I Challenged 50 Chiropractors To Double Their Collections
If you had 10 days to set up a system in your practice that would double your collections, do you think you'd be able to do it? I did, and I took that same challenge out to 50 chiropractors to do the same.
With a little bit of help, and by implementing some of these key strategies that I’m about to share with you, they were able to do it too. It was repeatable.
If you're struggling to bring in revenues into your practice, this post is for you. It might sound impossible, but luckily we have broken it down to a proven repeatable process that helps scale tons of practices to their first $100K months.
You're going to learn how to assess your current situation and what you need to do to change it, what key strategies you need to implement to double your collections, and how to systematize your practice so that it runs like a well-oiled machine.
If you're ready to take your practice to the next level then, let's jump in.
Knowing Where To Start
Step number one on improving and doubling your collections starts with most doctors being overwhelmed at even the thought process of where to start. And I get that question often like, where do I even start to improve my practice? Well, let's think about your day for a second.
It’s a whirlwind of so many different things. Your primary role revolves around providing top-notch patient care. On top of that, you're wearing multiple hats - you're the producer, and as the practice owner, you're steering the ship with your strategic decisions. It’s a tough place to be.
In fact, I was in your exact same shoes not long ago when I was running a busy practice. I loved patient care. But how could I actually turn my time and attention onto improving things so that we could create a bigger vehicle? A vehicle that moved faster and was able to impact more patients' lives.
And that really is why we had to create what we call the diagnostic tool for your practice - the Data-Driven Dashboard. It is the fundamental dashboard that you need to be able to diagnose your practice.
Isn't that the concept that you do with your patients? You start with a diagnosis, and that drives a treatment plan. You’ve got to have a diagnostic tool for your practice so you know exactly where to start. You get so busy fixing your patients that you never have time to actually fix your practice.
It's kind of like the plumber who's so busy fixing everybody else's leaky pipes that they never have a chance to fix their own. Or a mechanic where you have this beautiful 1968 Corvette in the garage ready to be restored, but you're so busy fixing everybody else's vehicles that you never get to your dream car.
So I want you to take a deep breath, and just let it all out. The stress of running a practice is real. Again, I've been there. I know what you're experiencing, and that's why the data-driven dashboard is so powerful.
When you look at our team's scoreboard, you can see the systems of our practice in metrics, and we can quickly analyze those metrics by a 90-day view. By breaking down the performance of every system, it's like taking that mechanic’s machine where they connect it to the electrical system of your car, and they can run the diagnostics and see what's broken.
That's what blueiq does. It plugs into your practice that runs the diagnosis, and we can see what's not working. One of the coolest things we've developed in the Data-Driven Practice is the concept of a prime mover. A prime mover is where we see which system needs to be fixed.
That might be in the marketing system, the front desk new patient system, or your exam and case acceptance system. By looking at the data behind those systems, we'll figure out that by enhancing this one aspect, we'll see a ripple effect of improvements across the board.
But it's not just metrics that we focus on. We bring the team in to analyze the data and to look upstream. That's the power of teaching the team to think strategically or diagnostically. When they begin looking upstream, they break down the processes that they're involved in on a daily basis.
I’m talking about answering phones, and the scripts that they're using. It's about mapping out the steps once a patient is qualified to come into the practice, and figuring out how to increase that show rate. Maybe we need to go upstream from that and look at the actual attraction of what type of new patients are coming into the practice, and how well-qualified are they.
We know a better-educated patient is a better patient who shows up and keeps her appointments. So how do we educate that patient? You see, there's a whole system at play in your practice. And the better the process, the better the product the team member produces with that process.
That is your role. You have to take that on because this is the first step to doubling your revenues. We have to find out what the easiest thing is that we can fix that will produce the biggest outcome. And a data dashboard is the very thing that will produce that.
Understanding Pearson’s Law
Pearson's Law is the fundamental concept of how to improve the performance of the team. I don't want all the work on your shoulders. In fact, I want to remove the work on your shoulders. We do that by building a data-driven team that understands why we measure data.
We don't measure data to make a team member feel like they're underneath a microscope or their performance is being micromanaged. It's actually just the opposite because Pearson’s Law states:
“When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates.”
Now this isn't just true for your team, this is true for you. That is why we have a data-driven community. You need a coach that you can be accountable to—somebody you can report back to on the very things that you should be focused on and separate those from the very things that your team should be reporting back to you.
We shine a light with a data-driven dashboard so the team moves from unaware to awareness of the problems that are holding your practice back. I have found with all of these 50 practices that doubled their profits, it just came down to awareness. They were so busy doing the things that they thought were moving the practice forward, but many of those things were holding it back.
When we shine the light by analyzing the data, all of a sudden, you and your team will become aware. And with awareness, just like your patients becoming aware of what's causing their headaches or their back pain, they can do something about it. You can do something about it. We have to just start measuring. Measuring is the key to being able to improve.
And then we have to go into a regular cadence where we come together as a team and we look at that data. We look at what levers we’re moving in the practice, and what processes we’re improving and focused on changing so that we can get a better outcome. When we come together and start talking about that, it changes everything.
In fact, I was recently sitting in a meeting with my team, and we were looking at the process of what was working and what wasn't. We found one small metric that if we just fixed one of the processes, it would potentially improve that metric by 20%.
Sure enough, within two weeks of fixing just that one process, it generated another $50K of revenue for our organization. That's the power I'm giving you. And what's so incredible about these practices that doubled their revenues is that it wasn't driven by the practice owner. They were able to recruit the team into an alignment of desire to grow and serve more patients.
That’s because it wasn't about working harder. It was just working smarter. And by working smarter, they got better outcomes. And with better outcomes, more success. And with more success, now we are living the dream that you went to school all those years to fulfill.
We're here now changing patients' lives and getting paid for it. It's a win-win-win, and that's what I want for you - a win for you, a win for the team, and a win for the patient.
Incentivize The Team
We found that team members love games. In fact, their energy elevates, and their vibration is at an excitement level because we're incentivizing the team.
We do this properly by picking one metric that the process is going to impact and setting clear goals within a 90-day process. It takes about 90 days to implement and perfect the process that we’re targeting.
So we take that 90 days, we set a clear goal, whether it’s bumping up a new patient show rate from 65% to 80%, or upping the ante on new patients from 30 to 45. Maybe it's about racking up more leads in the practice, shooting for 100 from the previous 60. The key is nailing down the metric that's going to measure the outcomes of the process that we're fixing.
Next, we break down those 90 days into 30-day sprints, which means three sprints in total. We're in it to win it, moving that chosen metric up and up. For the first 30 days, it's all about gamifying and rewarding the team. Then we rinse and repeat for the next 30, and the next 30 after that. Then we're going to have a big reward for them at the end of the 90 days.
If we hit this metric, we are going to celebrate. We're talking dancing, cheering, and some good old-fashioned jumping around. It's non-negotiable. We have to celebrate.
And we've seen some jaw-dropping celebrations in our community. Practices jet-setting off to Mexico, others living it up at Disney World. Some opt for a fantastic BBQ and a day of park games. There's even a team that dove headfirst into a mud volleyball tournament, sponsored by the fire department no less, and they came out on top! It brought the team even closer, and they marked the win with a barbecue and some sweet cash prizes.
You just have to get creative. And if you’re part of our Data-Driven Practice free Facebook group, these are the kinds of things that we talk about. This is where you need to be. This is where all the great information is. In fact, when you join us, you’ll get a free copy of our guide, “How To Turn Your Data Into Dollar$ Without Burnout”. So click here to join, and come be with us.
We want to take the weight off your shoulders that will lead to burnout. There's nothing worse than a doctor who's struggling to pay their bills. I'm here to support you. I'm here to give you the tools to make sure that not only can you pay your bills, but you can fund your dream life. You can take care of your family. You can fund those dream vacations. You can take care of your team. And the best part about it is, your patients will get better outcomes. See you there!
