No, It’s Not Awesome

Dr. R. A. Foxworth, FICC, MCS-P

I talk to a lot of chiropractors, and it’s almost always a joy. Except when I hear something like this:

“Hey, I treat my brother’s wife’s cousins for free. That’s okay, right?”

or

“I have some great patients who have been with me for 10 years, so sometimes I just, you know, comp a visit or give them half-price or something.”

or

“I’m opening a new location! And I’m spreading the word by offering $10 initial visits including X-rays! Isn’t that awesome?”

No. Just, no. It’s not awesome. In fact, it’s downright frightening. Pretty much every doc who does something like this does so with an almost lethal combination of innocence, good intentions, and ignorance of the rules and regulations we are subject to in a health care practice. But every one of the above examples is potentially illegal; family discounts without a policy in place or if the family member is in a position to “refer” federally insured patients to you, dual fee schedules, and inducements, respectively. And you know what? It’s easier than ever to get on the radar…or worse, caught.

The reason is even more unnerving. Chiropractors are under third-party payers’ microscopes for two simple reasons; First, as a profession, we make an inordinate number of documentation errors, and second, there’s a lot of money to be made catching us making those mistakes. It doesn’t matter if you intended to defraud, tried something fancy and figured you’d fly under the radar, or just goofed up. Either way, third-party payers profit, but doctors with good intentions who make bad choices often get hit with crippling fines and recoupments.

Feeling boxed in and unable to be the kind of community-minded, large-hearted doctor you want to be? Consider ChiroHealthUSA. ChiroHealthUSA is a Network that works in conjunction with a Discount Medical Plan Organization (DMPO). 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 their NON covered services as well as maintenance and preventive care based on your practice’s single actual fee schedule. Not sure how to set that actual fee schedule? No worries. We’re happy to point you in the right direction.

There is no cost to you to join and patients pay an affordable $49 fee per patient family per year, easily recovered in the first patient visit. ChiroHealthUSA providers also have access to the best and brightest minds in the profession through our webinar series. We cover issues like reimbursement, documentation, coding, patient finances, staff scripting and training, and billing and collections. That means you have a safety net, no matter how complicated regulations become. We’re here with the latest updates and information you need to be compliant, protected and profitable.

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.