Chiropractic Rescue Plan » Business Operations

Do You Really Need Multiple Rooms?

Dr. Dan — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 06:11:38 +0000

In the retail industry, especially in large department stores like WalMart and Target, a lot of attention is focused on revenue generated per square foot. This is one of the metrics managers use to gauge profitability. Next time you go to your local department store, notice how they try to cram merchandise in every corner and aisle using rolling racks and other types of merchandise stands.

You should think the same way for your chiropractic office. If you were to design a floorplan that could allow you to see your desired maximum daily volume in the smallest acceptable space, what would it look like?

Many chiropractic offices have the classic layout of reception and waiting room in the front, then hallway, with two or three treatment rooms on each side and X-ray system in the back. The doctor would double and triple book and have patients lie on the tables getting PT or doing exercises until it was their turn to get adjusted.

I find this totally wasteful, personally, if you are a one-chiropractor office. These multiple rooms essentially make for very expensive and luxurious waiting rooms. A $10 chair would achieve the same purpose. And you waste a lot of time during the day walking from room to room.

A better solution is a layout like the Gonstead-style “feeder” room, but without the small feeder rooms. This can be achieved in less than 500 square feet, if done right. Have a small reception with a few chairs adjoining your larger treatment room. Handle all patient admin matters before the treatment (co pays, next appointment, etc.). Patient flow is from the reception area straight into the treatment room, and then back out. Next patient goes in, and so on. In this set up, you save time walking from room to room (you remain in the treatment room and have patients come to YOU), and you save TONS of money by having a smaller space. There is no reason why you can’t see 12 patients per hour using this method if you wanted to.

You can only be in one place at one time, unless you clone yourself. Why have six treatment rooms? Save yourself a lot of overhead that could be going towards your mortgage or retirement account, and re-tool your floor plan if you have a lot of wasted space. If you want to find out other, similar ways to take a buzz saw to your overhead expenses, order my ebook, Chiropractic Business Plan: How to Start a Low Overhead, High Profit-Margin Chiropractic Office.

Credit Card Processing Alternative

Dr. Dan — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 08:31:03 +0000

This blog is about saving money wherever you can in your chiropractic business.

One way is to get a phone-based credit card processing service. If you have a land line credit card merchant, you’re paying for your phone line and a bunch of extra fees. And, chances are, you are paying a monthly cell phone bill as well.

Here’s an idea that can work well for some: add a dedicated business phone line to your cell phone contract for a few bucks more, and use it for your office phone number. Then, get a service like CellCharge, which enables you to process credit card payment through your phone. To process a credit card you simply pickup any phone (cell, touchtone, even a payphone) and dial a toll free number and key in the pertinent card information when prompted.

With this set up, you don’t need to pay for an expensive land line, and you save on your merchant fees. CellCharge does not require the purchase of any additional equipment to begin processing and best of all there is no contract, you can cancel or upgrade to a terminal at any time.

If you have a small satellite office, this is a great way to save some money.

Online Appointment Scheduling Software for Chiropractors

Dr. Dan — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:22:59 +0000

Genbook online scheduling for chiropractors is working like gangbusters for me. And I can’t believe it’s free! I sign up, enter my settings (days and hours open, appointment duration, appointment types, pricing). The site generates a link that you send to your patients’ emails that takes them straight to the sign up screen. You can even customize your unique link to look nice and clean. And get this, you can download your existing patient email database, and Genbook can send them an invitation to use the service, with your custom online appointment scheduling link! Very easy to do. It even generates an HTML button that you can put on your website that when clicked takes the patient to your scheduling screen!

When the patient books an appointment, Genbook gets their email, puts them on your calendar (blocking out that availability), sends you email notification that the appointment was made, and sends the patient an email reminder of her appointment a day in advance! Now that’s using technology to cut overhead and streamline your business, the core principle of chiropractirescueplan.com. (If you want to find out more ways to do this, check out my ebook Guerilla Chiropractic).

The only drawback is that it does not interface with your billing software (at least for now). I have Chiro8000 and have to post charges separately at the end of the day, going off of my Genbook calendar. But for me, it’s worth the extra hassle.

The paid version has extra features like accepting credit cards, storing patient data, allowing patients to write testimonials for you, and more. But trust me, the free version will work for most chiropractic offices. Offices having multiple providers can opt for the Premium paid version, which runs $39.95 per month. This allows the patients to choose among the providers/services on your appointment scheduling webpage.

Give it a try; this one’s a winner! And if you absolutely love Genbook after seeing how much time, money and hassles it saves you, I’d appreciate a small donation for the tip

Dr. Dan

Online appointment scheduling – The easiest free way to grow your business

Dr. Dan — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 10:23:57 +0000

In any professional services businesses, including chiropractic and other practice types, automating tedious tasks is a great way to reduce overhead expenses and increase efficiency at the same time. And when I reference “automation” it will usually mean the computer and internet. It’s 2010, and most if not all of your clients will have both.

Remember the old way of scheduling? You’d have a receptionist at the front with a multi-line phone; a big scheduling book in front of her, and a pencil and eraser. Patients/ clients would make appointments over the phone or as they check out, and the receptionist would rifle through the pages of the appointment book, looking for an available slot. But sometimes the patient will first say “let me look at my calendar to see when I’m available,” pull out her own personal calendar, and that could add a couple of minutes alone to the process. Then, as the appointment day approached, the receptionist would call to remind the patient of her appointment, or even send out a reminder postcard.

What if there was a system where the patient could schedule himself an appointment with you in the privacy of his home, office, coffee shop, or anywhere there was internet access? And on top of that, get an email reminder of his appointment via email or phone text message? That would cut down on a lot of your no-shows and may even increase your patient visit appointments. Well, that system is here. Genbook is a service that can do this, and more.

Here are some of Genbook’s core features, as mentioned on the Genbook Online Appointment Scheduling Website:

Unlimited Staff & Bookings
Universal BookNow! Button
Online Appointment Calendar
iPhone Access
Timely Appointment Reminders
Genuine Customer Reviews
Unique Scheduling Webpage
Customer Database & History
SMS Text Notifications
Credit Card Capture
Synchronize Other Calendars
Precision Scheduling
Genius Customer Support
Safe & Secure

Chiropractors, massage therapists, acupuncturists, dentists, spas, hair salons and many other professional services businesses use Genbook with excellent results.

So if you’re ready to automate and increase efficiency of your appointment scheduling, definitely try Genbook online appointment scheduling and reminder internet based system. It will save you money and help your bottom line.

UPDATE: Using an Answering Service in Your Chiropractic Office

Dr. Dan — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:44:44 +0000

I recently signed up for an answering service to handle all my calls. So far, I must say I am thrilled.

UPDATE 11/10/2010: Answering Specialists made too many mistakes, and I switched to AnswerConnect last month. They offered a free month if I signed up for a 3 month plan, $150/month for 150 minutes. Go to this post for more information.

Previously, I was using my local phone company’s messaging service, which is the next-best thing. This service can be set up to send you email notifications whenever someone leaves a message, and also a text message to your cell phone. You log onto a website and can hear the message in a click of a button. However, it was still an “answering machine” and I found that many people weren’t leaving messages.

I used to use an overseas-based answering service but discontinued. The overseas answering service wasn’t terrible, and was cheap ($50/month). I didn’t like the connection– there was an odd delay and click sound when the line transferred to the answering service, which made it quite obvious to the caller that she was being re-routed.

Getting an answering service is in line with my Guerilla Chiropractic marketing philosophy of less staff (headaches), less paperwork, and leveraging technology to create more free time for yourself and less stress. In fact, it’s mandatory if you are a one-doctor office and haven’t found a decent chiropractic assistant in years. This new service answers the line the way I instruct them to, and is OK with me giving the operators specific instructions on how to answer the most basic types of calls, such as:

How much do you charge for an appointment?
Do you take my insurance?
What are your hours?

My answering service is U.S. based. The calls seamlessly transfer to the answering service by using the *73 function on my office phone. I actually made a post last August, but just started using them in October, after abandoning my phone messaging service.

I emailed the answering service manager a list of the most common questions to expect, and how they should be answered. This information appears on a computer screen for quick reference so the operator can offer the information. However, their basic response is, “the doctor is currently with a patient. Let me take your name and number and someone will get back to you today.”

The results? I feel like I’m not missing any calls! People are more likely to leave their name and number with a human than a machine, especially if the human sounds like she is part of my in-office staff. One time I took my usual 20-minute lunch at Subway just a block from my office, and during that short time I received two text messages notifying me that two new patients were scheduled. Why pay someone $18/hr to do this when you can pay an answering service $65 a MONTH?

Anyways, go Guerilla and consider using an answering service in your office. The feeling that someone is watching your back is great, and you’ll love the savings.

Answering Service for Chiropractors

Dr. Dan — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:55:19 +0000

Most solo chiropractors automatically believe that they need a front desk receptionist. Not true.

Yes, it’s nice to have those extra set of hands in the office to help with patient administration. But if you find yourself having to keep hiring a new front desk receptionist every month, and feel that the additional demands (payroll, benefits, calling in sick, poor performance, etc) employees put on your business aren’t worth it, consider getting an answering service.

You can forward all calls to the answering service. The operator will answer the phone the way you tell her to in order to appear like she is actually in your office. Some of them can schedule your appointments for you and will notify you via fax or email (some by phone).

As far as handling patient flow, get your patients to pre-pay their copays and schedule multiple appointments ahead of time. This will reduce the check-out and check-in process. They come in, you greet them and instruct them to take a room; do the treatment, and send them on their way.

Here is one service I am trying out: Answering Specialists, Inc. Compare at $39 a month, vs. a receptionist at $15.00/hr, 40 hrs a week = $2,400 a month. Are you willing to do a little more walking and calling in order to save $2,361?

UPDATE (11/10/2010): Answering Specialists did not work out well after all. I have switched to AnswerConnect and am currently evaluating their service. I will let you know if they are worth it; check back soon. So far, not too bad.

Of course, an answering service is good for the small to medium sized practices. I have massage therapists and an acupuncturist in my space whose presence (and their patients) adds “buzz” to the environment, so the answering service works well for us. We check out our own patients, and the patients get used to it after a while.

Dan Perez, DC