Monitor Your Chiropractic Practice Health at a Glance
Watch Your Chiropractic Practice Health and Get Back To Your Patients Faster Control your Chiropractic Practice Health! Chiropractic Practices rely on separate reports to understand where they are as a practice and a business. Separate reports require comparison and compilation in Excel or other spreadsheets to stack data and notice a trend over time. Comparison of rows of numbers is difficult without graphics to show trends. Imagine never pulling numbers out of reports to compare where you are and where your business is going. Imagine having a tool that enables you to track your daily business goals at a glance. Imagine the time savings that you can now spend with your patients. Well, imagine no more. The tool is called The Genesis Chiropractic Practice Health Monitor and you can learn about it in this 15 minute webinar.
Prevent Chiropractic Compliance Failure
Three Key Practice Compliance Skills in a Genesis Training Webinar Compliance with laws and regulations is very important. Practice Owners and Management Staff regularly have questions about how to maintain a compliant practice, including patient visit documentation. How can you keep up with changing regulations and multiple participants when you have a lack of knowledge and a lack of time? Watch this free webinar to learn more. Read the transcript: Reuven: Hey, everyone, and welcome to our webinar today on “The Secrets to Prevent Compliance Failure.” Compliance, obviously, is one of the biggest things that preys on practices today especially in the physical health realm. Whether you’re a chiropractor, physical therapist, mental health, it really doesn’t matter. Across the whole spectrum, you know, you see these situations where compliance becomes a real problem. And so when we talk today, we’re gonna get to the root cause of the problem. We’re gonna talk about, what is so important when it comes to compliance and how is it that our solution really helps you to prevent issues with compliance? And in order to do that, we’re gonna talk about obviously, why that problem is important, why compliance is important. We’re also gonna talk about why compliance is so difficult. You know, one of the biggest questions we get asked on a regular basis is why can’t this just be super easy? And there are solutions out there that will try to do that for you, but often times, they won’t do it in a compliant way, and so you end up being faster but less compliant which, in the end, is not good for your practice. So the real question is how do you maintain a compliant practice? You know, and that includes your documentation. And really, the question becomes more specific in that you have to maintain compliance in spite of things like changing regulations and, of course, we talk about how regulations will change starting with the federal level, with Medicare, and then Blue Cross Blue Shield, and then out to the rest of the commercial insurances, and then, of course, then to the state boards. And the next issue is with multiple participants, you know, different people that have their hands, that have their fingers in different pies and, of course, obviously, a lack of time, you know, with regards to just how much time you can spend. You know, it’s easy to say that if you had an hour per document that you could be super compliant without even using a system, but it’s really not practical. And the other side of it is that as a clinician, you know, we’re really trained to treat patients, not treat, you know, a healthcare system that requires so much of us. And so this lack of knowledge becomes a real debilitating situation to the point where, you know, there’s an entire industry surrounding compliance outside of solutions like ours where, you know, practices will spend lots and lots of money to make sure that they can avoid losing a lot more money. And so this problem really is really big and really complex and, you know, what we’re gonna try to do today is really simplify that problem and make it easier to understand and easier to solve. So the next question is why is it important? And that really comes down to a few things, and the first one is, in the course of running a practice, you know, there’s always gonna be an expected rate of error. So this is a really basic idea. No matter what you are doing, there’s always going to be mistakes that are made, and that’s just a factor of being human. And a lot of people say, “Well, if you automate it all, then you get rid of mistakes.” And what we find actually is, in technology, there’s also an expected rate of error. For example, you know, any of you, Windows users, will remember when the new version of Windows comes out, there are always issues with it, and so, they always have to update it, and you always have to download these Windows’ updates. And we find the same thing with Apple. Everybody remembers the big debacle with…I think it was Apple iOS 5 or 6 where, you know, things just started crashing on devices like iPads. And so what we find is that there’s always a percentage of error especially when you have people, especially when you have technology, but especially when you have both working together. And so it’s not a matter of saying, “All right, well, I expect errors which means that I’m kind of at a loss to begin with,” it’s more a matter of, “Okay, I understand that there’s a problem, the next question is how do I address that problem?” So we wanna understand that, of course, any errors can result in costly penalties, we wanna be aware of the effect of our mistakes so that we can focus on ways to minimize them. So the next question really becomes why is it so difficult to solve? And so with so many moving parts in a practice, you know, you’re dealing with yourself as an owner or yourself as a front office practice manager, whatever it is you’re doing, but you have practitioners, you have front office staff, you have practice managers or office managers, you have the patients, which are the most moving part in your office, you know, and then, of course, you have all the supporting things like the solution that you’re using or anything like that. So you have lots and lots of moving parts with different people, some of which have different processes and, really, that are relying on different technologies. And so take all of that and then add the complexity of a constantly changing environment with regulations. And, of course, knowing that you might have different sets of regulations because Medicare might have changed things before
The Secret to Understanding Chiropractic Practice Cashflow
Obviously, Cashflow will help your Practice grow! On Cashflow: Practice owners and staff regularly have questions about where their payments are, how they can see which insurance companies are helping them, and/or which patients are struggling to pay their bills. Fortunately, with a single report, practices can now periodically review where their payments are and how well their office is functioning, while comparing the metrics that are most important to their success. Watch this free webinar to learn more.
Improving Practice Workflow and Accountability
How can Dr. Ben improve workflow and accountability in his chiropractic practice? Ben smiled reassuringly at his patient, snapped the file closed, and headed to the office. “I think I might need a translator for this patient,” he said. “Of course, Dr. Ben,” Pam assured him, picking up her phone. Ben headed back down the hall with long strides, but when he had finished with the patient, he returned to talk with his office manager. “So, Pam,” he began — and then stopped while she answered a phone call and handed a clipboard of forms to a new patient. “Sorry about that,” Pam smiled. “What can I do for you?” Ben lowered his voice. “Would you say things are going smoothly in the office? I noticed that you were able to provide a translator immediately and it looks as though you have everything under control.” “I pride myself on looking like I have everything under control,” Pam assured him. “And mostly I do, even if sometimes I’m like a duck.” “A duck?” “Gliding along the water on top and paddling like crazy underneath,” Pam laughed. “Seriously, I think things are going pretty well. We have issues. What chiropractic practice doesn’t? But overall it’s good.” “What issues do you see?” Ben pursued the question. “Sometimes we have to search pretty hard to find the information we want,” Pam said promptly. “I’m still waiting for that new software we’ve been talking about.” Ben nodded. “I just haven’t gotten around to it.” “And it would help a lot if staff could really know what their daily workload was going to be. Everyone just comes in and waits for me to tell them what to do. If I don’t have time to tell them anything, they don’t do anything.” Pam’s eyes widened. “I think they’d rather be able to take ownership of their work and get the satisfaction of accomplishing things and being part of the team instead of just hanging around in case they’re needed, but the work just isn’t set up that way.” “The work just doesn’t happen that way,” Ben said. Pam’s face alerted him that he had raised his voice and he lowered it again. “Like the translator — we don’t know ahead of time when we’re going to need him.” Pam looked doubtful. “I’m not so sure that’s true. I mean, it’s not like Mrs. Vargas suddenly didn’t understand. Maybe we should have a note in her file. Maybe we should ask people when we make the appointment. Maybe we could even cluster the appointments of people who might need a particular translator.” Ben frowned. “I feel like we’re getting off track here. Isn’t this just one little thing?” “Yes,” Pam agreed, “but every day is made up of those little things. We do some stop gap thing to solve a problem and after a while it becomes what we do. It’s hard to hold people accountable when they never know what they’ll be accountable for.” “I see your point,” Ben said. “It’s like what my wife calls ‘workflow.’ You’re telling me the work isn’t exactly flowing.” Pam smiled. “I’m not sure that’s what workflow means, exactly, but yes, I guess that’s another way of saying we’re just paddling like crazy under the water.” Disclaimer: For HIPAA compliance, all characters appearing in this post are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons or actual events is purely coincidental.
Chiropractic Software Patient Education Promotes Compliance
Getting Past No Can Dr. Ben get past the negativity and work out a solution for his patient education needs? Carmen was helping Jonathan with his homework when Ben arrived home from work. He hadn’t expected kindergarten to have homework — but he also hadn’t expected the meeting at his practice to go so badly. Ben gave a feeble smile over Jonathan’s head as the little boy excitedly told him all about his day, and Carmen responded with a concerned look. Ben was able to set aside the workday as Jonathan described the wonders of kindergarten to him, and the whole family finished up the homework and put it carefully into Jonathan’s backpack. “He’s really enjoying school,” Ben observed as Jonathan ran outside to play. “I know! It’s such a relief — I was worried that he wouldn’t like it,” said his wife. “And of course he’d have to go anyway.” Ben nodded gravely. “Looks like you didn’t really enjoy work today,” Carmen prodded. “And I had to go anyway!” Ben chuckled. “Actually, it was great up until the meeting at the end of the day. I hate meetings.” “You were so well prepared! How come it didn’t go well?” “Actually, the partners had some good points,” Ben admitted. “I guess that’s why I’m so frustrated by it. Somehow when we get together, we just end up in one big negative group mood, listing all the reasons ideas won’t work. I left pretty convinced that my idea won’t wor “So you went in and told them that patient education would increase compliance, and that you need some kind of tool that’s more versatile than a skeleton. Then what?” Ben leaned in. “They said that the body is a very complex system, and we all went to school for years to know what we know. Our patients can’t expect to understand it more fully than they do, and no special tools are going to make it completely clear.” Carmen frowned. “There’s a difference between being a doctor and being an informed patient. Just because patients don’t always fully understand the explanations they’re getting right now, that doesn’t mean that they couldn’t understand enough to help them see the value of adhering to their treatment plan. Especially with some kind of visual or hands-on support. I know those things make a difference when I’m training new workers.” “That’s a good point,” said Ben. “I guess just deciding that it’s hopeless doesn’t make a lot of sense.” “What else did they say?” Ben sighed. “At one point someone said that our patients should just trust us, and that it was all the fault of the internet.” Carmen laughed. “I know it sounds funny, but at the time, we were all getting into that discussion. Some of us are more committed to patient education than others, but even I joined that complaint fest. It does seem as though noncompliance is getting worse.” “So patients with a little information are deciding that they don’t have to do what their doctors say?” Carmen scoffed. “Even if that’s true, the solution surely would be more education, and more accurate information. You can’t stop people from finding information online, but you can be the most trusted source of information.” “You’re making a lot of sense here,” Ben said. He was feeling more cheerful. “I think I can go back with these points, once everyone has had a chance to think about it. I guess a lot of the negative reaction was just about change.” “Change is stressful,” Carmen agreed. “Even if it’s going to be better, it’s more trouble to change than to keep doing what you’re doing.” “What we’re doing isn’t working as well as it should,” Ben said. “I guess I went in with an idea and no real solution, and when everybody went into the usual naysaying, I got swept up in it.” “That’s probably why you hate meetings,” Carmen suggested. “But sometimes people just automatically shoot down an idea even though, with more thought, they’d see the value. I think you should go ahead and identify the tools you need. Make sure they’ll fit into the practice’s regular routine, and bring it up again.”
Chiropractic Software Easy Patient Education
What Do You Really Want? Is knowing what he wants a good enough starting point for Dr. Ben’s patient education program? “I know you’re all about systems,” Ben began, pouring a cup of coffee for his wife. “You know it,” she said, breathing in the heady aroma. “So I’m going to lay this out in a completely systematic way. First, patient noncompliance is a big problem, not just for us but for medical professionals all over the country. I hear that noncompliance costs the U.S. $290 billion a year.” Carmen raised her eyebrows. “Beyond that, patients who follow through on their treatment plans and show up for their appointments and make the lifestyle changes we recommend–” “Compliant patients, in other words,” Carmen said. “Those patients see better results, are happier, and are less likely to go elsewhere for future treatment. In fact, having patients who adhere to their treatment plans leads to a more efficient and cost-effective healthcare delivery system. It also means less patient churn and more professional satisfaction for us.” Carmen nodded. “Very clear so far. Patients who do what you tell them are a good thing.” “Point two is that patients who really understand what’s going on are more likely to cooperate with us and follow through on the things they’re supposed to do.” “Ergo, patients need to be educated.” “Ergo makes it sound especially important. Do you mind if I use that when I pitch this to my partners?” Ben smiled and Carmen returned his smile. “So I think we need a clear, systematic way to educate our patients,” Ben continued. “It needs to be something all of us can use everywhere in the office, and ideally our patients should be able to share it at home, because we know that home support makes a lot of difference.” “Then you need to be able to email it to them, whatever it is,” Carmen suggested. “That’s the easiest way to share things.” “Right. And people respond best to visual information, so it can’t just be a letter or something like that.” “Hmmm.” Carmen pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I’m sold on the idea that you need to educate your patients to increase compliance, and that you need some kind of tools to accomplish this.” “Good,” said Ben, sipping his coffee. “Now what? Is it time for the big sales pitch where you show me a set of encyclopedias?” “I don’t think encyclopedias will do it. In fact, I don’t know what will do it.” “At least you know what you’re looking for,” Carmen said. “That’s what I figured. I have a clear idea and I can go out and find a solution.” “If you explain it that systematically,” his wife suggested, “your partners might even help you.” “Especially if I say ‘ergo,’” Ben finished with a wink. Is knowing what he wants a good enough starting point for Dr. Ben’s patient education program? Disclaimer: For HIPAA compliance, all characters appearing in this post are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons or actual events is purely coincidental.
Into the Fire
Poor Communication Turns Up the Heat in the Office How do staff problems affect Ben’s chiropractic practice? “Ben? Can I talk to you about something serious?” Ben turned to his wife in surprise. Carmen was usually easygoing, taking a relaxed attitude even in serious situations. “Of course. What’s up?” “It’s the girls at the pizzeria.” Like many pizza places, Ben knew, Carmen’s had lots of part-time help, including students and musicians who needed a day job. The work tended to be fun and casual, even though Carmen ran a tight ship. She had a lot of turnover — what restaurant didn’t? — but she rarely had staffing problems. “I’m usually the one complaining about my staff,” Ben said. “You go with the flow.” “I know,” Carmen agreed. “I think we’re a happy workplace, and the systems are organized enough that the people can relax. But we have this new delivery guy…” Carmen hesitated. “Spit it out!” joked Ben. “Well, okay, he’s really cute. Whenever he’s in the shop, the girls hang out near him, flirting, instead of doing their work.” Ben couldn’t help laughing. “That’s your employee problem? Listen, I have staff absences, paperwork backing up, information silos that mean we constantly have questions that can’t be answered because the only person who knows the answer is off –” “You aren’t even listening!” Carmen objected. “I can’t bring this up with the girls without insulting them, and I can’t bring it up with the new guy at all. I can’t fire him for being too cute –” “Sorry, Carmen,” Ben insisted, “you don’t know what staff problems are if your idea of a staff problem is how to avoid hurting somebody’s feelings. My people are competent, but there doesn’t seem to be enough communication among them to keep the paperwork and billing going smoothly. We end up looking bad to the clients because their files can’t be found, or missing out on billings because the paperwork has errors. Those are staff problems.” “Maybe you’re right,” Carmen said. “Those do sound like more serious problems. Are you paying enough attention to your workers?” “That’s part of the problem, I’m sure,” Ben admitted. “I’m in with patients all day. I don’t have time to oversee the staff, and I guess they all have a lot of freedom to set up their own systems…” Carmen laughed. “If everyone just does what he or she wants, you can’t call it a system.” “Well at least I’ve got you laughing,” Ben said. “Listen, just tell your people to get back to work. You’re letting your embarrassment over the situation make it seem more difficult than it is.” As they got ready for bed, though, Ben was wondering. If that was the biggest staff problem Carmen faced in her business, why was he constantly troubled by staff problems in his? How do staff problems affect Ben’s chiropractic practice?
Dr. Allen Miner, Wellness Radio Expert!
Have you ever wanted to know “How To Start Your Own Radio Show”? Genesis Chiropractic Software brings you Dr. Allen Miner, host of Albuquerque’s number 1 wellness radio show “An Ounce of Prevention”! Dr. Allen Miner will show you exactly what you need to do to start your very own radio show today! Click Here Now To Get Instant Access To The Entire Interview! “When you have your own radio show, you are speaking to a captive audience. People who are driving are less distracted by their cell phone, text messages, email, chores, and all these other things flying at them. They are focused on the road, and listening to the radio, that’s it. There’s no better way to share your message than through the radio!” – Dr. Allen Miner Dr. Allen Miner is a very successful chiropractor in Albuquerque NM. He has built not only 1, but 4 successful chiropractic clinics by harnessing the power of RADIO! He has generated thousands of patients, and millions of dollars, through the years, with his very successful radio show “An Ounce of Prevention”. …And now he is sharing exactly how YOU can become a Wellness Radio Expert too in this 100% free webinar! If you have ever thought about doing your own radio show, or if it just sounds like something you would be interested in… Click Here Now To Get Instant Access To the Entire Interview!
Chiropractic EHR | “The Cancer Killers” by Dr. Charles Majors
Have you ever wanted to help someone with cancer, but you didn’t know what to tell them? It’s a very sensitive subject. What can you do to help your patients get the education they need when it comes to fighting cancer? Genesis Chiropractic Software brings you Dr. Charles Majors, author of The Cancer Killers; The Cause is the Cure. Hear Dr. Majors tell his personal story, and how he won his fight through natural, principled cancer treatments! Dr. Charles Majors is the co-author of two books – Maximized Living Makeover and Cruise Ship or Nursing Home. He graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelors of science and went on to receive his doctorate degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic. He is a highly sought-after speaker and has given hundreds of live lecture events in the past 10 years, during which time he opened five clinics. In September 2010, Dr. Majors was diagnosed with an incurable bone marrow cancer that metastasized to his brain. He chose to leave conventional medicine and applied the same principles he had been teaching for years to reverse his own cancer and not only survive but thrive. Dr. Majors lives in Plainfield, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, with his beautiful wife Andrea and their four children. …And now Dr. Majors is sharing his entire his entire story with you!
Set measurable goals for practice growth with Key Performance Indicators
Some chiropractors may chose the wrong Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to measure the success of their clinics. Among the most frequently used metrics are charge growth, payment growth, patient visit growth, pay per visit, referrals per patient, no-shows, no future appointments, in addition to patient loyalty, and service quality. With this many options to choose from, the question begs just how do you select the right KPI? But first let’s take a look at how not to measure success for your clinic. Two of the most frequent business mistakes made by chiropractic clinic owners and managers when selecting a KPI: Measurement of the wrong thing Focus on the right things but in the wrong order If you make such mistakes, the statistic you rely on to assess your office performance is disconnected from your overall objective. Consequently, your strategic and resource allocation decisions may not support your goal, driving poor decisions and undermining performance. To determine cause and effect productively, always start with two key questions: What’s your objective? What factors help you achieve that objective? If your objective is to increase value per visit, then you know that higher charges may result in higher payments. What procedures can you deliver to maximize your charges? What Point of Sale items can you offer your patients? How much added revenue can you expect from Point of Sale items? If, on the other hand, your objective is to increase the number of visits, then you know that having more new patients will result in more visits. What can you do to increase your exposure to referring doctors and to get your patients to make patient referrals? Can you help organize and participate in community events? Can you stay in touch with your patients via email or use a patient portal? What can you do to instill a sense of expertise and office teamwork in the eyes of your patients? Next, to determine the right metrics, we need to understand the cause-and-effect relationships between your objective and possible actions. If your objective is to improve patient satisfaction you need to understand its sources. If you do not understand what improves patient satisfaction, how can you decide what you need to measure? Intuitively, we rush to explain things, to find an easy cause-and-effect link in every situation. So our intuition makes it too easy for us to assign and measure the wrong cause to an outcome. To be a useful and reliable link between cause and effect, our statistics need to be both persistent and predictive. Persistency means that an outcome of an action is independent of its timing. Predictability means that the value of the cause predicts the value of the effect. Statisticians use the coefficient of correlation to quantify persistence and predictability: the closer the coefficient is to 1 or -1, the more persistent and predictive the link is. The closer the coefficient is to zero, the less related the two parameters are.
