For the past seven years, our sister company Upper Cervical Marketing has been conducting an annual survey of upper cervical chiropractors. This year for the first time we at Hope and Healing Solutions have conducted a similar survey for the entire chiropractic profession.
Here are a few highlights:
Below are the full results of our inaugural survey of chiropractic practices.
Our initial question was focused on how long each chiropractor had been in practice. We got a variety of answers from just a few years to more than 40 years in this 2021 Chiropractic Practice Survey. As we segmented the data it was interesting to see that success in practice was not necessarily connected to how long someone had been in practice. There were extremely successful practices that were only a few years old and others who have been in practice for decades who were still struggling.
Diversified was the technique that was used by far the most of all chiropractic techniques represented in the 2021 chiropractic practice survey (50%). But similar to the length of time in practice, the type of technique did not have a strong correlation to success in practice either. There were extremely successful doctors practicing all sorts of different techniques.
The next question in the survey was focused on cash versus insurance practices. In our previous upper cervical practice surveys, we have found that the large majority of upper cervical practices are primarily cash practices. However, when evaluating chiropractic practices in general in the 2021 Chiropractic Practice Survey we found that the majority of chiropractic practices are insurance based practices (54%).
The next question we asked was focused on marketing specifically internal marketing. By far the type of marketing that was most effective at generating patients from internal sources was patient education (59%).
Then we asked about the most effective external marketing in 2021 and found that digital marketing (34%) and professional referrals (21%) were the most effective based on our 2021 Chiropractic Practice Survey.
Next we asked about the average number of new patients the practices in our 2021 chiropractic practice survey generated per month and the most common answer was 11 to 15 (34%). 51% of the chiropractors in our survey saw between 11 and 20 new patients per month.
The next question was focused on the number of patient visits that the doctors in our 2021 chiropractic practice survey were seeing per week. The most common answer was 76 to 100 (21%).
The next question was focused on the number of Associates the doctors had in their practices. According to the 2021 chiropractic practice survey, 79% of the doctors in the survey do not have Associates in their practice.
Next we asked about the number of employees in each of the practices in our 2021 chiropractic practice survey and found that the most common answer was one employee (38%). 17% of the practices in our survey had no employees.
The next question was focused on the average monthly collections of each practice in the 2021 chiropractic practice survey. The most common answer surprisingly was 41,000 to 50,000 per month (21%). However, the majority of practices are collecting between $11,000 and $30,000 per month (51%).
The next question was focused on practice growth. Compared to the previous year have your monthly collections been, the same, less than, or more than last year. The majority of doctors have seen growth in 2021 with 50% of them reporting that there collections are more this year than last year.
Next we looked at the average individual visit of the practices in our 2021 chiropractic practice survey and found that the majority of doctors are charging between $45 and $75 per visit (66%). With $60 per visit coming in as the average.
Next we asked about the average care plan of each office. The most common answer was unfortunately less than $1000 (29%). Another 17% do not use care plans. The average care plan was $1400 according to the 2021 chiropractic practice survey.
The last question we ask was what has been the most challenging part of practice this year and the most common answer was being efficient with patient visits (21%). This was somewhat of a surprising answer based on our previous survey data. The most common answer typically is obtaining new patients. If you struggle to consistently produce new patients for your practice or you want to grow in 2022 please give us a call at 1-800-217-0584 to discuss your practice and where you want to go in the future.
