Is Going Cash-Based Right for Your Chiropractic Practice? Expert Dr. Miles Bodzin Weighs In

Over the last few years, many chiropractors have switched from taking insurance to running cash-based practices. This shift likely stems from two things: insurance reimbursements are dropping, and chiropractors are getting sick of insurance coverage dictating their care.

If you’re considering going cash-based, you’re in luck: We brought in an expert to tell you about the pros and cons of the model! Dr. Miles Bodzin is a chiropractor and the founder and CEO of Cash Practice, a software company helping chiropractors make more money and achieve better clinical outcomes by helping patients complete their full course of care.

“We’ve identified four key business principles that lead a patient to become loyal to a practice: feedback, forecasted care, frequent contact, and a frictionless payment experience,” Dr. Bodzin says.

Dr. Bodzin calls these business principles “The Four Fs” and says they’re a key part of transitioning to a more cash-based practice. That doesn’t mean entirely abandoning insurance, but as he explains it, patients tend to become more loyal when you remove the repeated thought of money. Meanwhile, the chiropractor can regain control of patient care, generate more revenue, and put that revenue back into their practice. For many chiropractors, those perks make it worth transitioning. But Dr. Bodzin and Cash Practice’s chief operations officer, Holly Jensen, emphasize switching isn’t without its challenges and encourage doctors to follow a properly defined plan when making the transition.

“Some chiropractors think that if they go cash-based, they don’t have to document or code and that all of the headaches that go with insurance go away,” Holly says. “That’s not true! You still have to follow the same documentation, compliance, and coding rules everyone else does.”

When patients are paying for care, they tend to hold the practice to a higher standard and often require the doctor to have better business skills. If insurance is lucrative in your area, going cash-based may not be that urgent.  However, the writing has been on the wall for a long-time now where fewer and fewer areas of the country offer good insurance benefits. Dr. Bodzin and Holly both recommend you plan accordingly and begin the process of collecting more cash so if insurance disappeared tomorrow, you would be more than ok.

To learn more tips for boosting patient retention, visit LoyalPatientJourney.com. There, you’ll find Cash Practice’s 11 Steps to a Loyal Patient Journey and score a free ebook!