Statistics don’t work in favor of the chiropractor – at least compared to medical doctors and dentists.
Chiropractors treat more than 27 million people annually, according to the American Chiropractic Association. That’s of 323 million Americans, nearly all of whom will go to a medical doctor in their lifetimes.
Some 83.6 percent of Americans went to see a medical health-care practitioner within the previous 12 months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By contrast, only 25 percent of U.S. adults sought chiropractic treatment in the previous five years. Chiropractors rank third in the number of doctorate-level, primary-care providers in the nation.
A study by the National Institutes of Health compared prescription-drug treatment with spinal manipulation for the relief of low back pain after four weeks: 56 percent of patients who took prescribed drugs saw a 30 percent reduction in pain; 94 percent of patients who underwent chiropractic treatment experienced the same reduction in pain.
Preaching to the Choir
Chiropractors and their patients know chiropractic treatment works, but it’s the rest of the public that has questions. The nation’s 45,000 chiropractors fill the gap through intensive marketing, community outreaches and hiring additional staff, hoping to find that public relations edge to keep their practices healthy and strong.
Medical doctors, on the other hand, find themselves in a completely different dilemma – with too many patients and too little time, according to The Wall Street. The average doctor-patient interaction is 13-16 minutes, according to the Business Insider.
Plugging into the Power
How can chiropractors tap into the medical doctor’s natural market advantage?
Chiropractors are beginning to recognize the value of the medically integrated practice, a model that incorporates the expertise and the discipline of medical professions while providing patients with a more holistic, well-rounded approach to treatment.
Integrated practices typically generate threefold the revenue levels of chiropractic-only practices and virtually eliminate the need for the large-scale marketing campaigns chiropractors must do to sustain their clinics. In fact, medically integrated practices prove the welcome side effect of enlightening a wary public about chiropractic’s benefits.
Skeptics begin to embrace chiropractic as a valuable treatment in integrated practices especially when the care is recommended by a physician. Seventy-five percent of patients won’t seek chiropractic treatment unless their medical doctor recommends it.
People who would never seek chiropractic treatment often become regular patients, touting its benefits and becoming zealous advocates. They learn to recognize the value of chiropractic on a personal level. Chiropractic packaged in a medical office becomes a pleasant surprise for new patients.
Changing of the Guard
While considerably more lucrative, integrated practices require chiropractors to shift roles to become chief executive, overseeing their practices’ operations as opposed to functioning as just another chiropractor in their own practices.
The executive post sometimes necessitates chiropractors abandon their chiropractic role or conduct fewer adjustments. Staff-driven practices establish a stronger foundation to allow for more growth and to accommodate for change.
The staff-driven practice under the direction of a chief executive can focus more on business and staff development and enhancing the quality of care.
With the influx of patients seeking conventional medical care, practice owners no longer have to invest as much of their time and money into the marketing side.
Turning Up the Volume
The integrated practice also gives the medical provider a new perspective on chiropractic and provides relief from the traditional hustle and misconceptions of conventional care. On the other side, patients see chiropractic as another valuable tool in the entire picture of their treatment plan.
Medical doctors often say many of their patients expect cures from their ailments or injuries during the span of one or two visit. To accommodate patients’ expectations, doctors occasionally succumb to the temptation of offering prescriptions to alleviate symptoms as opposed to taking the time to develop concise and collaborative treatment plans.
Medically integrated practices give practitioners an exodus from the pharmaceutical fix. Managed correctly, medically integrated practices allow chiropractors to pitch to the public the benefits of seeking treatment at an office with multiple medical disciplines and the ability to provide targeted health care treatment. Hesitant patients esteem chiropractors at medical practices higher than those at chiropractor-only practices.
Climbing the Ladder
Medical doctors are still required to oversee tests and supervise treatments within the scope of their medical licenses. Chiropractors cannot legally circumvent or override doctors’ licensing authority, which is why it is important to employ physicians who hold more holistic-based and patient-centered philosophies.
Chiropractic patients are more loyal and committed to chiropractic care. Some 95 percent of chiropractic patients view past-year treatment as “effective,” according to a poll conducted by Gallup and Palmer College of Chiropractic. Ninety-seven percent of past-year chiropractic patients said they would get chiropractic treatment if they experienced neck or back pain.
Learn more about the value of medically integrated practices at Advanced Medical Integration and how you can implement one at your office. Call today to learn more.
