How I Doubled a Busy Practice in Four Months
December 8th, 2009 // 10:44 am @ Dr. Todd Osborne // No Comments
My practice had grown slowly but steadily over a 7-year period. Decent growth by most standards and business was profitable. However, I began to plateau in the last year or so of that first 7 years, and was hitting the “glass ceiling” as it is called. I could not figure out why my business had quit growing. I tried everything, but nothing seemed to get me any sustained growth. I even moved out of my 900 sq foot space to a new 2400 sq foot facility. Yet I still did not grow. Nothing seemed to make a difference.
Finally, I swallowed my pride and tamed my ego enough to accept the idea that I might not know everything. I joined a management company—which was something I swore I would never do! They taught me valuable procedures and protocols and I gained an understanding of running a chiropractic business. And…my practice exploded!
In fact, it grew so fast, my staff and I had difficulty keeping up with it. However, as we became more skilled with our procedures we were able to see—comfortably—300 patient visits a week without any major obstacles. Eventually we were able to bring in associate doctors to continue the growth.
What was the secret you ask? Procedures and protocols…this allowed me to conduct my patient visits the right way and reproduce it correctly over, and over, and over again.
This is the secret ingredient to success in a chiropractic office—Procedures and Protocols!
Before this knowledge, I was the “clinic gunslinger” shooting from the hip, doing something different with every patient, thinking I was helping them and doing a great job. By working this way, I learned it bred frustration, inconsistency, and eventually a major breakdown in proficiency.
Having systematic procedures in your office allows you the exact opposite— low stress, consistency, and proficiency. This in turn, leads to better patient care and results, the ability to take care of more people, increases your income, and ultimately allows you to enjoy your practice so much more.
Category : Blog &Featured Works &Practice Building
