The Main Reasons Why Patients Leave a Chiropractic Practice

As a chiropractor, you know how hard it is to attract new patients. And this is why, once you got an initial appointment, you want to keep each patient coming back for treatments for as long as possible. This is the only way of balancing the costs to get new patients and make a profit, too. For this very important reason, you should do everything you can to make their experience as satisfying as possible each time they come for appointments. And to do so, you should know and avoid the issues that cause patients to leave a chiropractic practice.
Surprisingly, unsuccessful treatment is not the main reason for quitting a practice. What makes most people leave a chiropractic practice has very little or nothing to do with the doctor’s skill and experience. Instead, patients who stopped seeing a chiropractor complained of:

1. Long Waiting Time

Many patients complain that they had to wait a long time until someone at the reception welcomed them and helped them sign in. Then, they had to sit in the waiting area for a long time until the chiropractor finally saw them.
This is one of the main reasons why patients leave a chiropractic practice. They are busy, have other plans, or are in pain. Having to wait to get adjusted or evaluated makes these patients upset or even angry. Some may leave before the appointment starts. Many others will not make a new appointment.
You can avoid this issue by using an effective online booking solution, which does not allow you to double book the same time slot. The Digital Patient Chart EHR software offers this very useful feature, among many others.

2. Lack of Digital Services for Convenience

Speaking of online booking, not offering this option can determine whether patients leave a chiropractic practice. The COVID pandemic taught people to do various tasks independently from the comfort of their homes.

Online healthcare appointments using the laptop or a mobile phone are among the most appreciated digital services. Last year, nearly 80% of patients stated that they preferred this method of managing their medical appointments. Most certainly, a new statistical study will find that this number has remained fairly the same.

3. Reduced Personal Interactions and Patient Engagement

Patients are people who expect to be treated better than walking wallets by healthcare providers. They want their doctors and chiropractors to reach out to them between appointments and inquire about their well-being and the evolution of their condition.
Also, they tend to stay loyal to chiropractors and other types of doctors who take the time to educate them by sending them informative newsletters and invitations to attend webinars. The complete Digital Patient Chart EHR software solution offers a series of marketing tools that help you do just that. You can easily create newsletters or send curated content from the internet to your patients.

4. Poor or Ineffective Communication

Communication is key when you work with people in any capacity. Many patients leave a chiropractic practice because they complain they never get a clear description of the treatment plan or the expected results.
Also, they leave because the practice does not use an effective system of notifications by text or email to remind them of upcoming appointments. With Digital Patient Chart EHR software, you will be able to offer a patient portal to each new patient, where they can manage their appointments and which will send timely reminders for upcoming treatment sessions.

5. Surprise Bills

There is nothing more annoying than receiving an unexpected bill. For many families, this upsets the monthly balance of their finances. And, without a doubt, this is one of the key reasons why patients leave a chiropractic practice.
You can easily avoid this issue by using a comprehensive billing system that:
•    Prepares and sends bills accurately and on time
•    Monitors accounts receivable and debts
•    Prepares forms for insurance claims using the right forms and on time.
Thus, you can be sure that you will never have to charge patients anything extra if they are using their insurance for total or partial payment of their chiropractic treatments.

The Digital Patient Chart EHR software was developed with chiropractors giving their input. It is a complete solution for chiropractic appointments, billing, staff administration, and marketing. Contact us to find out more about the benefits of this chiropractic software suite!