It is six to seven times more expensive to attract a new patient than to retain an existing one. Improving chiropractic patient retention can help your practice save money and generate more revenue.
It begins with a friendly smile from your staff and continues with the overall in-office experience. Here are five ways you can improve your patient retention:
Educate Your Patients
Many patients drop out of their care plans because they need to understand how chiropractic differs from over-the-counter pain relievers or working out at the gym. Education about your services’ benefits will help ensure they get the results and value that keeps them returning.
Leverage your email list to deliver educational materials between office visits. An automated new patient onboarding sequence — with appointments booked directly in your scheduling software and automatic reminders sent by text or email two days before the meeting — is a great way to keep clients engaged.
Use your website to showcase videos that explain basic chiropractic concepts, discuss general health and wellness topics, and tackle chiropractic myth-busting. These videos can also promote your monthly membership or referral rewards programs.
Make Your Patients Feel Welcome
The term “patient retention” makes some chiropractic consultants squirm because of its associations with “using gimmicks to keep patients coming back.” However, creating loyal patients and clients is crucial for growing a clinic.
Patient retention starts with how patients feel when they first enter your practice. Ensuring your clinic is warm, friendly, and inviting is important. This includes the reception area, waiting room, hallways, and treatment rooms. Use soothing colors and artwork to create a relaxing environment for your patients.
It would help if you also offer convenient appointment times for your patients. This includes before and after work, weekend hours, and group booking options. It’s also important to send appointment reminders via email and text. This helps minimize no-shows and shows that you care about your patients.
Create a Friendly Environment
It’s important for patients to feel that your office is not just their medical home but also a place they can hang out. This means ensuring your space is clear and has enough room for patients to move around.
Creating a friendly environment also starts with the people who work at your practice. Ensure you pay your staff well and recognize their hard work. Providing incentives like production bonuses is one way to do this.
In addition, patients appreciate when you communicate clearly. For example, sending appointment reminders by email or text is good practice and shows that you value your patient’s time. Also, provide a convenient and safe way for patients to leave feedback or questions, such as an online review automation system.
Create a Comprehensive Treatment Plan
Patient retention is about more than just getting patients back into the office. It’s also about ensuring they stick with their care plan for as long as possible.
One way to do that is by creating a comprehensive treatment plan. This starts with a thorough consultation. The doctor should document as much information as possible during this visit, including evaluation and management documentation guidelines, your state chiropractic board documentation rules, and medical review guidelines from insurance carriers.
This can include looking outside the traditional chiropractic practice and incorporating advanced nutritional handling for conditions such as weight loss, diabetes, or thyroid. It can also involve adding other treatment services for musculoskeletal disorders, such as massage or disc-related treatments. Lastly, it should also incorporate healthcare financing.
Make Your Patients Feel Like Family
Patients want to feel a connection with their chiropractor, which goes beyond their physical results. For instance, a patient may want to know their chiropractor has personal knowledge about their health history and current medical conditions, or perhaps they’re familiar with their favorite sports team.
A great way to build that relationship is by communicating with patients regularly, especially before and after their appointments. Sending email and text appointment reminders makes for efficient office administration and shows your patients that you care.
It’s six to seven times more expensive to attract a new customer than to retain one, so improving patient retention is crucial for chiropractic businesses. Investing time and effort into keeping existing patients can significantly boost your business’s profitability.