Business | The Strategic Chiropractor

Want More Chiropractic New Patient Referrals? Forget the MD (Sort of)

Written by Tom Necela, DC, CPC, CPMA, CCP-P on September 1st, 2011

Topics: Business, chiropractic business, chiropractic practice management

Most chiropractors welcome new patients and understand that the best new patients are often referrals. The real cream of the crop, therefore, are patient referrals from Medical Doctors, Attorneys or other professionals your patients already view as “experts.”

We value these patients who are already convinced of our credibility (as with other referrals) but even more so due to the fact that their medical doctor sent them. Plus, the potential leverage with MD referrals is much greater than the average patient referring in another patient. Sure, most people have more than a handful of friends they can refer in; but an MD may be sitting in his/her office all day long seeing patients for musculoskeletal problems for which they can offer little help. Statistically speaking, back pain is the #2 reason for a doctor visit, so that’s a lot of potential referrals from one good MD.

OK, so you get the point. MD referrals are grand. Cultivate them. Now here’s the interesting twist on this scenario. Medical Doctors – with an actual MD degree – may not be the best choice for inter-professional marketing.

Check out the latest stats below: Read More

The Sudden Rise in Medicare Documentation Requests & Denials for Chiropractic Claims

Written by Tom Necela, DC, CPC, CPMA, CCP-P on August 17th, 2011

Topics: Audits, Billing, Business, Chiropractic Audits, chiropractic billing, chiropractic business, Medicare

The emails have been pouring in, my phone ringing constantly.

So many, MANY chiropractors want to know the same thing:

“Why the sudden increase in Medicare denials?”

“What happened? This past week we got flooded with 67 requests for documentation!”

“Are we doing something wrong? We received over 50 requests for detailed notes in one batch!”

Myths & Common Bonds of Success: Chiropractic Lessons From the Road

Written by Tom Necela, DC, CPC, CPMA, CCP-P on August 4th, 2011

Topics: Business, chiropractic business

I’m just wrapping up a 6 week, 8000 mile tour (literally via planes, trains and automobiles) of the USA for client office visits.

Instead of the usual hardcore billing, coding, documentation, compliance fare, here are some of the insights I’ve gleaned along the way to help you better your business. Read More

What to Do When: Systems & Solutions to Persnickety Problems Chiropractors Face

Written by Tom Necela, DC, CPC, CPMA, CCP-P on June 7th, 2011

Topics: Business, chiropractic business, chiropractic practice management

Ever get the feeling that your chiropractic office is “sweating the small stuff” or “majoring in the minors?” Or that you are stuck at a certain level, doomed to repeat the same mistakes or scenarios time and time again?

You know what I mean. It’s those tiny little irritants that seem to add up to a big pain or problem in your practice. It’s the fact that you have already faced this issue for 10 times before, but it keeps rearing its ugly head every few months.

Whether these challenges cause you to lose revenue, lose patients or lose patience, these issues tend to bog us down mentally and well…make practice not so profitable and not so fun. Read More

The 6 Figure Opportunity Your Chiropractic Practice is Missing

Written by Tom Necela, DC, CPC, CPMA, CCP-P on May 10th, 2011

Topics: Business, Chiropractic and massage, chiropractic business

I was contacted by a chiropractor recently who asked if I thought that massage therapy was a good profit center for a chiropractic practice. Apparently, he missed the fact that I have spoke about or sold copies of my Build a $300,000 Massage Practice in Your Chiropractic Clinic program to chiropractors in every U.S. state and 23 countries. Obviously, my answer was “yes” but it got me thinking. Why trust my opinion? Let’s look at some statistics on massage and see where we can meaningfully apply that data to our chiropractic practice and our bottom line.

Here are some relevant facts about massage and why you should NOT miss out on its 6 figure potential for your office: Read More

10 Bad (But True) Online Business Building Tactics for Chiropractors

Written by Tom Necela, DC, CPC, CPMA, CCP-P on April 13th, 2011

Topics: Business, chiropractic business

Put your chiropractic business “hat” on, dust off your business brain or stand near a mirror facing your business “side” (whatever that may be). In other words, let’s talk about the business of being a chiropractor. Read More

Chiropractic Documentation Date Dangers to Avoid

Written by Tom Necela, DC, CPC, CPMA, CCP-P on March 31st, 2011

Topics: Audits, Business, Chiropractic Audits, chiropractic business, chiropractic documentation

Recently I received an email from an auditing group to which I belong that offered some nasty little tips that auditors can use to easily recoup money from physicians, including chiropractors.

First, let me pause and clarify one point. Although I do have a certification as a professional medical auditor (and as of this writing am the first and only chiropractor to do so), I do not use this to audit chiropractors. In fact, I received this training so that I can more fully understand what auditors are looking for and to protect YOU. Today’s blog post is a perfect opportunity to use this. Read More

5 Verification Mistakes That Chiropractors Make That Put Their Income at Risk!

Written by Tom Necela, DC, CPC, CPMA, CCP-P on March 22nd, 2011

Topics: Billing, Business, chiropractic billing, chiropractic business, chiropractic collections, chiropractic practice management, Collections, Insurance

As we discussed in my last post, Expedited Agreements and Other Fee Negotiation Scams Waged at Chiropractors, insurance payers are continually rolling out new tactics to avoid releasing claim payments or to minimize reimbursements.

Accordingly, your standard operating procedures may longer be sufficient to get you paid for all the good work you do. One overlooked but vital tool to accomplishing this is your Insurance Verification Form. As such, now may be time to enhance your verification of benefits to insure that emerging claim processing tactics are identified and thwarted.

Unfortunately, most chiropractic offices are employing few, if any, of these tactics. Instead, they are doing insurance verification, “the way we have always done it” and getting the same (or worse) results. Read More

Expedited Agreements and Other Fee Negotiation Scams Waged At Chiropractors

Written by Tom Necela, DC, CPC, CPMA, CCP-P on March 9th, 2011

Topics: Billing, Business, chiropractic billing, chiropractic collections, Collections

Many of you have probably received a letter similar to the one pictured below offering you “expedited” handling of the reimbursement owed on an outstanding claim.

This scam is being used by a number of different companies who contract with payers to primarily (but not exclusively) target out-of-network providers. These letters, which are often received by fax, propose to “expedite payment and decrease the patient’s responsibility.”

While this sounds admirable in theory, a quick look at the math behind this proposal will illustrate why you should feed such documents to a hungry shredder as quickly as possible. Look at the example below: Read More