Dr. R. A. Foxworth, FICC, MCS-P
Let me guess! You went to Chiropractic College because you are a traditionalist who loves to toe the line.
I’ll just pause here for the inevitable smirk.
See, I’m a DC, too, and I know full well that most of us chiropractors are, if not outright rebels, certainly folks who believe in forging their own paths. So it’s kind of ironic that we’ve found ourselves in one of the most highly regulated and rule-bound professions in existence. In fact, the only area of “life” that is more regulated than health care is the environment!
And the rules grow more prolific and more complicated all the time.
EHR. PQRS. OIG. ICD-10. Whatever your acronym of choice, there’s a whole slew of guidelines, regulations, laws, and requirements that come along with it. If it weren’t for digital storage, each of our offices would be stacked shoulder-high with reams of policies, procedures, manuals, and files. Most of it all about the things we’re NOT supposed to do.
Among those things we’re not supposed to do is give people the kind of financial help we once did without giving it a thought. Got a longtime patient who’s struggling to meet his mortgage? We’d give him half-off his treatment for a few weeks or months until he got back on his feet. Want to bring in some extra business? We’d run a sale, hold a promotion, and give away free services.
What about that elderly patient on Medicare who can’t meet her deductible or manage her copays? At one time, most DCs would have happily eaten those extra charges for her or worked out a barter arrangement of some kind with her grandson that does drywall repair.
If you still have any thoughts about running your business this way please, I beg you, put them aside immediately and for good. It doesn’t matter how selfless and kind-hearted your motives, everything I’ve detailed above is potentially a violation of “the rules and regulations” and land you in hot water. The risks of getting caught—even by a “whistleblower” patient in your own practice—are high, and the penalties are severe.
It’s not worth it. Especially when there’s a better way.
Like you, I consider myself more of a trailblazer than a follower. But I’ve also been in business long enough to know that breaking the rules isn’t blazing a trail for anyone. It’s simply putting myself at risk of losing my license and my ability to care for my patients in the way I want to: with kindness, compassion, and respect.
So I decided to go about it differently. (That’s what we trailblazers do, you know.) I did my research, and I founded ChiroHealthUSA. ChiroHealthUSA is a network that works in conjunction with a Discount Medical Plan Organization (DMPO).
What does that mean? Simple. You can stay on the right side of the rules and regulations while still doing what feels right in your heart. When you’re a ChiroHealthUSA provider, you will never have to worry about thoughtlessly or accidentally running afoul of compliance regulations, because you’ll be able to offer your patients safe, legal discounts on all their non-covered services, including maintenance and preventive care, based on discounts YOU choose. There is no cost to you to join with an affordable $49 fee per patient family per year, easily recovered in the first patient visit.
We offer a free on-demand webinar that explains the benefits of becoming a ChiroHealthUSA provider as well as how to easily offer membership to patients. Register here.
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Why is the Discount Challenge prize amount $15,024? Because that is the average “per-occurrence” fine for Medicare inducements. That’s not $15,024 per patient, that’s not per provider, that’s PER VISIT. Stinks, doesn’t it? To us, the prize amount is worth the investment if we can help our profession better understand proper discounting.