How long do you recommend patients to go between adjustments? Again, your answer speaks volumes to your conviction for the subluxation. Every patient is different and their history will factor into the amount of time their spines can hold an adjustment (not to mention the destructive behaviors of which many of our patients indulge being another major factor), but you will typically find a set amount of time the majority of your patients can go between adjustments with out regressing in the progress you have made over the coarse of care.

When you are aspiring towards having a million dollar practice, your attitude towards maintenance practicing is a critical issue. Those who do not understand nor convey to their patients how detrimental subluxations are when left untreated for extended periods   of time are doing a disservice. It is our responsibility as chiropractors to at bare minimum warn individuals of the risks and then let the patients decide for themselves if they wish to continue treatment. I have already addressed in earlier blogs the importance of a sound chiropractic philosophy. If you happen to be one of the unfortunate souls who was not taught proper philosophy in school, that is your starting point.

Million dollar practices are built not on acute low back pain, but on the understanding and administering of health over the long term. As a doctor who wants to reach the masses, you must understand that the greatest success stories lie in the absence of disease in your maintenance patients.

Too many chiropractors become overly focused on new patient numbers and forget where the true wealth and health of the profession lies, in the long term prevention of disease!

In your ambitions to start a million dollar chiropractic practice, there is one critical element that without it, you will fall short every time. That is Passion!

Most doctors want to have an ultra successful chiropractic practice, and many of the serious ones will reach some fantastic levels of prosperity. But there is an invisible glass ceiling at about the level of $30,000 to $45,0000 per month collections that stops the vast majority of chiropractors from hitting the million dollar mark. In fact, that glass ceiling is so strong, in my opinion, that those who do break through it, typically go straight to the million dollar level!

Where does the ceiling come from?

At about 30k-45k collections per month, provided the overhead has been maintained at a very reasonable level, then most doctors bills are more than paid! These chiropractors are experiencing a very healthy level of prosperity and are “comfortable”. Financial pressures no longer push them to higher levels of patient volumes. Chiropractors begin to ask themselves, “why should I work any harder?”.

That is where the overwhelming majority of offices will stop growing.

Who persists to the mark? The chiropractors with passion! The philosophy of chiropractic drives these doctors to touch and save lives. Knowing the healing power of the human body and how chiropractic can release the innate function propels these chiropractors to spread the testimony of the profession. The disgust for what drugs and unnecessary surgeries do to the victims of the medical profession, knowing that there is a better alternative, gives them the fuel to spend long hours in the office. For these highly philosophical chiropractors, it is no longer about money, their purpose and passion lies in restoring health to the sick and diseased.

Do you have that kind of passion? Do you have an internal need to restore health to the sick? Is your drive so strong that you can get past your own comfort levels?

The philosophy of chiropractic is being lost in our profession. Are you one of the few who is willing to stand up and stand out for chiropractic?

Million Dollar Practices (excluding PI mills) will see a minimum of 75 patients in one day. That is a significant volume. It requires an exceptional staff!

Finding an exceptional staff is not an easy task. A decent work ethic is a dying art. As more and more parents are thrusting their spoiled overindulged children into the work force, we are seeing a decline in the internal value of a “good day’s work”.

Finding a staff that will treat your business as their own does not happen by accident, but it can and does happen! It all comes down to proper hiring and proper training.

I could spend hours and pages on this topic alone! You can spend hours and hours reading all the books, blogs, and great gurus on hiring. Let me simply say that an efficient and effective hiring protocol is critical to the Million Dollar Practice.

The death blow to many of my doctor’s growth has been a staff turn over right in the heat of momentum growth. This happens virtually every time. People do not like change, and when a practice starts to really take off, the staff is forced to work at an unusual pace. This causes discontent to those who lack work ethic and they will quit when they see the pressure coming. A doctor’s ability to quickly recover and replace before the momentum dies is an essential resource in reaching this level of practice.

Do these hiring protocols exist? Yes they do! If you will stick with me, there is a lot more to come!

Very few doctors ever reach this accomplishment, especially among those who are starting their practices from scratch.

Even though this goal can be elusive, it has been done in recent history. I have mentored practices to this level. Even more importantly, I have mentored many who have tried and failed to reach this level; those failures have taught me far more than the successes. I have learned some key steps and principles that have led to the success of the few and the downfall of the many.

Over these next series of posts, I would like to share with you these lessons. What you do with the information is up to you. It is my sincere hope that a new generation of chiropractors will take this to heart and begin to change the face of this profession!

Million-Dollar Practice – Step one: Do the math

There are many first steps to substantial success in the practice of chiropractic, but one important first is knowing what you are getting into!

Running the statistical data for a million-dollar practice will help you to wrap your brain around what it will physically take. How you calculate the stats is simple. A million dollar practice needs to collect $83,333.34 per month. The national average for chiropractic collections per visit falls to about $50 per visit—a little less in some areas and more in others. When you divide that out, it means you would need to see 1667+ patient visits per month. The next question is, “Does your choice of technique allow you to see that volume?”.

Some techniques are incredibly efficient at diagnosing and unlocking subluxation; other techniques would make this impossible. When considering this fact, I have learned that it is the removal of subluxation that leads to healing, not the amount of time it takes to adjust a patient. If you would not be able physically to handle that volume of patients then associate practicing is the answer.

If you are a student reading this who has not committed to any specific technique (which I strongly suggest you do), the please keep “technique efficiency” in mind if a million-dollar practice is your goal!

So, the first question is, “Do you want a Million Dollar Practice”? Let me know your thoughts!