We have crunched the numbers from our 8th annual 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 see how your practice measures up.
A big THANK YOU to those who participated in this year’s survey!
Before we unpack each survey question, here are some of the most important takeaways from the 2022 survey:
The average upper cervical practice in the 2022 Upper Cervical Practice Survey…
This would give the average practice in the survey an office visit average (OVA) of $62 and a patient visit average (PVA) of 35.
Now, let’s dig into each question and see what this means for Upper Cervical Practices in 2022.
80% of participants have been in practice for 25 years or less. 30% have been in practice for 10 years or less. Only the strong survive in upper cervical practice and we see that evident in this year’s survey where only 6% of the upper cervical practices represented have been in practice for more than 40 years.
Once again the largest group to participate in this year's Upper Cervical Practice Survey were doctors who primarily practice NUCCA (35%). 67% of the practices represented in this year’s survey practice an orthogonally based upper cervical technique (33% articular based).
Digital marketing is once again the #1-way upper cervical doctors are attracting new patients into their practices from external sources. 54% of doctors indicated this was the best return on investment for external marketing in 2022. Traditional forms of marketing such as spinal screenings and community talks accounted for only 4% of the doctors indicating this was the best way they got new patients from external sources this year. 15% of the doctors in the survey indicated they did no external marketing in 2022.
Patient education was once again the #1 generator of new patients from internal sources in 2022. 55% of UC 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 UC content that helps your patients “get it” is a huge asset in attracting new patients.
Overall, the average number of new patients upper cervical practices in our survey are seeing is about 18/month. This has been roughly the case for the past few years. How does your office compare? What goals could you set for new patients in 2023? 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 2022 is 150. Where would you like to see your practice next year when it comes to patients visits/week? What’s stopping you? What should you implement to get there?
More practices in our survey this year had Associates than in any other year 34%. This is a positive indication that more doctors are developing associate programs as they grow. 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.
Just about 3 out of 4 upper cervical doctors in the survey have 1-3 team members. Interestingly, 1 out of 10 doctors (11%) has no one helping them out in the office. 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.
The number 1 answer this question was “Obtaining New Patients” (17%) followed closely by “Lack of Freedom in Practice” (14%) and “Keeping up with Growth” (13%). All 3 of these answers are very different challenges within a practice. A new patient problem can frequently be addressed by getting new patients from new sources or more sources. 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. Lack of freedom in practice could be an indication that you need an associate or you have a system problem or both. And keeping up with growth could be an issue with margin. Hiring ahead in order to continue to maintain and accelerate growth is a key part of dealing with this challenge.
62% of the practices within our survey collected more in 2022 than they did in 2021. Only 11% collected less. The majority of practices continue to grow which is a good sign for upper cervical chiropractic in general.
Less than 5% of the upper cervical practices in the survey collected more than $100,000 per month. While 10% collect less than $10,000 per month. 80% of the practices collect less than $60,000 per month.
Less than 10% of doctors have an average care plan more than $3000. 14% of doctors did not use care plans at all. 26% of the doctors in the survey have a care plan less than $1500. Do your fees match your services? Consider your market, what you can confidently stand by, and take in consideration the value of your expert service.
The bottom 10% of practices in the survey are collecting less than $50 per visit while the top 10% are collecting more than $100 per visit. The average was $75 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 good time to increase your fees.
44% of the upper cervical chiropractors in the survey have 100% cash practices. 4 out of 5 doctors reported at least 75% of their practice is cash pay. Insurance practices are rare in this upper cervical survey. Only 7% of the upper cervical practices in the survey have less than 50% of their patients paying cash for services.
