Three Chiropractic Trends That Can Help You Grow Your Practice

These top chiropractic trends are predicted to turn chiropractic care into a $20.8 billion industry by the end of 2023.

by: Sam Wang, DC and Chiro One Founder & Linda Fournier, CMO Chiro One 

Like you, we’re always keeping up on the latest industry news and research. One of the more influential reports to catch our eye is the United Financial Services’ Trends Shaping the Chiropractic Industry report, in which you’ll find the top chiropractic trends that are predicted to turn chiropractic care into a $20.8 billion industry by the end of 2023.  

The report details 5 industry-shaping trends with some data that may surprise you — one of the biggest trends to hit chiropractic care has nothing to do with patient care.  

Here are three trends — both clinical and operational — from the UFS report that resonated with us, and why we agree that they are the future of chiropractic care.  

Personalized Care Plans

For decades, many chiropractors eschewed long-term treatment plans in favor of delivering one or two courses of adjustments at irregular intervals – as dictated by the patient’s acute symptoms or availability. 

Recently the chiropractic industry has been shifting toward personalized care plans to meet the unique needs of each patient, a care model Chiro One has long followed.  

This evidence-based protocol requires that patients complete a detailed questionnaire (age, posture, general health, medical history, lifestyle and goals) and comprehensive baseline evaluation consisting of: 

• Range-of-motion test using dual digital inclinometers
• Muscle strength test using computerized measurements
• Orthopedic-Neurologic assessments
• Dermatone check
• Postural analysis for any abnormal curvatures to the spine
• Mirror imaging and a bilateral weights measurements to determine balance
• Hand dominance test
• Vitals & Weight to determine BMI & blood pressure
• Xray (if required, to diagnose joint integrity & alignment)

These complex factors are then integrated into a personalized therapeutic care plan that varies in duration based on patient need. Typically, patients can expect their therapeutic  care plan to range anywhere from 6 to 36 weeks, with patients visiting their clinic between 2 and 3 times per week.

This highly targeted personalized approach allows our DCs to uncover the root cause of each dysfunction and determine how best to address it by adapting customized protocols and measuring each patient’s progress visit by visit.

Why We Like it 

This personalized approach allows DCs to uncover the root cause of each dysfunction and determine how best to address it by adopting customized protocols and measuring each patient’s progress visit by visit. This gives the doctor a better understanding of the whole patient — their overall health, lifestyle, goals and needs — to maximize the effectiveness of care.   

What’s Next ?

The UFS report estimated that as many as 60 percent of chiropractors are shifting away from the traditional chiropractic focus on back pain to promote treating pain throughout the body. For those of us who have long treated conditions from head to toe, it’s gratifying to see this approach becoming more mainstream. Could it be related to the American public’s growing embrace of chiropractic care and its holistic approach? According to the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress: 

“Chiropractors’ collaborative, whole person-centered approach reflects the changing realities of health care delivery and fits well into Accountable Care Organization (ACO) and patient-centered, medical home (PCMH) models bringing greater clinical efficiency, patient satisfaction and cost savings.” 

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.  

Active Therapy Protocols

Demand for chiropractic care has grown exponentially in the last decade. Numerous franchises have sprung up in today’s competitive marketplace, delivering on-demand, episodic adjustments for patients without promoting or requiring follow-up care. This may be desirable for busy patients seeking short-term pain relief, but decades of research have demonstrated that long-term effects of adjustments are enhanced when combined with active therapy protocols.  

Today, the rest of the industry is beginning to shift in that very direction.  

DCs across the country are advising patients that building flexibility, and improving mobility, balance and strength requires a combination of chiropractic adjustments and gentle stretches, targeted exercises or flexion activities to improve long-term outcomes.  

The European Journal of Physical Rehabilitation Medicine¹ reported that adherence to exercise therapies almost doubled the probability of a favorable outcome.  

Randomized clinical trials published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine² demonstrated that active therapy reduced functional limitations by 23%.  Another 15-year cohort study of older adults published in Science Direct³ found that active therapies can even reduce all-cause mortality. 

In order to achieve the best possible outcomes, DCs are increasingly prescribing supervised active therapies including:  

• Therapeutic Exercises: performed by the patient to increase strength, range of motion, flexibility and/or endurance
• Neuromuscular Reeducation: performed by the patient to improve movement, balance, coordination, kinesthetic sense, posture, and/or proprioception for sitting and/or standing activities
• Therapeutic Activities: performed through dynamic activities to address a specific overall functional restriction in mobility, strength, balance or coordination

Why We Like It 

Whether it’s Precor stretcher exercises, wall exercises, floor exercises, wobble chair therapy or traction therapy, we have seen the positive effects (long-term pain relief, improved mobility, flexibility, balance) when patients are prescribed active therapies as part of their personalized care.  

What’s Next?  

During National Chiropractic Health Month (NCHM) 2020, the American Chiropractic Association launched its ongoing “Active and Adaptive” campaign to encourage the public to adjust to the challenges of staying fit and pain free within a smaller lifestyle footprint by becoming more mindful of movement and posture and by highlighting tips and strategies to help them adapt in healthy ways. 

While this campaign isn’t limited to in-clinic active therapies, it’s a sure sign that the chiropractic industry is embracing every opportunity to not simply relieve pain, but to help patients live fitter, fuller, healthier lives.  

Digital Marketing Strategies

Of course, the quality of care is just one facet of running a successful practice. As chiropractic care evolves, so do the business practices that drive consumer behavior.  

A study published in Linchpin⁴ found that nearly half of all patients now learn about their local chiropractor online. While patient referral initiatives and wellness screening events continue to be important patient acquisition channels, digital marketing offers a portfolio of marketing options to boost awareness of your brand, educate prospective patients on the value of chiropractic care, and generate new patients for your practice. 

More chiropractors are expanding their marketing focus beyond traditional back pain treatment to other health conditions — from headaches to insomnia to general wellness — as more patients turn to chiropractic care every year. One study found that more than 45 percent of chiropractors change their treatment methods to suit patients’ needs. 

Here’s a look at some of the latest – and greatest – digital marketing strategies that can help clinics of all sizes target these expanding markets.  

• Paid Search 
  Platforms like Google and Bing allow you to target prospective patients looking for pain relief or wellness solutions. Successful campaigns require effective keyword bidding strategies (‘chiro near me’, ‘back pain’, ‘chiropractic adjustment’), an attractive offer, and a modern landing page where prospects can see the care benefits and book an appointment online.  
   
  Optimizing your landing page for both mobile and desktop users is key; if you’re searching for products and services with your phone, your prospective patients probably are too.  
   
• Paid Social Media Marketing 
  Everyone can benefit from chiropractic care, and social media ads provide a great platform to educate prospects on the value of chiropractic care.  
   
  Paid social ads leverage platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok to engage prospective patients. Social media enables you to spread awareness and inform prospects of the benefits of chiropractic care. Like paid search, you’ll want to have an attractive offer and an effective landing page with online appointment booking capabilities. 
   
  Video ads are particularly effective at converting prospects quickly. According to Explain Ninja, adding video to an ad campaign yields a 34% increase in conversion rate. 

• Organic Social
  Organic social media refers to the free content (posts, blogs, video, stories, etc.) that users share on their feeds. Your posts will be shown to more people as your audience shares and engages with the posts you create. According to an Animoto survey, 58% of people say they visit a brand’s social pages before visiting their website — an 81% increase from the previous year.  
   
  Once they’ve noticed your brand on their favorite social media platform, you can send prospects to your website blog post or landing page for more details, offers and calls-to-action. 

• Reputation Management  
  As an active member of your community, you may be used to patients visiting your website to find simple information like your address, phone number, testimonials, or bios and photos. Today, people can find all that data faster on your Google Business Profile — so it’s critical to optimize it with your: 
  • Business name
  • Local phone number 
  • Accurate hours of operation 
  • Compelling bio that differentiates you from competitors (but don’t stuff it with keywords) 
  • High-resolution photos — of staff, clinic exterior, interior, and any products you sell 
  • Videos (30 seconds max and smaller than 100 MB) 
  • Customer reviews from a variety of patients with a wide range of conditions (there are software platforms that specialize in generating patient reviews)  
     

Why We Like It 

Taking these simple but critical steps will help you boost your reputation and visibility, build trust, and position your practice as a leader in local chiropractic care. Digital marketing provides new avenues to educate people on the value of chiropractic care and includes a diverse portfolio of options to generate brand awareness and drive patient acquisition. 

What’s Next?

Chiropractic practices are increasingly embracing digital marketing strategies in order to stay competitive and grow. With multiple channels and approaches, you can tailor your efforts to your business, geography, and audience – and the ability to learn who your audience is, what they want, and how to reach them is continuously evolving.  
 

Our Takeaway 

Chiro One DCs employ personalized care plans, active therapy protocols, and digital marketing strategies to effectively grow patient acquisition and provide excellent patient experience.  They improve current patients’ care and inspire new patient referrals by collaborating with peers on clinical research and strategies for leveraging trends like these to grow their practices. 

Thinking about transitioning your practice? Let’s talk.