A big THANK YOU to all the upper cervical doctors who participated in our annual survey this year!
We have crunched the numbers from our 2021 Upper Cervical Practice Survey and we are excited to share the results with you! We conduct this survey every year so we can learn current trends for the upper cervical practice and give you the ability to compare your practice to others.
As always I like to look at the top-performing practices to determine success principles that will apply to your practice regardless of your current level of practice. Here are some observations from the 2021 upper cervical practice survey about the top 20% of upper cervical practices:
The average upper cervical practice in the 2021 Upper Cervical Practice Survey…
Now, let’s dig into each question and see what this means for Upper Cervical Practices in 2021.
72% of the doctors that participated in the survey this year have been in practice for 20 years or less. We had a wide range of doctors participate in the 2021 Upper Cervical Practice Survey from those who have been in practice for less than five years (19%) to those who have been in practice for over 40 years (7%).
As has consistently been the case NUCCA doctors are the majority of those that have completed the survey this year. 35% of participants of the 2021 upper cervical practice survey utilize the NUCCA technique primarily. Followed by Blair doctors (17%), Orthospinology (14%), and Knee Chest (10%).
Digital marketing is once again the #1 way upper cervical doctors are attracting new patients into their practices from external sources. This includes chiropractic ads on Facebook, online reviews, search engine optimization, funnels, and other digital marketing strategies. 58% of upper cervical doctors indicated this was the best return on investment for external marketing in 2021. We are continuing to see each year that digital marketing is a key method upper cervical practices use to consistently get new patients. Are you utilizing this strategy effectively in your practice? Want some help? We are digital marketing experts. Give us a call at 877-252-1230 to do an initial 10-minute phone call to see if we might be a good fit for you.
Patient education was once again the #1 generator of new patients from internal sources in the 2021 upper cervical practice survey. 53% of upper cervical docs reported this as providing the top results in their practices. Every year of our survey, patient education has been the most effective strategy for generating new patients internally. Making sure that you have great upper cervical content that helps your patients “get it” is a huge asset in attracting new patients. Blogs, email newsletters, email blasts, eBooks, doctor videos, pamphlets, etc. are all great tools for you to implement if you haven’t already.
Overall, the average number of new patients upper cervical practices in our 2021 Upper Cervical Practice Survey are seeing is about 20/month. This is up slightly from 2020 (18 new patients per month). How does your office compare? What goals could you set for new patients in 2022? How will you achieve your new patient goals? Want some help? We are new patient acquisition experts. Give us a call at 877-252-1230 to do an initial 10-minute phone call to see if we might be a good fit for you.
The average number of patient visits per week in the 2021 Upper Cervical Practice Survey is about 169. This is up from the previous two years (approximately 150 visits per week). Where would you like to see your practice next year when it comes to patient visits/week? What’s stopping you? What should you implement to get there? In order to increase your patient visits, you need more new patients. Want some help? We are new patient acquisition experts. Give us a call at 877-252-1230 to do an initial 10-minute phone call to see if we might be a good fit for you.
On average over the past 4 years, about 3 out of 4 upper cervical practices are solo practices (70% in 2021, 72% in 2020, 76% in 2019, and 68% in 2018). Understandably, we also see a correlation with the number of associates a practice has and the number of patient visits/week for the office. Having solid associates on your team strengthens the practice. Hiring an associate can be frustrating, click here or here to listen to two solid podcasts on this topic.
About 3 out of 4 upper cervical practices have 1-3 employees. As was the case last year, 10% of practices in the 2021 upper cervical practice survey had no employees. We also see a correlation with being a solo practitioner and limited growth. Ultimately, doctors that have a good support team also have offices that are healthier, growing, and seeing more new patients. When trying to keep overhead low, it can be scary to build a team. Here is a great podcast to help you build a team to grow your practice.
Obtaining new patients was the greatest practice challenge of 2021 (20%). But on the encouraging side, the second most common answer to this question was “keeping up with growth” (19%). Retaining patients (13%) was also a common challenge reported in the 2021 Upper Cervical Practice Survey.
Last year was the first time in the 7 years that we’ve been doing this survey, that the majority of upper cervical practices did not grow. However, according to our 2021 Upper Cervical Practice Survey this has been a great bounce-back year for upper cervical practices! More than 79% reported that their collections were more than 2020. This is a nearly a 100% increase from the previous year. Only 5% of doctors in the survey reported having less collections this year than last.
What are you going to do in 2022 to make sure that you grow? Want some help? We are new patient acquisition experts. Give us a call at 877-252-1230 to do an initial 10 minute phone call to see if we might be a good fit for your practice situation.
The average collections of the participants in the 2021 upper cervical practice survey was $44,000 per month. This is by far the highest average we have seen in the seven years we have been doing these surveys. That either means that upper cervical practices in general are making more revenue or the participants in this year's survey happened to be higher producing practices.
93% of the doctors that participated in this year's survey use care plans. The average care plan was up from last year to $1918. But 13% of doctors in the 2021 upper cervical practice survey have a care plan of less than $1000. Do your fees match your services? Consider your market, what can you confidently stand by, and take into consideration the value of your expert service.
Average cost of an individual visit for upper cervical offices in 2021 was $70. 52% of doctors in the survey charge between $55-$85 per visit. Where do your fees fall? Have you found a rate that works for you to best reach the right people? The New Year might just be a great time to increase your fees consistent with the level of service that you are offering.
41% of the upper cervical chiropractors in the 2021 upper cervical practice survey had 100% cash practices. And 84% had at least 75% of their practice they described as cash pay. Insurance practices are once again rare in the upper cervical world from our experience. In this survey, a majority insurance practice represented only 7% of practices.
Look for our 8th annual survey to start in October 2022!
