of advice for new chiropractors: start by getting a job in a clinic. Spend your time there learning everything you can, from how to treat difficult patients to how the practice is run. Also, find out whether you want to specialize in a specific area of chiropractic:
• Athletes
• Pregnant women
• Back pain
• Various conditions.
2. Independent Practice or Association?
Once you decide to go into business, you have to decide if you want to open a practice on your own or partner with another chiropractor. This is very common for a wide range of professional services, such as accountants, architects, lawyers, and dentists. And it works for chiropractic, as well.
However, here is a very important piece of advice for new chiropractors: if you decide to associate with another professional, put everything in writing. Go to a lawyer to help you create the bylaws of your practice, specifying how much capital each party contributed and – very importantly – outlining an exit strategy. At a certain point, you or your associate may want to get out of the partnership. Without a clear agreement, things can get very messy and you may lose valuable business goodwill as well as money.
3. Deliver Value First, Talk about Money Next
Many patients never make a second appointment because the first thing they hear is how much they have to pay. Some insurance companies do not work with chiropractors. In other cases, the co-pay is significant for the patient.
The mistake is talking about money first. One of the biggest pieces of advice for new chiropractors is to learn how to deliver value. Tell the patient how you will make them feel better, get rid of the pain, and stop taking pills. Tell them how much experience you have in the precise injury or condition they have. When you put things into perspective for patients, they won’t feel that it’s too expensive to regain their health and improve their quality of life.
4. Consider Partnerships with Personal Injury Lawyers – But Be Careful!
Many of your patients will be people injured in a car crash or workplace accident. In many cases, you will have personal injury lawyers getting in touch with you to refer their clients to you for evaluation and preparing the medical report stating the cause and extent of their injuries.
While this is a great way to grow your patients, be very careful. This type of referral is strictly regulated from state to state. Make sure that you are not breaking the law by accepting these patients and do a background check on the lawyer who wants to establish a barter with you.
5. Seek Out Potential Patients in Your Local Community
Here is a painful truth: sitting in your practice won’t bring you, patients. Traditional advertising is also no longer effective, so don’t waste money on radio and newspaper ads and Yellow Pages inserts.
Instead, our advice for new chiropractors is to become proactive in seeking patients. Attend health fairs, accept to be a featured speaker in webinars, and in various local community events. Ad for advertising, choose to go digital: have a great-looking website and be active on social media.
The Neck Joint is an excellent place to start growing your practice as a new chiropractor. We will create a professional website for you and help you get new patients through our online directory. Contact us to find out more about the benefits of being a premium member of our network!
