Below is your assignment for the first week of class.
Discuss and agree on an answer to this question: What is the biggest challenge for new chiropractors starting their own practice? The 1st person in each group will post the answer on the blog. This assignment is worth 2 points. Each blog assignment is due the Monday after it is assigned. This week you should have the blog posted by Monday, March 12 at 5 pm.
Group #22 We feel that one of the most difficult things for new chiropractors starting their own practice is to establish and maintain a solid client base.
ReplyDeleteGroup 19: One of the first challenges new chiropractors face when starting a new practice is obtaining a loan, but perhaps the biggest challenge is getting patients to walk in the door. New chiropractors have to be able to differentiate themselves from established chiropractors in the area, and convince patients that they have the knowledge and experience to make good clinical decisions. If they are in an area that’s not familiar with chiropractic, they might have to educate potential patients before those people are willing to make an appointment. In addition, it can take time to develop a reputation of helping people get better and build relationships with other health professionals in order to obtain referrals.
ReplyDeleteGroup 16: We believe that the biggest challenge facing a recent chiropractic graduate opening a new practice is establishing a patient base. Many factors are tied together that affect building a patient base such as treatment options/techniques, reputation, location, billing/documentation, and marketing. These factors are some that could attract patients or turn them away. Using our chiropractic education, clinical experience, common sense, and creativity we feel that this challenge is not extraordinary but will take time, dedication, and an open mind in order to succeed.
ReplyDeleteGroup 13: One of the biggest challenge for new chiropractors starting their own practice is bring patients in the clinic which can be affected by the location of the office and marketing.
ReplyDeleteGroup 3 aka "sweetest group ever": As a group we feel that affording overhead, office rent, supplies, equipment, staff etc. and establishing a large enough patient base to support a new practice are the hardest things to overcome/manage when starting a new practice.
ReplyDeleteGroup 15: A newly graduated chiropractor faces the challenge of where to open their new chiropractic office and how to establish a returning patient base with referrals. The location will have to allow them to stand out among the other offices and be able to market to the patient base that their care gears toward.
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ReplyDeleteGroup 17: We decided that the biggest challenges that new chiropractors would go against would have to be dealing with the overhead of the practice and establishing a knowledgeable reputation in the community. In school patients are just there for us to take care of and if you do not have to go out into the community promoting yourself if you don't want to. We thought that these things are probably going to be the some of the harder things we have to deal with and that it will just take time and patience in order to succeed.
ReplyDeleteGroup 6: We agree the biggest challenge for a chiropractor starting a new practice will be to get his or her name out to the public and market the practice appropriately. As all our group members will be graduating from Palmer (the greatest school known to mankind), we feel our clinical knowledge base and adjusting skills will enable us to competently take care of patients. So most of the initial efforts will be made letting the community know we exist and letting them know what type of patients we will be able to take care of. And Kellen, we don't mean to rain on your group's parade but we think you might want to reconsider your "aka" for now. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteGroup #5:
ReplyDeleteA newly graduated chiropractor faces many challenges and trepidations. Some of these include the financial burden accrued while being a student as well as the debt piling up opening the practice with no initial income.The new doctor has the burden of hoping the right decision on the location of the clinic was made to avoid costly contract changes and delays in serving the community. The new graduate also has the realisation that all the responsibility and management of his/her patient is on their shoulders and there is not a staff doctor to consult in most cases.The doctor has to trust the educators and actively listen to the patients. The switch from student intern to portal of entry doctor and chiropractor has to manifest itself.
Group 18:
ReplyDeleteWe feel that the biggest challenge facing new chiropractors is acquiring the financial support necessary to start their own practice. In the current economic environment, banks are not lending as readily as they were in the past. Additional challenges facing new graduates are that many of them have little to no business experience and most have accrued a large amount of debt from school loans. Without adequate financials, we believe it would be difficult to establish a marketing plan that would enable new chiropractors to acquire a patient base large enough to begin seeing a profit.
Group #9:
ReplyDeleteWe find that our greatest challenge which faces us as graduates and beginning our own practice is finding a way to get in the black. To financially support ourselves enough through the first months or years in which our client base is not fully established. Keeping our head above the water while we do everything possible to get bodies through the door to pay our bills will be our greatest challenge.
Group 12: We believe the biggest challenge for new chiropractors starting a practice is establishing a good reputation for yourself within your community. It is also important for us to achieve a greater understanding of the business aspects of running a successful practice.
ReplyDeleteGroup 7: We discussed that the biggest challenge for chiropractors opening their own practices in these times is controlling their finances to be able establish a viable practice. Too many chiropractors will want their new office to be the biggest and best because that is what they see their future practice to be. They need to understand that it is necessary to keep overhead low because there is a good chance that the number of patients coming into the office will be dramatically less than what the doctor invisions. When all the money is spent at the beginning, there may not be enough left for the tough times when income is not enough to keep the office afloat in additon to paying off previous debt from student loans and bank loans.
ReplyDeleteGroup 4: We decided that the biggest challenge for new chiropractors is how to handle the financial burden of opening up a new practice. Not only will most graduates have school loans to pay off already, but many will have to take out additional loans to open up shop and cover overhead. Additionally, since one can't practice off of loans forever, you need to build a reliable patient base so you can start making money instead of hemorrhaging it. There are many factors that work against new docs getting patients into the office such as: having an unestablished reputation because you're the new guy in town, not having the clinical knowledge/skills of a seasoned doc, distinguishing yourself from other docs, etc. Having a well-thought-out financial plan and strategy can go a long way.
ReplyDeleteGroup 10: As a group we decided that having the finances to start a practice directly out of school is going to be one of the most challenging obstacles new chiropractors face. In today's economy banks and loan officers have more rules and regulations to getting approved for a loan. If we don't have the proper financial backing (which will stem from a well written business plan to present to the loan officer, unless the funds are readily available to you) we might as well forget about establishing a patient base, office layout, overhead, and running a day to day practice. Along those lines, after having the finances to start up a practice knowing how much office space and overhead one will need, how to start a patient base and run a practice will all be essential in keeping the practice from failing. The first three to six months will be a challenge to the beginning business owner to keep the bills, employees, and loans paid while trying to maintain a living for her/himself.
ReplyDeleteGroup #2: The biggest Challenge a new Chiropractor faces is LOCATION. Buying a practice or establishing one from the ground up requires extensive knowledge of the demographics of the local population and the number of health care providers (fellow chiropractors) in the area of interest.
ReplyDeleteGroup #1- We believe that the biggest challenge in which a new chiropractor faces upon graduation is starting a new patient basis and establishing a good Dr/patient relationship with those patients. Many people, especially in the older age range, have some reservations about seeing a young new doctor who is right out of college. Our challenge will be to prove ourselves knowledgeable and confident in our abilities and make them realize that we have their best interests in mind.
ReplyDeleteGroup #20 The biggest problem facing chiropractors starting into practice is obtaining a business loan. The sheer volume of student loan and other debt we accquire during undergrad and chiropractic school is both overwhelming and unnatractive to lenders. The economic recession is also affecting how many people get small buisness loans.
ReplyDeleteGroup #8: One of the biggest challenges facing a chiropractor first starting into practice is building a patient base to actually get up and running. Things to consider include the location of the office, marketing strategies, socioeconomic background of the surrounding area, the main insurance companies covering an area, target patient demographics, and so much more. It's simply not enough to rely on word of mouth to build a practice right out of the shoot. That comes later once an office is already established and you already HAVE patients who are spreading the word.
ReplyDeleteGroup 14
ReplyDeleteWe believe that some of the hardest challenges facing us as young new chiropractors opening up businesses are location and financial support. As for many of us we do not have business backgrounds and not possessing the adequate knowledge to confidently make these decision and to go with them is a scary thought. eg knowing the amount of money to borrow, and where exactly to put the money. Examples like that we believe will make it harder for us to succeed, and if overlooked will delay our chances for success.
We feel the biggest challenge for a new chiropractor starting their own business is getting their name out to the public and establishing a consistent patient base.
ReplyDelete