Education MTB Coaching

Why and How to Invest in Your Staff

Investing in staff training or other learning opportunities has the obvious benefit of advancing skills and knowledge. What isn’t so obvious is all the other results and opportunities that come through staff investment. Let’s explore the benefits of creating learning opportunities for your staff as well as some ideas of how to go about providing that added training.

WHY you should invest in your staff:

  1. Improved Patient Experience: A well-trained and skilled staff can supply better patient experiences and superior care. This often will lead to higher patient loyalty and patient satisfaction. Patients are much more likely to return to a clinic they trust and where they feel comfortable and well-cared for.
  2. Increased Efficiency & Productivity: Investing in staff training can improve the efficiency of your clinic. Staff who are professionally trained in patient management and administrative tasks can help streamline your operations and reduce the time it takes to complete certain tasks. More time allows for more to get done.
  3. Increased Revenue: When patients are satisfied with their care, they are more likely to refer all their family and friends to you and your clinic. The new customer base is sure to add to your bottom line.
  4. Staff Retention & Satisfaction: Investing in your staff can help improve staff retention rates. Employees who feel valued and appreciated are more likely to stay with a company long-term, reducing the cost and time associated with recruiting and training new staff. Investing in staff creates job satisfaction and empowers your entire team to become recruiters. Happy employees tell happy stories and attract other employees.
  5. Competitive advantage: Investing in additional training can give you or your staff a competitive advantage in the job market or within the industry. It can help you stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends and best practices, and demonstrate your commitment to ongoing professional development.
  6. Enhanced innovation: Additional training can help employees develop new ideas and innovative solutions to problems, leading to improved processes and products. Be sure to empower your staff to share ideas.
  7. Improved teamwork: Additional training in communication and teamwork can help employees work more effectively together, resulting in improved collaboration and productivity.

HOW to invest in your staff:

  1. Training and Development: Investing in staff training and development helps them to grow professionally and improve their skills, which will in turn benefit the organization.
  2. Mentorship: Assigning a mentor to a staff member can help them to learn from an experienced professional within the organization. Encourage additional professional mentors outside of your clinic to gain experience and perspective.
  3. Communication and Feedback: Regular feedback sessions can help to identify areas for improvement and encourage staff to strive for excellence. Invite and encourage open dialogue which can build trust and assure everyone is working towards a common goal.
  4. Career Progression: Creating opportunities for staff to advance within the organization can help with retention and create a culture of growth and advancement.
  5. Work-Life Balance: Ensuring a healthy work-life balance can improve staff morale, increase productivity, and help with stress reduction.
  6. Recognition and Rewards: Recognizing and rewarding staff for their hard work and achievements can boost morale and create a positive work environment. Genuine appreciation matters.

 

Investing in your staff is exactly what it sounds like, it takes the investment of time and/or money. While that type of investment can be a little scary, the return on investment will pay for itself and in most cases, it ultimately results in much remarkable success both for the clinic as well as the staff. While making your staff investment plans don’t forget to include yourself in the growth journey!

Money Tree Billing is a chiropractic billing company who removes the distraction of billing from your office so you can focus on changing lives through chiropractic care. Money Tree Billing offers complete billing cycle management through a dedicated and seamless billing process. We empower you and your team with support beyond just billing. Focus on your practice and your passion and we’ll focus on getting you paid. We GUARANTEE our work. Money Tree Billing guarantees if your insurance claim goes unpaid due to our error, that we will credit you the amount you would have been paid on that claim. You won’t find another guarantee like it in the industry. To learn more about Money Tree Billing, and our one-of-a-kind guarantee, visit www.moneytreebilling.com,

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Telehealth & Communicating with your patients

When many chiropractors are asked about telehealth, they often can throw up their hands; chiropractic care is hands-on, so telehealth is not for me or our clinic. While telehealth can mean different things depending on who you talk to, the Mayo Clinic puts it nicely, “Telehealth is the use of digital information and communication technologies to access health care services remotely and manage your health care.” And while there are actual remote direct patient care services that a chiropractor can do remotely, patients and chiropractors alike will always prefer and demand direct contact with the patient. With that, telehealth is so much more than virtual visits, and if your clinic is not utilizing some form of telehealth, you are already falling behind.

Telehealth and the Patient Portal

One of the most popular uses of technology to communicate with your patients is an online Patient Portal. Patient Portals have been shown to increase patient engagement, and dedication, to their clinic and their overall treatment plan. While patient portals offer countless possibilities, some of the most popular uses of the portal are:

  • Ability to communicate directly with your care provider – Patients now expect to be able to get messages directly to their providers. This ability gives the patient the comfort and confidence that they are important and heard.
  • Appointment management – Giving your patients the ability to create or cancel appointments online is a fantastic way to engage the patient as well as alleviate some of the incoming phone calls. This feature also allows the patient to view their appointment times, reducing the risk of missed appointments.
    • Check-In online – Some patient portal options allow patients to do a pre-check-in online. This is a helpful tool for staff, but also to prompt the patient to be sure they have all the necessary information you will need.
    • Text options – Text messages are the hottest trend in reaching your patients for appointment reminders and confirmations. This will absolutely reduce missed appointments.
  • Refill prescriptions – Your patients can send in refill requests for any prescriptions with ease.
  • Bill paying – Many software options offer a “soft” reminder on their portal software for unpaid balances, oftentimes this reminder is the first thing the patient sees when they login. Online payment is necessary for your clinic’s success in collections.
  • Receiving test results – Patients can quickly and easily review test results, and doctors and/or staff can add valuable information to those results, so they are not misunderstood.
  • Complete forms – Keep patient information up to date by allowing them to fill out forms directly in your portal for health information, medications, etc.
  • Referral requests – If you work at all with referrals, the patient can request a referral without calling in.

Telehealth and the Virtual Visit

It is hard to imagine virtual visits with chiropractic care since it is a hands-on type of treatment. Virtual visits are now a permanent part of the healthcare model and a viable way to provide treatment to your patients.

A few virtual visit ideas:

  • Check-Ins
  • Nutrition coaching
  • Stress management
  • Sleep coaching
  • Ergonomic best practices
  • Exercise – physical therapy exercises
  • Yoga
  • Life or sleep coaching
  • Organic pain relief

Telehealth is truly something all chiropractors and clinics should look at to stay in touch with their patients and stay in step with their peers. You can implement all the suggestions here, or cherry pick what would work best for your clinic. Staying in touch with your patients through telehealth is a terrific way to create a well curated journey for your patients.

Don’t navigate telehealth billing alone! Money Tree Billing is a chiropractic billing company who removes the distraction of billing from your office so you can focus on changing lives through chiropractic care. Money Tree Billing offers complete billing cycle management through a dedicated and seamless billing process. We empower you and your team with support beyond just billing. Focus on your practice and your passion and we’ll focus on getting you paid. We GUARANTEE our work. Money Tree Billing guarantees if your insurance claim goes unpaid due to our error, that we will credit you the amount you would have been paid on that claim. You won’t find another guarantee like it in the industry. To learn more about Money Tree Billing, and our one-of-a-kind guarantee, visit www.moneytreebilling.com.

Education MTB Coaching

7 Most Common Chiropractic Billing Errors

Surprisingly, it is not unusual for many chiropractors to lose a substantial amount of income due to medical billing mistakes. Some mistakes are easy to fix, and admittedly, others are much more complex. The reality is that clinics generally consider medical billing one department of their business with no real understanding of what goes into it. Let’s investigate some of the common mistakes that are made as well as a few solutions to get your billing back on track. Some of the most common medical billing mistakes made at chiropractic clinics are:

  1. Not following up on unpaid claims. Unfortunately, many of the billing mistakes boil down to lack of systematic follow-up and lack of staff who are dedicated to this specific task. With no follow-up those unpaid claims can really hit your bottom line.
  2. Not resubmitting rejected claims. Rejected claims can be difficult to navigate through, and it isn’t uncommon for a chiropractic clinic to give up rather than fix the issues and resubmit.
  3. They do not learn the software. If this is true for you or your clinic, you should know that not learning the software is common in all businesses. First, the time and effort to fully learn all features of the software are rarely dedicated in the front end. After the expense of the initial software, clinics often don’t invest in the full training and believe they or their staff will learn as they go. This can then lead to a lack of updates, and lack of using strong tools and protections the software may offer. The result is when you don’t know how to use your software you will mess up your account balances. When you mess up your account balances you don’t know what to follow up on and you cannot properly follow up or bill your patients.
  4. They don’t watch the bottom line. Most of us are familiar with the phrase, keep your eye on the ball, when it comes to the health of your business someone needs to always have an eye on your fiscal ball. Even with the absolute best intentions, many chiropractors lose focus of their bottom line. (We get it, you’re busy healing people!) But when you drop focus little and big billing errors start to substantially add up. The truth is, by the time many clinics realize that they have dropped the fiscal ball, it is too late.
  5. Lack of well-trained and dedicated staff. Even if the staff hired to handle chiropractic billing was well-trained, the reality is that unless the clinic is dedicated to on-going education and equally dedicated to staying on top of never-ending insurance changes, the staff is no longer trained. It is also common that not enough staff are hired to really handle all the billing. One or two office staff are often tasked with more than they could possibly keep up with and the complexity of those tasks is often underrated.
  6. Clerical Errors. While true misspellings or number mix ups are an actual huge issue in holding up insurance claims, it runs deeper than just a typo.  Clerical errors can include typos, not updating patient records, not submitting the claim on time, coding errors, or a myriad of other issues.
  7. Failure to verify insurance coverage. Before providing care to a patient, it’s critical to verify insurance coverage and benefits to avoid denials or delays of payment.

It is critical to the success of any chiropractor or chiropractic clinic to get a full grasp on their billing, and billing errors. Errors in billing cause payment delays and payment denials. They can also cause recoupments, fines, and audits. Most importantly, they can frustrate your client base. Here are a few suggestions on how to navigate through some of these common errors.

  1. Invest in education. Invest in your staff by offering on-going learning opportunities to keep them up to date with current billing trends, policies and procedures. Learn software by working with the provider online or other training venues to make full use of all the software has to offer.
  2. Take time to fully understand your financials. It is perfectly understandable that you might not have a firm grasp on your financials, or honestly, even the slightest clue on how to read them. Make sure that you either learn how to understand basic fiscal management of your clinic or hire someone who can (and will) keep their eye on the ball.
  3. Look for the weak spots. If you watch your financials, you’ll likely start to see weak spots. Focus on those weak spots first. If you notice a lot of unpaid claims, focus on why and then put systems in place to prevent further claim issues. If you notice your staff is struggling to keep up, consider added staff or training. Take the time to do a deep dive into understanding where your weak spots are.
  4. Outsource your medical billing. Outsourcing your medical billing will improve accuracy and compliance, increase your revenue, supply access to technology and resources, reduce administrative burdens and enhance customer satisfaction.

Money Tree Billing is a chiropractic billing company who removes the distraction of billing from your office so you can focus on changing lives through chiropractic care. Money Tree Billing offers complete billing cycle management through a dedicated and seamless billing process. We empower you and your team with support beyond just billing. Focus on your practice and your passion and we’ll focus on getting you paid. We GUARANTEE our work. Money Tree Billing guarantees if your insurance claim goes unpaid due to our error, that we will credit you the amount you would have been paid on that claim. You won’t find another guarantee like it in the industry. To learn more about Money Tree Billing, and our one-of-a-kind guarantee, visit www.moneytreebilling.com,

 

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Goal setting for Chiropractors and Chiropractic Clinics

“I am ready to face any challenges that might be foolish enough to face me.” -Dwight from The Office.

Just like personal goals, don’t let the ringing of the new year be the only time you think about your business goals. Any time is the perfect time to review your Chiropractic Clinic goals for the coming weeks, months or year. Unlike your strategic plan, goal setting outlines the specific goals that should inspire you and/or your team to work efficiently, and perhaps towards the broader strategies that you may have in place for your clinic. Goal setting is an important part to running any successful business, they give you clarity, a target to reach for, and they can motivate you and/or your employees. Goal setting can be a challenge, so we’ve compiled some advice to help you through the process.

Goal Setting Prompts:

  • Are you happy with the size of the clinic?
  • Do you need to increase, decrease, or stay steady with the number of employees you have? 
  • Do you have the right employees? 
  • Do you continue to stay on top of current best practices and laws medically, as well as human resources, staff training and growth, etc.? 
  • Do you like your physical space, equipment, etc.? 
  • Do you partner with, or consider partnering with third party vendors to help you focus on what you and/or your team does best? 
  • Do you have a coach or mentor that you can rely on to bounce ideas around?
  • Are there proficiencies that you can create through better technology or better understanding of technologies available? 
  • Are you marketing your clinic, and if you are, is it working for you? 
  • Are you profitable? 

You don’t necessarily need to answer all these questions, and there are certainly many more to consider. This is a nice baseline to use to brainstorm. Innovative ideas and concepts will likely grow from there.  

Creating the goal and sticking to it:

  • Make sure that your goals are obtainable, even if they are aggressive. 
  • Make sure you have measurable goals. 
  • Make sure your goals are specific and succinct. 
  • If you have a team, invite their input for added buy-in. 
  • Make a commitment to the goals you set. 
  • Hold yourself and/or your team accountable by implementing deadlines. 
  • Schedule regular check-ins and progress reports, even if it is just you.
  • Don’t forget to acknowledge and celebrate each goal you meet. 
  • Add new goals as you check old ones off. 

Many successful businesses of all types know that goal setting and goal achievement is necessary to succeed. They’ll also tell you that it’s important for you to focus on what you know, and then hire experts to do the rest. In the chiropractic clinic setting the most popular areas of outsourcing for day-to-day operations are medical billing, human resources, and virtual receptionist/appointment setters. Outsourcing also can include business coaches, outside training for you or your staff, business strategists, etc. 

There is no time like today to get moving towards setting solid goals for your chiropractic clinic. While it is serious business, have fun and don’t forget to throw a few dreams in for long term goals. Most importantly, don’t lose sight of the very reasons you started on your path of healing others and make sure that is always the focus. You got this.

Money Tree Billing is a chiropractic billing company who removes the distraction of billing from your office so you can focus on changing lives through chiropractic care. Money Tree Billing offers complete billing cycle management through a dedicated and seamless billing process. We empower you and your team with support beyond just billing. Focus on your practice and your passion and we’ll focus on getting you paid. We GUARANTEE our work. Money Tree Billing guarantees if your insurance claim goes unpaid due to our error, that we will credit you the amount you would have been paid on that claim. You won’t find another guarantee like it in the industry. To learn more about Money Tree Billing, and our one-of-a-kind guarantee, visit www.moneytreebilling.com.

Money Tree news

Merry Christmas

Christmastime is one of our favorite times of the year at Money Tree Billing. Our home office is in beautiful Minnesota and when we hear the term God’s Country, we are certain they must mean here, especially after a new layer of snow. On top of the beauty of the new fallen snow, Christmas reminds us of God’s promise of salvation found through our savior, Jesus. As we hustle and bustle with a staggering number of items on our to-do list before Christmas, we believe it is incredibly important to take the time to reflect on our faith, purpose, and family.

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10)

We started Money Tree Billing after working in the chiropractic industry. We knew that we could make the lives of chiropractors, physical therapists, and all the employees in the clinics we serve more productive with less stress and headaches that often arise in medical billing. We also knew that in turn this would give all their patients a better experience and hopefully make their lives better. Our faith in God guided our journey and we also know he guides us every day and our hearts are open to hearing his word.

To say we have been blessed is an understatement. We have an amazing customer base who have become partners and friends. We get to hear the stories of hope and healing found through the hands of the health care professionals. We see God’s work every single day and all around us. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and our hope is that you too will have time to reflect in your faith, your purpose, and your family. 

“And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11)

Education

Adjusting To Stress

Adjusting to Stress – Chiropractic Care and Stress Reduction

The holidays, while magical to some, can be a stress-producing machine for others. Whether it is cooking huge meals, crowds while shopping, financial concerns, or simply too much time with Uncle Steve and Auntie Ann, the holiday season is a common stressor for many. While we do our yoga poses, meditation, and deep breathing exercises, do not forget chiropractic care in your menu of stress reduction tools.

Let us start by talking about stress in general. Stress is often paired with anxiety, depression, and other aches and pains. It has long been known that stress plays havoc with every system of your body, including muscular and skeletal symptoms. Headaches, body aches, and all sorts of other side effects are a direct result of stress and anxiety. Stress and anxiety can cause a tremendous amount of tension in your body therefore, treating your body in turn helps reduce the stress. It can be circular – tension relief in the body can reduce stress which can lead to more tension relief, then to more stress relief and so on. 

Some common symptoms of stress that your body may experience include headaches, back and/or neck pain, muscle cramping or tightness, fatigue, and joint pain. Since tension, both realized and subconscious, wreaks havoc on your body and can even cause nerve pain and numbness. The great news is that chiropractic care releases stored tension in your body, helping you to return to a healthier you. 

Some things your chiropractor can do to help with stress:

  • Spinal Adjustment – Spinal adjustments help relieve muscle tension which in turn helps to increase relaxation and blood circulation. Just this action alone literally can help reduce the fight for flight response of your body and in turn reduces stress. Your spine plays a huge role in your neurological system, so a healthy spine can help your brain as much as your body. 
  • Massage – Many chiropractic clinics include massage as one of their offerings. Just like adjustments, massage results in relaxation and in turn a notable reduction in stress. 
  • Better Posture – Your chiropractic clinic is an excellent resource for education on correct body posture. Slumping over a phone, computer or tablet has negative effects on your body. Your chiropractor can teach you how to treat your body better by actively being aware of how you sit, walk, or even sleep. 
  • Nutrition – Your chiropractor can work with you to create a nutrition plan and offer supplements to create a healthier you. Feeding your body properly is important for stress reduction as well as building strong and healthy muscles and bones.
  • Rehabilitation – The healing qualities of chiropractic care go past the time you spend in-clinic. Your chiropractor may work with you to establish a exercise, stretching or massage plan outside of the clinic to help your body heal, gain strength, and give you the best opportunity to keep stress at manageable levels.

Stress is inevitable, however, working with your chiropractor can help you reduce stress and the effects it has on your body. Keep in mind that you can keep stress at bay by creating a relationship and regular scheduled appointments with your chiropractor and/or massage therapist; the benefits are endless, and the reward is less stress and a healthier you.

Money Tree Billing is a chiropractic billing company who removes the distraction of billing from your office so you can focus on changing lives through chiropractic care. Money Tree Billing offers billing cycle management through a dedicated and seamless billing process. We empower you and your team with support beyond just billing. Focus on your practice and your passion and we’ll focus on getting you paid. To learn more about Money Tree Billing visit www.moneytreebilling.com

Education

Specialized Departments

Money Tree Billing – Specialized Departments

When you are doing your search and interviewing potential companies to do your chiropractic billing, you will find a common theme; you will get assigned to a specific person who handles your account from start to finish. Much like an in-office employee, the person has a smaller amount of knowledge in a broader area of billing. When you work with Money Tree Billing, you will find a unique model composed of five specialized departments with staff who have expertise in each department.

Money Tree Billing’s five core departments are Billing, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Posting & Aging, Patient Statements and Client Contact. While the benefits are many, there are three core reasons we decided to make specialized departments:

  1. Results – The insurance industry changes policy day to day and state to state. If you had to focus on the entire billing process, there would be no sustainable way a single staff or small accounting department could stay up to date. Money Tree Billing knows that creating specialized departments allows staff to become your trusted partner in their part of the claims process. Money Tree Billing uses the same concept by specializing in two software program solutions; Eclipse EHR Solutions and ChiroTouch. Additionally, we work with only one clearinghouse, Infinedi. This level of specialization allows us to offer our partners the highest level of service and in turn garner the best results not only for our partners, but for our team, their team, and the patient.
  1. AccountabilityMoney Tree Billing understands that no one person can be proficient in all things billing. Allowing for specialized departments has given us the opportunity to create high level quality control systems. Each department was thoughtfully and thoroughly designed to work in tandem with all departments, both before and after their part in the claims process. This high-level collaboration between departments helps to reduce errors overall, and to catch errors quickly and efficiently when they do happen.

 

  1. Stability – Unfortunately, many of us have felt the pain when an experienced employee leaves. The same issues as an employee leaving can arise when your billing company assigns only one person to your account. One unplanned life event, an inconvenient vacation time, or a medical emergency, leaves you without the assigned person on your account and puts you and your patients in a potential situation. These employee life events are also hard on the employer when they need to scramble to handle your account. At Money Tree Billing life events are barely felt by the client or our company. Our teams in each specialized department are highly trained and professional, allowing them to pivot quickly to aid with any account.

When it comes to Billing, EDI, Posting & Aging, Patient Statements and Client Contact, Money Tree Billing understands the level of confidence and trust you must have to outsource your billing. We welcome the opportunity to share more about what we can offer, as well as to have you meet with the specialized departments to give you the confidence you require. We are so confident in our services that we, to our knowledge, are the only billing company to guarantee our work.  If we fail to get a claim paid due to our error, we will credit our clients the amount they would have been paid on that claim. Money Tree Billing is built on integrity, and we understand the importance of accurate work and accountability.

Money Tree Billing – We bring you stability, support, and success beyond the books.

 

 

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The Billing Solution for Your Chiropractic and Physical Therapy Clinic

Money Tree Billing – The Billing Solution for Your Chiropractic and/or Physical Therapy Clinic

Whether you’ve already made the decision to work with a medical billing partner for your chiropractic and/or physical therapy clinic or you’re just beginning to investigate the concept of outsourcing your billing, you’ll quickly find a variety of options available. There are admittedly things that are similar in billing management companies, but it’s important to know that not all billing companies offer the same services or for that matter, the level of service you and your patients deserve. Money Tree Billing is the right choice for medium to large size chiropractic/physical therapy clinics and we truly stand alone in our industry as champions for our clients.

Our client’s success is our top priority. There is simply nothing more important to Money Tree Billing than the success of our clients. We share knowledge and empower your team. Your goals become our goals and partnering with us means that you have a full team of highly knowledgeable billing professionals in your corner.

We understand when we fit, and when we don’t.  While we believe we can sincerely add benefit to any chiropractic and/or physical therapy clinic, we know when it doesn’t make sense for our chiropractic friends to use our services. We offer a full and free consultation prior to any level of commitment from our potential clients. If it isn’t a great fit that will help your clinic, we will not only tell you that, but we’ll also offer you suggestions on how and when to work with outsourced billing solutions.

Our systems are robust and always growing. Whether it be our software systems, our staff, or complex changes in medical billing, we thrive by always staying in-step with current systems and best practices.

We have specialized departments. Money Tree Billing’s five core departments are Billing, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Posting & Aging, Patient Statements and Client Contact.

We have specialized staff. For each of our specialized departments, we have staff that have expertise in that genre of services. You never have to worry about coverage of your account because we have a whole team approach for each of our customers.

We GAURANTEE our work. Money Tree Billing guarantees if your insurance claim goes unpaid due to our error, that we will credit you the amount you would have been paid on that claim. You won’t find another guarantee like it in the industry.

We practice what we preach. Money Tree Billings sole focus is on maximizing our client’s revenue through a complete billing management system. We are exceptional at what we do. We know that partnering with outside businesses that are experts in their field, such as marketing or high-level business coaching can help us achieve our goals and keep us focused on what we do best.

Let’s talk. Our goal is to provide you with results, accountability and stability. You’ll find that our team is highly professional, but also highly relatable. We’re real people who sincerely believe that we can make a substantial difference by allowing you to focus on your practice while we focus on getting you paid. We look forward to telling you more about how we can bring you stability, support and succes beyond the books.

 

 

Industry News Uncategorized

Chiropractic: On the Frontline for Pain – October is National Chiropractic Health Month

Chiropractic care for all types of pain helps reduce the need for addictive pain medications. 

Every October chiropractic clinics around the country celebrate their trade during National Chiropractic Health Month, (NCHM). In 2022 the theme for NCHM is Chiropractic: On the Frontline for Pain. While chiropractors clearly understand the benefits of chiropractic care for pain management, the decision to focus this year’s NCHM on pain management highlights the continued need to make the public and health care providers aware of other options for pain management. Opioid and other pain medication is still being abused at an alarming rate and overdose death numbers are staggering. Knowing that there are other solutions to pain in the front end could help greatly reduce the number of pain medication prescriptions given out. Added awareness on the types of pain that chiropractors can help with would also help in the fight against pain medication addiction and abuse. 

In 2020, 143 million opioid prescriptions were dispensed in the US, and that startling number does not account for non-opioid based prescription pain medication. According to the National Institution on Drug Abuse, 2018 saw 46,802 deaths by opioids and by 2020 that number had risen to 68,630. Educating the public about chiropractic pain relief methods has reached an urgent and critical level. Research shows that chiropractic care, and other non-drug related approaches, should be the first approach when dealing with musculoskeletal or muscular pain.

According to the American Academy on Pain, chronic pain puts a strain on public health and affects Americans more than cancer, diabetes, and heart disease combined. Chronic lower back pain is the most common type of chronic pain and while all the statistics show a rise in Medicare expenses for lower back pain, such as pain medication, MRIs, epidural injections, and even surgeries, it does not show an accompanying improved outcome for the same group of people. All of this is testimony to the urgency of producing pain care solutions that are not addictive or highly invasive yet yield unreliable results. 

While back pain stays the number one reason people initially visit a chiropractor, there are many other pain management techniques and treatments available through chiropractic care. Some of the most common, including back pain, are listed below. 

  • Headaches – chiropractic care with headaches is one of the fastest growth areas in chiropractic clinics. Evidence is showing that even migraine frequency can be reduced with proper chiropractic care. A variety of options are available to alleviate headaches including manual or soft tissue treatment and/or acupuncture. 
  • Muscle pain – muscles just heal faster when your body is in alignment. Often a combination of alignment and soft tissue treatment is used to treat muscle pain. 
  • Joint pain – the reasons for joint pain are many, and chiropractic care is great for both short term and long-term results. Many different methods can be used to treat joint pain including electrotherapy, ultrasound, and treating the soft tissue around the joint. 
  • Arthritis – like joint pain, chiropractic care for arthritis is becoming much more common. 
  • Whiplash – typically caused by automobile accident chiropractors will review the particulars of the accident, do a thorough examination to determine the impact of the injury to develop a treatment plan. Chiropractic care will reduce spasms, increase muscle strength, treat spinal disks and work to optimize motion in the spine.
  • Sprains and strains – the type of chiropractic care differs depending on the type of strain or sprain. Typically, chiropractic care is used as part of the treatment plan to lessen the pain of the injury. Soft tissue manipulation, joint manipulation and rehabilitative exercises are common with sprains and strains. 
  • Autoimmune disorders – while there isn’t a cure for autoimmune disorders there is growing belief that chiropractic care is an important part of the overall care plan to reduce pain and increase strength for patients with autoimmune disorders. Many treatments are like the types used in join pain management. 
  • Back pain – back pain, as mentioned, is the most common reason people start a chiropractic relationship. There are many tools available to the chiropractor to help treat the patient including alignment, soft tissue therapy, acupuncture, cold laser, and many more. 

The added benefit to all the treatment options is the chiropractor offers education to the patient to help not only treat the current condition, but how to build a stronger defense against injury in the first place.

National days, such as National Chiropractic Care Month in October are a valuable tool to not only help educate the public on the benefits of chiropractic care in partnership or in lieu of other medical care, but also an opportunity to educate other health care providers in the benefits of having chiropractic care be part of the conversation when it comes to pain management. One can argue that the opioid crisis has made it critically important to look at all other options for pain management before prescribing any type of pain med; it literally can save lives.

This article was brought to you by Money Tree Billing. While chiropractors are helping to alleviate pain with their patients, Money Tree Billing is helping chiropractors relieve the pain of medical billing. Let Money Tree Billing’s experienced and dedicated team take care of the insurance companies so you can take care of your patients. 

 

Education Uncategorized

The Art of Healing

Shannon Roberts, CFO of Money Tree Billing, shares a story about the art of healing, and how focusing on your passion can actually make a substantial difference in the lives of others. 

There was a time when artwork hanging in local medical offices or the lobby at the bank barely caught a glance from me, but after experiencing one of the most heartwarming displays of gratitude, I can safely say that I give the pictures in those offices a lot more attention.  When the average person passes this picture they won’t even realize the absolute beauty it holds.

I was an office manager at a chiropractic clinic when I had the opportunity to meet Carla. Carla was an incomplete quadriplegic. Paralyzed from the neck down Carla had no leg movement, limited general arm movement, and slight movement in a few of her fingers. In the beginning Carla would arrive at the chiropractic clinic in a brace worn on her right hand. The brace had an attachment to help her hold utensils and other items, that was the extent of her hand and finger movements.

From the very first visit Carla was all in; completely dedicated to the entire treatment plan. I had worked as a Personal Care Attendant (PCA), that experience gave me a deep understanding of just how much work and dedication goes in to Carla just getting dressed, her getting out of bed and into her wheelchair, the efforts that go into getting in and out of a van. There was a concerted effort in just living much less the work that was needed to follow her treatment plan.  But Carla was dedicated; she spent an hour getting ready to come in to the office to just spend ten minutes getting adjusted. Carla was dedicated to her care because she trusted her doctor and the chiropractic process. She knew that those adjustments would directly affect her nervous system, giving her body the opportunity to function optimally. 

Five years in to Carla’s chiropractic journey she came in to the office for her regular adjustment. At this appointment she presented the doctor with a very elaborate color by number painting. Carla explained to the doctor that she had spent FOUR YEARS working on this painting; a picture she painted using her right hand and fingers, that, thanks to chiropractic care were now working at a level that would allow her to not only hold the paint brush, but to be able to pain with great detail and accuracy. This increased movement had quite literally changed her life. It was one of those moments when the partnership, hard work and dedication of both the doctor and the patient paid off and changed both their lives. 

I still have the privilege of seeing this painting every time myself or one of my family go in for our scheduled adjustments. It is a wonderful and poignant reminder of the journey that got me to where I am today. It was the dedication of people like Carla, the compassion of the doctor I worked for. Both the doctor and the patient realized their role in the care process and I began to understand my role in the care process as well. I could make a difference by supporting MANY doctors, just like mine. By freeing up the time of the doctors by handling the complicated billing process, I was freeing the doctor up to do what they do best; care for their patients and literally change lives. 

Money Tree Billing is a chiropractic billing company who removes the distraction of billing from your office so you can focus on changing lives through chiropractic care.  Money Tree Billing offers complete billing cycle management through a dedicated and seamless billing process. We empower you and your team with supports beyond just billing.  Focus on your practice and your passion and we’ll focus on getting you paid.  To learn more about Money Tree Billing visit MoneyTreeBilling.com

 

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Ready Set RESET!

As the end of the quarter draws near, it is time to RESET! Though our intentions are sincere, and our resolve is strong, statistically only 8% of us will accomplish our goals and sadly, 80% of us will have already failed and abandoned our efforts altogether 30-days later.

Today’s society is all about GO! GO! GO! However, activity does not always equal results. Before you GO, take time to RESET. To get from point A to point B successfully, you must first:    

  1. Know where you are currently (Point A)
  2. Decide what destination you are trying to reach (Point B)
  3. Set your goals
  4. Identify your obstacles
  5. Adjust & Repeat

Let’s use a simple example. Your goal is to double your practice.

KNOW WHERE YOU ARE CURRENTLY (point A). Common sense tells us that Point A is where you are right now. Where EXACTLY is that? If your goal is to double your practice, how to do you accomplish that without understanding what your current average cash in is, as well as what your current average cash out is? Or if you do not know your current patient visit number and average dollar collection per visit? Your Point A needs to be more specific than “I want to double my practice” or “I want to see twice as many patients.”  Many times, you will be able to better determine your Point A by first deciding your Point B.

DECIDE WHAT DESTINATION YOU ARE TRYING TO REACH (Point B). If point B is doubling your practice, what does doubling your practice look like? How many patient visits per week is that? What does your average dollar collection per visit need to be to for that patient visit number to equal the total revenue you need? Do those numbers support your increased overhead?

For example, if you currently see 50 patients/week and your goal is to see 100 patients/week, is it that simple? Is that REALLY your goal? What if you start seeing 100 patients/week but your collections do not double, they only increase by 20% because of the type of average new patient? However, your overhead has increased by 40% because you have had to add new team members to oversee the additional volume. Congratulations? You are now seeing 100 patients per week AND making less money.

As I mentioned in Point A, sometimes determining your Point B first will help you know what information you need to better determine exactly where/what Point A is.

SET YOUR GOALS. Just like Point A & B, your goals must be specific. No wishy washy, pie-in-the-sky, mumbo jumbo, vague “let’s see what sticks,” half-assed goals. I am sure you have heard this before, and I am going to reinforce it one more time. SMART goals are the key:

  • Specific: “Double my practice” is not specific enough. I want to see an average of 100 patients or more per week, at a $75 average collection per visit is.
  • Measurable: “Double my practice” gives you nothing you can measure. An average of 100 patients or more per week, at a $75 average collection per visit is measurable.
  • Attainable: A goal that is attainable is one that you can actually accomplish. If your goal is an average of 100 patients or more per week, at a $75 average collection per visit do you have the capacity to reach that goal? Is there enough room in your schedule book? Enough hours in your day? Enough space in your office? A team that is all in? A measurable plan to market and attract new patients? And most importantly, do YOU buy in and believe in your goal? Your business will never outgrow you; if it does, you will not maintain it for long.
  • Relevant: Does your goal align with your overall vision? If you are at an age where you are starting to plan for retirement, does it make sense for you to try and see twice as many patients per week? Maybe. Or maybe the better goal would be to determine how to bring an associate on board that will eventually buy your shares of the business and to help build their numbers as part of that process. Or to add PT to your practice instead to afford you the ability to bring in an associate. The point is, do not set a goal for the sake of setting a goal. Ask yourself, does it align with my vision? Does this goal help get me to my ultimate destination?
  • Time-bound: Your overall goal, and any steps in between, should have specific timelines. Do you want to see 100 patients on average per week by the time you retire or within 12 months? A timeline makes all the difference.