The Secret to Better Practice Management Decisions
Learn how to use metrics for better decision making! Metrics are what you need. When it comes to managing your practice, it’s often difficult to make informed, timely decisions without data. That’s because practice owners are frequently unsure of which performance indicators they should measure, or even how to get started. Or, they ignore the data and operate on instinct. Analytics, however, take the guesswork out of practice management, while simplifying the data so it can be easily understood. These tools provide increased efficiency and effectiveness, for improved decision-making ability.
Avoid Medicare Penalties for Treating Patients
Learn how Medicare will reduce your payments, this year. Practices that treat Medicare patients will see decreases in payments, just because of their technology — or lack of technology. Medicare sets the standard for all other insurances and state boards. It is only a matter of time before others adopt this policy as well. This program teaches you the importance of adopting an ONC-certified EHR system, for the financial health of your practice.
Patient Education for Chiropractic Practices
Complications Does the complexity of Dr. Ben’s patient education needs require a complicated solution? “It’s nice to be in someone else’s restaurant for a change,” Carmen remarked. “Someone else will have to do the cooking and the dishes!” “Rough day at the pizzeria?” “Not a bad day,” said Carmen, “but this time I’m being affected by new governmental medical regulations.” “What?” Ben was taken aback. His chiropractic office dealt with medical regulations frequently, but he couldn’t see how they could affect his wife’s pizza parlor. “We have to provide full nutritional information on our menus now.” Carmen sat back, waiting for Ben to share her outrage. “That’s a good thing,” Ben said. “People should know what they’re doing when they order that sausage and pepperoni thick crust with extra cheese.” “But that’s just the point! We don’t offer a couple dozen dishes the way this restaurant does. People can order their pizza with half a dozen different kinds of meat, twice that many vegetables, several different crust options, five different sauces, plus extra this or hold that — there are thousands of different combinations.” Ben was taken aback. “I hadn’t thought of that. But the research I’ve been doing on patient education has me convinced that people really do need full health information presented to them. My patients have to understand their diagnosis or disease, plus the treatment options we’re considering, as they relate to the specific part of the body where the patient is having trouble. That might have as many permutations as your pizza ingredients.” Their waiter arrived and Ben and Carmen ordered, pausing in their conversation to discuss their choice of dishes. Carmen jumped back in as soon as the waiter turned away. “Most people don’t even look at the menus, anyway — they know what kind of pizza they like. And they know that pizza is a bit of an indulgence. Maybe they just had a salad for lunch and plan to go roller skating after dinner. How is it my responsibility to police their health choices?”“It’s not about policing,” Ben objected. “It’s about giving people the information they need to make good choices. I see that the nature of your product makes it hard to provide the information you’re being asked to provide, and that’s true for my patient education situation, too, but that doesn’t make it any less of a good idea.” “Have you found a solution?” Carmen asked. “Maybe it’ll work for me, too.” Ben smiled. “I’ve found this amazing library of 3-D medical images and animations. It’s in the cloud, so we can all access them from every room–” “Unlike anatomical models or charts,” Carmen put in. Ben nodded. “We can email patients custom reports to help them keep up at home — and it’s fully integrated with that new software system we’ve been planning to implement. That means that it’ll fit into the workflow instead of changing it — and I know the whole team will be happy about that. It’s a simple, elegant solution to a complicated problem.” “It sounds perfect!” “I think it will be. Ah, here’s our dinner. Now we can see about coming up with a solution for your health education issue.” Does the complexity of Dr. Ben’s patient education needs require a complicated solution? Disclaimer: For HIPAA compliance, all characters appearing in this post are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons or actual events is purely coincidental.
Chiropractic Business Tips – Riskiest Investment is a 401K
13 Reasons Why Your 401(k) Is Your Riskiest “Investment” by Garrett B. Gunderson As a financial advocate to business owners, I’ve worked with hundreds of professionals, most of whom diligently save in a 401(k). But when I teach them the following concepts, they’re eager for alternatives. Consider these 13 dangers of 401(k)s: 1. No Cash Flow The theory is that the money compounds, but this really means it stagnates. Most people will not choose to utilize these funds even when a compelling opportunity will make them far more money than the 401(k) would, even accounting for the penalties. Numerous legitimate opportunities are passed by as people stay “in it for the long haul.” 2. Lack of Liquidity The money is tied up with penalties attached for early withdrawal—unless you know how to safely navigate specific, obscure IRS codes for penalty-free withdrawals. 3. Market Dependency The performance of the funds is dependent upon uncontrollable market factors. Therefore, your retirement plans are based on unknowable projections. Do you want to live your ideal life only if the market cooperates? 4. Lack of Knowledge How much do you really know about your 401(k)? Do you know the funds in which you’re invested? Do you know the details of the companies inside those funds? Do you know the fund manager’s philosophy, history, and performance? How can you expect to gain a return from something you know so little about? And how can this be called investing? It’s not investing—it’s gambling. 5. Administrative Fees The funds are subject to various (and usually hidden) administrative fees in addition to expense ratios and 12-b1 fees—a fact ignored by most contributors and advisors. 6. Under-Utilization Because of Tax Deferral If you don’t like paying taxes today, why would you want to pay them any more in the future? The tax deferral aspect, which is touted as a great boon, is actually a primary factor contributing to under-utilization. Most retirees let the money sit for fear of triggering tax consequences. 7. Higher Tax Brackets Upon Withdrawal It’s ironic that people project healthy returns on their qualified plan while also projecting they’ll be in a lower tax bracket at retirement. If you have achieved any measure of success, you should actually be in a higher tax bracket at retirement, although most advisors assume the opposite. Do you think taxes will be higher or lower in the future? Deferring your taxes results in a far greater tax burden than would be incurred using different products and strategies. 8. Estate Taxes 401(k)s are sitting ducks for estate taxes. Much 401(k) money is never utilized because contributors don’t make withdrawals in fear of paying taxes. Yet when the money is passed on to the next generation, there is not only a likely income tax, but also an estate tax. 9. No Exit Strategy Getting into a 401(k) seems simple enough. But how are you going to get out of it? Do you understand the penalties and tax consequences? 10. Subject to Government Control and Change Your 401(k) does not even technically belong to you. Read the fine print and you will find “FBO” (For Benefit Of). It’s technically owned by the government, but provided for your benefit. It’s essentially a tax code. Judging by history, 401(k)s are in great jeopardy. What will keep them from changing the rules and taking your hard-earned money? 11. Disinvesting Suppose you’ve retired and begin taking interest payments from your 401(k). You project you can withdraw 6 percent a year, based on an average annual return of 8 percent. But what happens to your principal when the market is volatile? If in one year your fund is down 10 percent, you’re tapping into your principal to take your interest withdrawal. At that point, you have only two choices: start withdrawing principal leave the money alone until your account is up again. 12. No Holistic Plan I’ve witnessed many people whose finances are in shambles, yet they diligently contribute to their 401(k). It’s like a person trying to take care of a scraped knee when their wrist is slit. They urgently need a macroeconomic plan that identifies, prioritizes, and manages all pieces of their financial puzzle, with all pieces coordinated and working together. 13. Neglect of Stewardship 401(k)s cause contributors to abdicate their responsibility. They think they can just throw enough money at the “experts” and somehow they’ll end up thirty years later with lots of money. And when things don’t turn out that way they blame others. Interestingly, traditional media is finally realizing what I’ve been warning investors about for more than 10 years. For example, see the 60 Minute special, “Retirement Dreams Disappear With 401(k)s” and the Time Magazine article, “Why It’s Time to Retire the 401(k).” Saving for retirement is wise and prudent, but there are other investment philosophies, products, and strategies that would meet your financial objectives much more quickly and safely than a 401(k). Ok, so if a 401(k) isn’t the best option, what is? See how sustainable wealth can be created with investing and get a check-up on how you are currently applying it to your life. Go to www.freedomfasttrack.com/cfw and take our Financial Health Assessment at no charge and learn about our Curriculum for Wealth to get a deeper dive and more answers.
