A waiting list chiropractic practice in many circles is the gold standard of making it as a chiropractor.
But is it the best goal for you?
In this article, we are going to look at 3 reasons why you may not want to strive for a waiting list chiropractic practice.
In fact, having a waiting list may actually be a sign that your practice is in a very vulnerable situation. Even if you have a million-dollar practice.
Let's get started.
Let's say that you and your CA can see a maximum of 100 patient visits per week including 4 new patients. So once you have that number of people scheduled for that week you have to schedule prospective new patients for the next week and eventually you are unable to see a new patient for three or four weeks.
What does this tell you?
If you have a waiting list like this then you likely do not have enough staff on your team. Or you don't have the right team members to handle your patient flow.
In this scenario, you likely need to hire a different person to better handle your patient flow or hire an additional part-time or full-time team member to help you go to the next level.
When you reach about $35,000 per month in collections with a 50% overhead it's time to bring on an associate to help you grow. This is frequently a time when you may have a waiting list chiropractic practice because you just don't have enough doctors to see all of the patients.
If you already have an associate it may be time to add a second associate or third if you currently have a waiting list chiropractic practice.
People don't want to have to wait around for weeks to see you. Every day that goes by between when they decided to come to see you and when you can actually get them in leads to them becoming less and less likely to get the help that they need.
If you need help hiring more team members we highly recommend this hiring resource kit from our upper cervical specific marketing company Upper Cervical Marketing.
Systems are absolutely crucial to successful chiropractic practice. Every key part of your business should have a system that helps to ensure consistent results. If you have a waiting list chiropractic practice you likely have a system problem.
Efficiency and effectiveness breakdowns are obvious in many chiropractic practices when you start looking for them. Even if you have a million-dollar practice there are likely system breakdowns that are leading to your waiting list chiropractic practice.
How do you find system problems?
Look for times when patients or team members are waiting around. A well-run practice should have patients flowing from one place to the next seamlessly. Here are some key systems that all practices should have in place with protocols and guidelines.
The third possible scenario is that you as the doctor are spending way too much time with each individual patient. Patients don't want to spend all day in your office. They come to see you for a service and not for prolonged conversations about the weather, sports, or the news.
So if you have a waiting list chiropractic practice you want to take a look at how much time you were spending with each individual patient, especially for recurring visits. If you are spending more than 5 to 10 minutes per patient to check and adjust them then you are spending way too much time. If your staff is constantly frustrated because you are always running behind then you are likely spending way too much time with patients.
If you currently have a waiting list chiropractic practice or you are nearing that level, see that is a warning sign to look at your team, systems, and efficiency to see where the breakdown exists.
It may be all three.
The goal is to get new patients in to see you as quickly as possible. Within hours ideally or definitely within days not weeks.
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