5 Ways To Reduce Risk When Starting a Chiropractic Practice

Are you about to start a chiropractic practice? Before you open your doors, reduce the risk of litigation and malpractice claims when starting your chiropractic practice with these simple but effective tips.

Start Small

Whether starting a chiropractic practice or any new business, it’s best to begin lean and small. As you acquire more patients and your practice expands, you can increase the staff, if necessary, but most practices only have a handful of employees anyway.

One of the most common mistakes for new practices and businesses is overreaching too early and extending resources and money too thin at the beginning. Start with the basics and expand from there if needed.

Keep Accurate Records

Thorough documentation is crucial to any medical practice. Chiropractic practices must maintain accurate and secure medical records to help reduce malpractice risk and better treat patients.

For medical practices, there are three options for documentation—old-fashioned paper records, electronic medical records, and more comprehensive electronic health records. Consider your staff and documentation capability before choosing one system for your practice.

Create a Positive Office Experience

Another way to ensure that your patients are happy is to create a positive office experience in your practice. Whether they interact with only you or multiple employees, patient personal interactions can significantly influence whether they seek a malpractice claim.

Pro Tip: Consider an automatic call distribution or voice mail system to provide immediate assistance or help to patients in an emergency.

Patients who feel mistreated or disrespected are much more likely to file a malpractice claim than those who had a positive experience with the staff. Simple things like courtesy and maintaining appointments can go a long way in reducing risk for practices.

Get Insurance

Perhaps the most effective way to reduce risk when starting a chiropractic practice is to ensure you and your employees are covered by insurance. Chiropractic malpractice insurance is essential for any medical practice in case of errors or misunderstandings during treatment.

Without adequate professional liability insurance, you may be financially responsible for paying out a malpractice claim against an employee or for a mistake you had nothing to do with.

Emphasize Communication

Communication is at the heart of many malpractice claims. Emphasize it for yourself, and the rest of your team is crucial to reducing risk. Clear communication between you and the patient, the patient to you, and the patient to staff are essential for a well-functioning practice.

Make sure the patient is clear on the treatment, its effects, and the goals of the treatment before proceeding. And make sure there are clear procedures and rules with staff about communicating clearly and effectively.