212 The Sky is Not Falling on Chiropractic Practices
May 04, 2025Welcome to the KC CHIROpulse Podcast.
This week’s topic: The Sky is Not Falling on Chiropractic Practices
The KC CHIROpulse Podcast is designed for Chiropractic professionals ready to elevate their practice to new heights, and is hosted by Kats Consultants coaches Dr Michael Perusich and Dr Troy Fox. Michael and Troy are both seasoned experts in Chiropractic business development. This podcast provides invaluable insights and actionable strategies to help you create a flourishing and sustainable Chiropractic business.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Why so many doctors feel like the sky is falling on their practices
- The reality of why the sky is not falling on you
- How to generate profits in a crazy economy
- …and so much more…
In each episode of KC CHIROpulse, we delve into crucial aspects of building a successful Chiropractic practice, covering topics such as establishing a strong foundation, adopting a patient-centric approach, mastering marketing techniques, achieving financial fitness, fostering effective team building and leadership, integrating technology and innovation, and navigating common challenges in the field.
Whether you're a seasoned chiropractor or just starting your practice, the KC CHIROpulse Podcast offers a wealth of knowledge and personalized practical advice to help you navigate the intricate world of Chiropractic business. Join us on this journey as we explore proven strategies, share success stories, and connect with industry experts to empower you in your pursuit of building a thriving Chiropractic practice.
Don't miss out on the latest insights and expert guidance. Subscribe now and unlock the secrets to taking your Chiropractic practice to the next level. Your success is our priority at Kats Chiropractic Business Advisors.
DISCLAIMER: The information presented in this broadcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended to offer legal, investment, accounting, or medical advice, and represents the opinions of the speakers. Seek the consultation of a professional for advice in those areas. And remember…your results using this information may be different than described.
Dr. Michael Perusich:
Doctors, are you playing Chicken Little in your practice right now? Do you feel like the sky is just falling all around you? Today we're gonna talk about finances and the markets. Hi everybody. Welcome to the KC Chiro Pulse Podcast, brought to you by Kats Consultants and Chiro Health USA. I'm Dr. Michael Perusich. Joined by my co-host, Dr. Troy Fox. Troy, you're the one that coined Chicken Little, which. E everybody. Where do you see the blooper reel on this one?
Dr. Troy Fox:
Oh my gosh. Yeah, the blooper reel. We laughed hard. We could really get started when you're laughing so hard. Yeah, the first couple of three minutes of this. Yeah, definitely. So chicken little is all over the place and we're already hearing it and seeing it. Unfortunately, I. And I'll throw in my 2 cents worth. And then you are really more the financial guy. This is your wheelhouse. So you're gonna, you're gonna be in total control of this today, but stand a little time around from standpoint of Yeah, for sure. From a standpoint of chicken little, what I see is people get caught straight in the crosshairs of anything that's happening financially. And if their practice dips even a little bit, oh my God, the sky's falling. We've got tariffs. The stock market fell, and as of today when we're recording this, the stock market was not doing as hot today. So people get caught in the cross there so that all of a sudden think, oh my gosh, sure, I'm done. I'm toast. Here's where I think you need to be, and then we're gonna talk about the reality of it. Where you need to be is you need to have this off in the periphery. In other words, be aware that you're gonna have patients come in that are a little more sensitive about finances. Be aware that you're gonna have patients that are a little bit more emotionally attached to what's going on around them with finances in the market, right? Yep. It doesn't need to be in the middle of the cross here. It's not the first thing you talk about with every patient that comes through the door. You still have a focus to take care of that patient, because guess what? If I'm emotionally needy. Because I feel like maybe the market's not doing as well, or my finances aren't doing as well, or my dollar isn't, is having to be stretched a little bit more. Yep. Guess what I need? I need an emotional support. Yep. And a lot of times that comes from the spinal adjustment. The normalization of my emotions as a result of that spinal adjustment. Yep. Not to get too deep into the weeds, but we as chiropractors understand that works. So that's where I am at with this whole situation. But Dr. Perusich, you're gonna get way deeper into the financial weeds.
Dr. Michael Perusich:
Yeah. Number one, we're at a crazy time where the economy's got a little bit of a ripple to it, meaning it's up and down. And of course, I'll go back to my investment banking days. The old adage was, when the ripples are high, you sell. When the dips are low, you buy. And so that's what we're seeing is we're really seeing a market that has some tremendous opportunity to it because it's got some volatility. Okay? So number one, if you're looking at the market and you're panicking yourself'cause you're watching your 401k or your IRA, whatever, go up and down a little bit. Don't panic. Don't panic. Even if you're getting ready to retire, don't panic because what goes down always comes back up. And there's a lot of misunderstanding in the marketplace right now about the tariffs. Honestly, the tariffs really aren't that bad of a thing, and we've had tariffs around forever, and you just don't even realize it. So it, it's just because everybody's talking about it, and it's a confusing topic that people get it mixed up and think, oh my gosh, all of a sudden everything's gonna be more expensive. You're not really gonna see a whole lot of that, but your patients are gonna walk in the door and they're gonna be feeling this. And Troy, you talked about stress. And this is starting to remind me a little bit of when the pandemic hit. Now here's the cool thing about the pandemic. All of our clients saw their practices grow during the pandemic. And here's why. Because and Troy, you just almost hit the nail on the head a second ago. Our patients are stressed. We are great stress relievers because what happens with the adjustment, we put the body back into balance. We put the nervous system back into balance. We put our physiology back into balance. We have dopamine release with the adjustment, and boom, we feel better. Plus, for the most part, I think chiropractors are pretty darn good at building great relationships with patients. And so that makes people feel better. A hundred percent. And so I wanna dig into this idea of, okay, if the sky looks like it's falling outside, what do we do inside of our practice to protect it? From that Skyfall attitude coming in and affecting the practice in a negative way. So we needed a quick, I cannot talk today. We need to take a quick break and hear a word from our sponsors, so we'll be right back. We're talking about Chicken little and Skyes balling.
ChiroHealth USA:
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Dr. Michael Perusich:
All right, all you chicken littles, welcome back. This is the KC Chiro Pulse podcast. We're talking about how crazy economic times sometimes can negatively impact the practice, but there are some things that we can do to protect it. And I mentioned before the break that this kind of feels like the pandemic. So the reason why so many practices did well during the pandemic is number one, they planned for what to do. What are the steps that we need to take now? We don't need to go back to six feet apart and social distancing and all that during crazy economic times. But we are gonna hear patients walking in saying, Hey Doc, I think coming in every three weeks, I think I might need to stretch that out to every six weeks. And we need to be prepared for that. And we get prepared for that by preempting that conversation. So doctors, I'm gonna ask you a question and you're probably gonna look at me with that. Questionable look on your face because you're not gonna understand what I mean. What are your value propositions? What are you telling patients? How are you talking to patients in a way that shows the value of chiropractic? And I think everybody out there would agree that the service that we provide, while incredibly invaluable, it also has a low price tag to it relative to. The rest of the healthcare world. So when it comes to good value, I think chiropractic is at the top of the totem pole, but do your patients understand that? So patient mentality, consumer mentality is funny. I. People don't know how to do math. And so when you tell a patient, I wanna see you 18 times, and then the front desk tells'em you're gonna pay 50 every visit to the patient, the calculation comes out to be about$1.2 million. I. I, I'm being a little facetious but they automatically think, oh my gosh, that's a huge number. How am I ever gonna afford that when the reality is it's already incredibly affordable. So we have to make sure that we're presenting finances in a way that they understand the value that they're getting. So making comparisons to other things in the healthcare world, like a good comparison might be, chiropractic care compared to surgery. Huge difference. Chiropractic care compared to physical therapy, pretty good difference. Chiropractic compared to orthodontics, big difference for the most part. Be ready and docs, you need to teach your team to do these things too, because they're probably having the financial conversations with patients more than you are. And so you, you need to prep them to be prepared for that conversation. So talk to them about that. But that's gonna affect more of your new patients. What about your existing patients that are coming in? Those patients need a different conversation. They already understand that chiropractic care is important because they're coming in. Maybe it's Bill Smith. We'll just make up a patient. Bill Smith's been coming to you for five years. He comes every three weeks and he has for the last five years, ever since he went through his acute care plan in the beginning. Now Bill comes in and he's that guy that says, Hey Doc, I think I need to stretch this out a little bit. Let's go to six weeks instead of three. And you're faced with having to answer him. And the kneejerk reaction if you're not prepared, is going to be okay, bill. That sounds fine. I understand. I. We'll just cave in and agree, but what if we start telling Bill ahead of time? Hey Bill, I don't know if you realize this, but the value of chiropractic care that you've been receiving all this time is huge. You probably don't realize that chiropractors actually help you not have to go see other doctors with more expensive care. In a lot of situations and it's saving you money that you're not even realizing. That's a value proposition. That's putting chiropractic in a light that shows its value. So what are you doing about that? If you have a cash program, I'm gonna call it a qualified cash program like a Chiroo Health USA plan in your practice, make sure your patients understand that you offer that and that it's at a lower fee than what your insurance-based fees are. So they see and feel that difference. It's the whole idea of going to Costco. What do people do when they go to Costco? They pay an annual membership that unlocks discounted pricing. Or bulk pricing is Costco's way measure. So you can do the same thing in your practice to again, show the value of care by offering packages good well thought out cash plans so that your fee strategies are set correctly. And there's a whole podcast right there, Troy talking about fee. Oh yeah. Because we're so random sometimes with how we set our fees. Or we're chasing the guy down the street to the bottom. Yeah. That's my favorite one. I like that one the best. It's a race to the bottom. It's a race to the bottom, so you don't have to get cheap during this time. You just have to show value. So we need to take another quick break, but I wanna come back and I wanna talk about that a little bit more. And I know you do some things in your practice. Did you wanna say something?
Dr. Troy Fox:
Yeah, I was gonna say, I've got another preemptive conversation that we're using right now and it works really well.
Dr. Michael Perusich:
Beautiful. We're gonna hear the chicken little version of, no, I'm just kidding. So when we come back, we're gonna talk about some other preemptive ways to talk to your patients about the value of chiropractic. We'll be right back.
Kats Consultants:
Kats Chiropractic consultants, your partner in chiropractic success. We are dedicated with one-on-one guidance to bring you all your practice management needs. Let's supercharge your practice. Give us a call today.
You can say it now. Alright. Chicken little. All right. All right. Doctors, are you playing chicken little or are you Foxing the hen house. That's right. All right. Let's see. How do we bring this in? Okay. I. Is your practice financially? Nope. That wasn't, it sounded way better in my head. Way better. Oh gosh. Way better. Way better. Here, I gotta, I gotta turn the market off. It's distracting me. All right. Okay. Doctors is your practice? Yep. It's the chicken little comment that threw me off. All right, here we go. Oh my gosh. This is the best blooper reel ever. Hey, doctors. Yep. Yep. Nope, Nope. All right. This is why we're always so happy during the podcast because we just got done with, we laugh. Yeah. At ourselves. All right. That's right. Maybe I need to think of a different way to bring this in. Yeah. Okay. Doctors is your practice? Nope. Okay. That's just not gonna work. Okay. Do you feel like, do you feel like Chicken Little in your practice right now? Okay. I'm gonna do that. Do that. I think it's a catchy little one and then we can talk about it. Yeah. It's the sky falling. Do you feel like chicken little is the sky falling? We're gonna discuss economics in the market today and how it affects your practice. There you go. Boom. Yeah. Boom. Doctors, are you playing Chicken Little in your practice right now? Do you feel like the sky is just falling all around you? Today we're gonna talk about finances and the markets. Hi everybody. Welcome to the KC Chiro Puls Podcast, brought to you by Cats Consultants and CAIR Health USA. I'm Dr. Michael Perus. Joined by my co-host, Dr. Troy Fox. Troy, you're the one that coined Chicken Little, which. E everybody. Where do you see the blooper reel on this one? Oh my gosh. Yeah, the blooper reel. We laughed hard. We could really get started when you're laughing so hard. Yeah, the first couple of three minutes of this. Yeah, definitely. So chicken little is all over the place and we're already hearing it and seeing it. Unfortunately, I. And, and I'll throw in my 2 cents worth. And then you are really more the financial guy. This is, this is your wheelhouse. So you're gonna, you're gonna be in total control of this today, but stand a little time around from standpoint of Yeah, for sure. From a standpoint of chicken little, what I see is people get caught straight in the crosshairs of anything that's happening financially. And if their practice dips even a little bit, oh my God, the sky's falling. We've got tariffs. Uh, the stock market fell, and as of today when we're recording this, the stock market was not doing as hot today. So people get caught in the cross there so that all of a sudden think, oh my gosh, sure, I'm done. I'm toast. Here's where I think you need to be, and then we're gonna talk about the reality of it. Where you need to be is you need to have this off in the periphery. In other words, be aware that you're gonna have patients come in that are a little more sensitive about finances. Be aware that you're gonna have patients that are a little bit more emotionally attached to what's going on around them with finances in the market, right? Yep. It doesn't need to be in the middle of the cross here. It's not the first thing you talk about with every patient that comes through the door. You still have a focus to take care of that patient, because guess what? If I'm emotionally needy. Because I feel like maybe the market's not doing as well, or my finances aren't doing as well, or my dollar isn't, is is having to be stretched a little bit more. Yep. Guess what I need? I need an emotional support. Yep. And a lot of times that comes from the spinal adjustment. The normalization of my emotions as a result of that spinal adjustment. Yep. Not to get too deep into the weeds, but we as chiropractors understand that that works. So that's where I am at with this whole situation. But Dr. Perus, you're gonna get way deeper into the financial weeds. Well, yeah. I mean, number one, you know, we're, we're at a crazy time where the economy's got a little bit of a ripple to it, meaning it's up and down. Um. And of course, I'll go back to my investment banking days. The old adage was, when the ripples are high, you sell. When the dips are low, you buy. And so that's what we're seeing is we're, we're really seeing a market that has some tremendous opportunity to it because it's got some volatility. Okay? So number one, if you're, if you're looking at the market and you're panicking yourself'cause you're watching your 401k or your IRA, whatever, kind of go up and down a little bit. Don't, don't panic. Don't panic. Even if you're getting ready to retire, don't panic because what goes down always comes back up. Um. And there's, there's a lot of misunderstanding in the marketplace right now about the tariffs. Um, honestly, the tariffs really aren't that bad of a thing, and we've had tariffs around forever, and you just don't even realize it. So it, it's just because everybody's talking about it, and it's kind of a confusing topic that people kind of get it mixed up and think, oh my gosh, all of a sudden everything's gonna be more expensive. You're not really gonna see a whole lot of that, but your patients are gonna walk in the door and they're gonna be feeling this. And, and Troy, you talked about stress. And you know, this is starting to remind me a little bit of when the pandemic hit. Now here's the cool thing about the pandemic. All of our clients saw their practices grow during the pandemic. And here's why. Because, and, and Troy, you just kind of almost hit the nail on the head a second ago. Our patients are stressed. We are great stress relievers because what happens with the adjustment, we put the body back into balance. We put the nervous system back into balance. We put our physiology back into balance. We have dopamine release with the adjustment, and boom, we feel better. Plus, for the most part, I think chiropractors are pretty darn good at, uh, building great relationships with patients. And so that makes people feel better. A hundred percent. And so I wanna, I wanna kind of dig into this idea of, okay, if the sky looks like it's falling outside, what do we do inside of our practice to protect it? From that Skyfall attitude coming in and affecting the practice in a negative way. So we needed a quick, I cannot talk today. We need to take a quick break and hear a word from our sponsors, so we'll be right back. We're talking about Chicken little and Skyes balling. All right, all you chicken littles, welcome back. This is the Casey Puls podcast. We're talking about how crazy economic times sometimes can negatively impact the practice, but there are some things that we can do to protect it. And I mentioned before the break that this kind of feels like the pandemic. So the reason why so many practices did well during the pandemic is number one, they planned for what to do. What are the steps that we need to take now? We don't need to go back to six feet apart and social distancing and all that during crazy economic times. But we are gonna hear patients walking in saying, Hey Doc, I think coming in every three weeks, I think I might need to stretch that out to every six weeks. And we need to be prepared for that. And we get prepared for that by preempting that conversation. So doctors, I'm gonna ask you a question and you're probably gonna look at me with that. Questionable look on your face because you're not gonna understand what I mean. What are your value propositions? What are you telling patients? How are you talking to patients in a way that shows the value of chiropractic? And I think everybody out there would agree that the service that we provide, while incredibly invaluable, it also has a low price tag to it relative to. The rest of the healthcare world. So when it comes to good value, I think chiropractic is at the top of the totem pole, but do your patients understand that? So patient mentality, consumer mentality is kind of funny. I. People don't know how to do math. And so when you tell a patient, I wanna see you 18 times, and then the front desk tells'em you're gonna pay 50 every visit to the patient, the calculation comes out to be about$1.2 million. I. I, I'm being a little facetious, but, but they automatically think, oh my gosh, that's a huge number. How am I ever gonna afford that when the reality is it's already incredibly affordable. So we have to make sure that we're presenting finances in a way that they understand the value that they're getting. So making comparisons to other things in the healthcare world, like a good comparison might be, um. Chiropractic care compared to surgery. Huge difference. Chiropractic care compared to physical therapy, pretty good difference. Chiropractic compared to orthodontics, big difference for the most part. So, you know, be ready and, and docs, you need to teach your team to do these things too, because they're probably having the financial conversations with patients more than you are. And so you, you need to prep them to be prepared for that conversation. So talk to them about, about that. But that's gonna affect more of your new patients. What about your existing patients that are coming in? Those patients need a different conversation. They already understand that chiropractic care is important because they're coming in. Maybe it's Bill Smith. We'll just make up a patient. Bill Smith's been coming to you for five years. He comes every three weeks and he has for the last five years, ever since he went through his acute care plan in the beginning. Now Bill comes in and he's that guy that says, Hey Doc, I think I need to stretch this out a little bit. Let's go to six weeks instead of three. And you're faced with having to answer him. And the kneejerk reaction if you're not prepared, is going to be okay, bill. That sounds fine. I understand. I. We'll just cave in and agree, but what if we start telling Bill ahead of time? Hey Bill, I don't know if you realize this, but the value of chiropractic care that you've been receiving all this time is huge. You probably don't realize that chiropractors actually help you not have to go see other doctors with more expensive care. In a lot of situations and it's saving you money that you're not even realizing. That's a value proposition. That's putting chiropractic in a light that shows its value. So what are you doing about that? If you have a cash program, I'm gonna call it a qualified cash program, like, uh, like a Cairo Health USA plan in your practice, make sure your patients understand that you offer that and that it's at a lower fee than what your insurance-based fees are. So they see and feel that difference. It's the whole idea of going to Costco. What do people do when they go to Costco? They pay an annual membership that unlocks discounted pricing. Or bulk pricing is Costco's way, uh, measure. So you can do the same thing in your practice to again, show the value of care by offering packages good well thought out, uh, cash plans so that your fee strategies are set correctly. And there's a whole podcast right there, Troy talking about fee. Oh yeah. Because we're so random sometimes with how we set our fees. Uh, or, or we're chasing the guy down the street to the bottom. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's my favorite one. Right. I like that one the best. It's a race to the bottom. It's a race to the bottom, so. So you don't have to get cheap during this time. Right. You just have to show value. So we need to take another quick break, but I wanna come back and I wanna talk about that a little bit more. And I know you do some things in your practice. Did you wanna say something? Yeah, I was gonna say, I've got another preemptive conversation that we're using right now and it works really well. Beautiful. So. We're gonna hear the, uh, chicken little version of, no, I'm just kidding. So when we come back, we're gonna talk about some other preemptive ways to talk to your patients about the value of chiropractic. We'll be right back. Alright, everybody. Welcome back to the KC Carpule podcast. We are talking about the value proposition that chiropractic brings to patients, but we have to make sure that patients understand it. Otherwise, during tough economic times, they will have a tendency to wanna slow down on care or drop out of care altogether thinking that they're saving money. Terry, right before the break, you mentioned a, a strategy that you guys use in your office. Yeah. So here's how we do it. And, and the goal is not to shorten up treatment schedules. Let's say we've got Bill Smith that's coming every three weeks. The conversation I'm having while I'm adjusting Bill, I got him down on the table and I'm doing the, uh, Uhuh, uh, uh, uh, you know, my thing. Right. So I'm doing my thing on him, and while I'm working with him, I basically say, Hey, you know what, bill, this is, you know, the, the economy's been a little tougher lately and I know you guys are, you guys are hoping we're, we're in a small farming town or a, a small, you know, smaller farming area. I know you guys have been wishing for rain.'cause otherwise it's gonna be a tough year with crops and all that too. I've noticed with the increased stress. We're seeing patients that are needing more chiropractic care right now than they ever have because of the amount of emotional stress. And I just feed that little seed into the head. Yeah. And then that's great. And then basically what I say is, I think you're right on track with where we're at with you right now, and I leave it now. He may say that's on. Yeah, he may say, you know what, you're right. I think I, you know, I think I need to go down to every two weeks instead of three. That has happened. Mm-hmm. Others go, oh,'cause I was thinking about spreading my care out a little bit. But you're right, it's literally preemptive to the point of where you start a conversation. Mm-hmm. And they will respond almost immediately. Or you can see the wheels turning and then I go, Hey, I'll see you in three weeks. And they go, okay. There is, there is no spreading it out at that point because I've already taken the legs out from underneath their argument that they need to spread it out. They just realize that care's really important. So that's the other preemptive conversation. It's a really easy one that we, you just kind of interjected into your conversation while you're adjusting. Wow. You know, you're a little tight today. I've noticed a lot of our patients right now are a little more stressed than usual because the economy and maybe the. Farming environment right now, and we're noticing people need a little more care than a little bit less. I think you're right on track with that three week number, so know what your interval is with that patient before you adjust'em. Don't, don't get in the middle of the sentence and have to lean over and look at your computer. Right, right. No, you a great, it kills, it kills the mood. It, it does. You bring up a great point. You know, I think a lot of times as doctors we're afraid to get into those conversations, but, but you want that conversation to happen. You wanna, you wanna bring it up before the patient. That's the whole point. And And you want the patient to have a response. Yeah. And you're spot on because the response is either gonna be, you know what, doc, you're right. Let's move things in a little tighter. I'll see you more often. Or it's gonna be the other side that you said, Hey, I was thinking about. Kind of spreading things out just a little bit more. So I'm glad you brought this up, so you wanna open up that conversation. Otherwise, when the patient gets to the front desk, they're gonna say, you know what? I'll call you when I feel like I need you. Yeah. They also at that point felt like that you cared enough to actually dive into that conversation, which meant you took extra time with them, even though you didn't,'cause you were just adjusting'em like normal. Right. But you, you approached the topic with them, which makes them think, Hey, he thought about my case before I walked in the door today. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. So doctors, the whole point is preemptive communication. Bringing the value proposition of chiropractic into the conversation ahead of the patient, thinking about quitting care, cutting back on care, whatever it might be, will help insulate your practice from up and down economic times. And, you know, we're in one right now. How long is it gonna last? Who knows? Um, it doesn't matter. Look at it as a huge opportunity to kind of reconnect with some of your patients, to talk to them about the value of chiropractic care. Help them understand that it's not an expense, it's an investment in their future health. I. Yeah. Turn chicken little upside down on his head and drop him on his head. Exactly. You don't need that. You don't need that in the middle of your practice. Put it in the periphery. Have that little conversation. You already know that. Guess what? As a chiropractor, you know that when you get stressed, you're gonna get adjusted more often. Right. When I'm in, when I'm in a stressful situation, what am I dying for? An adjustment. Right. Your patients are the same way. Mm-hmm. So all you have to do is broach that conversation preemptively. You take chicken little and drop him on his fat little head. Yep. And real quick docs, here's a couple of little things too. If your practice is feeling a little down or feeling a little financially stressed during these times, number one, don't sit and watch the markets all day. Markets go up and down. It's not meant to be something you look at on a daily basis unless you're a day trader and you're probably not'cause you're a chiropractor. You're too busy to be a day trader. The guy, the guy that doesn't know much other than I just like to make money in the market, went and looked at the Nasdaq five year. Yeah, that's all I did. The Nasdaq five year is like, if you're looking at my screen, lemme see if I can get my hand in the right spot. Bam. It's like that, but it's got ripples in it all the way up. Sure. Where it's at with a couple dips and climbs, but the whole thing is vertical at a 45 degree angle. Yep. Mean, my gosh, you cannot lose with that deal. It just keeps going up. As long as it, as long as it outpaces inflation, you're actually making money with that thing going up. And that's the only, that's actually something you gotta think about. But that standpoint, when you look at it, this little dip we got going on right now is a blip on the radar screen. That's why. When you go to any financial advisor, they tell you just wait. The market's gonna go back up. It historically, always does. Always does. My financial advisor has that. I mean, he could. He says that in his sleep, I think because it's so true, but it's a true statement. He's not telling me a story. Yeah. So quit worrying about it. Quit worrying about it. Buy, uh, yeah, buy the dip. Sell the rips, as we always said. Yeah. In in the investment banking world, and you know, this is a good time to go through your p and l. What can you cut out expense wise? You know, maybe it's time to sit down and look at that side of the practice and clean it up a little bit. Don't, don't make it present unconsciousness, but go through it and where can I save? You know, if you can consolidate right now, that's also, and when I mean consolidate, here's what I'm doing. What I'm doing is I'm paying off high interest rate loans quickly. Yep. Taking the extra money and applying those now to the lower and now. So I've paid off my high interest rate. Now I'm on that mid interest rate loan tier right now, and I'm paying those off by bumping all those at this point, and so I'm accelerating my payoff process. Now, what would stop that if this market keeps dropping? I'm gonna have a panic attack. No, that's not what's gonna happen. If this market keeps dropping, I'm gonna quit making extra payments and I'm gonna pull all that money and I'm gonna dump it right in the market. Yep. That way I can catch the climb. Yep. So when you're on a dip, you can always go, you know what? I'm not gonna pay that this month and next month I'm gonna throw$5,000 at the market right now. Yep. You know? I think historically you're gonna win with that bet every time, just make your minimum payment. But if the, if the market's up and you're like, eh, it's up right now, I don't know what I wanna do. If you're indecisive, make the payment on that loan and drop that loan payment down. If as long as, as long as your tax people are telling you to do that, if it's a something where they're going, Hey, we don't want you to make more than the minimum payment, then don't listen to me on that one. But I'm saying, if this is something you need to get paid down, then make a little extra If you're indecisive. Yep. Yep. So this is just a good time to be financially astute. Take a look at your p and l. Where can you cut the fat? Pay down high interest rate credit cards if you can. And above all, focus on the revenue stream in your practice and how you can grow it. Because remember in downtimes is when the most money is made, and you can do the same thing in your practice. So if you wanna know more about what we do and how we're helping. Doctors, build those practices and find those revenue opportunities, go to katz consultants.com. Go check us out. We've been around a long time. Um, we've got an incredibly experienced team and, uh, I, I think you'll see why our clients are so happy and so profitable. So, uh, Troy, anything else to add? Uh, I haven't been around as long as you, um, so I just want to clarify that real quickly, that I'm younger than you, um, I think by about 25 years or something. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I look at, look at me. I look 25 years younger, but No, he's exactly right. We got a ton of experience and here's what's interesting to me. Sometimes I talk to prospective clients that are interested in talking with us, and sometimes they say. Well, there's this new young group that come together and, you know, and a lot of times they're talking about new patient volume and visit volume and all the stuff That was the big thing back in the eighties. But they've, they've dolled it up to make it look like the newest, biggest thing. Here's, here's where we're at. I don't really buy into the high PVA high new patient high visit practice. You know what we, you know what we like to do? We like to create a good. Margin for you. Margin is where it's at. Yeah. Because if it costs me$19,000 a month in marketing, advertising, staff, building, and equipment to make$19,000 a month. It looks really cool on paper until you try to take that to the bank. Exactly. But we try to create practices that have a margin and are actually profitable. We, we approach your practice from a business standpoint, not just from a rah rah standpoint. And so for me, I'm excited about the way we work and that's a little bit of maturity. So sometimes having a guy that's missing his hair or having a guy that's got a little gray hair on his head and you younger folks. Going, well, I identify more with this guy that's 30 years old that drove up in a big four wheel drive truck in his ad, and they've got the coolest chiropractic marketing system on the planet. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So my, my, my take on that is not to bash any other group. But I think sometimes with age comes wisdom and I think we've got a pretty good program put together that actually addresses profit and it addresses your profit or your, your profit status from an individual standpoint. So there's my, there's my rant about that is I feel like we individualize your practice and we're looking at profit for you. Not just, gee, we're gonna increase your collections, but we're also gonna increase your expenses.'cause you're gonna spend so much on marketing, you don't make any more money. That doesn't make any sense. Don't get sucked in by the, by the glitz, the glamor and the, the newest, shiny thing. Keep it simple, stupid. Keep it simple. Keep it simple. Yep. All right, everybody after that, shameless plug. Thanks Troy. Uh, yep. We'll, uh, we'll check out here. So thanks everybody for tuning into the KC Catapults Podcast, brought to you by Kaz Consultants in Cairo Health, USA. We appreciate you guys being here. It's because of you that we, our podcast is growing by leaps and bounds, so be sure to subscribe and like, and we'll see you next time. We'll see you.
Dr. Michael Perusich:
Alright, everybody. Welcome back to the KC ChiroPulse podcast. We are talking about the value proposition that chiropractic brings to patients, but we have to make sure that patients understand it. Otherwise, during tough economic times, they will have a tendency to wanna slow down on care or drop out of care altogether thinking that they're saving money. Troy, right before the break, you mentioned a strategy that you guys use in your office. Yeah. So here's how we do it. And the goal is not to shorten up treatment schedules. Let's say we've got Bill Smith that's coming every three weeks. The conversation I'm having while I'm adjusting Bill, I got him down on the table and I'm doing the Uhuh my thing. So I'm doing my thing on him, and while I'm working with him, I basically say, Hey, you know what, bill, this is, the economy's been a little tougher lately and I know you guys are hoping we're in a small farming town or a small, smaller farming area. I know you guys have been wishing for rain.'cause otherwise it's gonna be a tough year with crops and all that too. I've noticed with the increased stress. We're seeing patients that are needing more chiropractic care right now than they ever have because of the amount of emotional stress. And I just feed that little seed into the head. Yeah.
Dr. Troy Fox:
And then that's great. And then basically what I say is, I think you're right on track with where we're at with you right now, and I leave it now. He may say that's on. Yeah, he may say, you know what, you're right. I think I, I think I need to go down to every two weeks instead of three. That has happened. Others go, oh,'cause I was thinking about spreading my care out a little bit. But you're right, it's literally preemptive to the point of where you start a conversation. And they will respond almost immediately. Or you can see the wheels turning and then I go, Hey, I'll see you in three weeks. And they go, okay. There is no spreading it out at that point because I've already taken the legs out from underneath their argument that they need to spread it out. They just realize that care's really important. So that's the other preemptive conversation. It's a really easy one that we, you just interjected into your conversation while you're adjusting. Wow. You're a little tight today. I've noticed a lot of our patients right now are a little more stressed than usual because the economy and maybe the. Farming environment right now, and we're noticing people need a little more care than a little bit less. I think you're right on track with that three week number, so know what your interval is with that patient before you adjust'em. Don't get in the middle of the sentence and have to lean over and look at your computer.
Dr. Michael Perusich:
Right. No, you a great, it kills the mood. It, it does. You bring up a great point. I think a lot of times as doctors we're afraid to get into those conversations but you want that conversation to happen. You wanna bring it up before the patient. That's the whole point. And you want the patient to have a response. Yeah. And you're spot on because the response is either gonna be, you know what, doc, you're right. Let's move things in a little tighter. I'll see you more often. Or it's gonna be the other side that you said, Hey, I was thinking about. Spreading things out just a little bit more. So I'm glad you brought this up, so you wanna open up that conversation. Otherwise, when the patient gets to the front desk, they're gonna say, you know what? I'll call you when I feel like I need you. Yeah.
Dr. Troy Fox:
They also at that point felt like that you cared enough to actually dive into that conversation, which meant you took extra time with them, even though you didn't,'cause you were just adjusting'em like normal. But you approached the topic with them, which makes them think, Hey, he thought about my case before I walked in the door today.
Dr. Michael Perusich:
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So doctors, the whole point is preemptive communication. Bringing the value proposition of chiropractic into the conversation ahead of the patient, thinking about quitting care, cutting back on care, whatever it might be, will help insulate your practice from up and down economic times. And, we're in one right now. How long is it gonna last? Who knows? It doesn't matter. Look at it as a huge opportunity to reconnect with some of your patients, to talk to them about the value of chiropractic care. Help them understand that it's not an expense, it's an investment in their future health. I.
Dr. Troy Fox:
Yeah. Turn chicken little upside down on his head and drop him on his head. Exactly. You don't need that. You don't need that in the middle of your practice. Put it in the periphery. Have that little conversation. You already know that. Guess what? As a chiropractor, you know that when you get stressed, you're gonna get adjusted more often. When I'm in, when I'm in a stressful situation, what am I dying for? An adjustment. Your patients are the same way. So all you have to do is broach that conversation preemptively. You take chicken little and drop him on his fat little head.
Dr. Michael Perusich:
Yep. And real quick docs, here's a couple of little things too. If your practice is feeling a little down or feeling a little financially stressed during these times, number one, don't sit and watch the markets all day. Markets go up and down. It's not meant to be something you look at on a daily basis unless you're a day trader and you're probably not'cause you're a chiropractor. You're too busy to be a day trader.
Dr. Troy Fox:
The guy that doesn't know much other than I just like to make money in the market, went and looked at the Nasdaq five year. Yeah, that's all I did. The Nasdaq five year is if you're looking at my screen, lemme see if I can get my hand in the right spot. Bam. It's like that, but it's got ripples in it all the way up. Sure. Where it's at with a couple dips and climbs, but the whole thing is vertical at a 45 degree angle.
Dr. Michael Perusich:
Yep.
Dr. Troy Fox:
Mean, my gosh, you cannot lose with that deal. It just keeps going up. As long as it, as long as it outpaces inflation, you're actually making money with that thing going up. And that's the only, that's actually something you gotta think about. But that standpoint, when you look at it, this little dip we got going on right now is a blip on the radar screen. That's why. When you go to any financial advisor, they tell you just wait. The market's gonna go back up. It historically, always does. Always does. My financial advisor has that. He could. He says that in his sleep, I think because it's so true, but it's a true statement. He's not telling me a story.
Dr. Michael Perusich:
Yeah.
Dr. Troy Fox:
So quit
Dr. Michael Perusich:
worrying about it. Quit worrying about it. Buy yeah, buy the dip. Sell the rips, as we always said. Yeah. In the investment banking world, and this is a good time to go through your p and l. What can you cut out expense wise? Maybe it's time to sit down and look at that side of the practice and clean it up a little bit. Don't make it present unconsciousness, but go through it and where can I save?
Dr. Troy Fox:
If you can consolidate right now, that's also, and when I mean consolidate, here's what I'm doing. What I'm doing is I'm paying off high interest rate loans quickly. Yep. Taking the extra money and applying those now to the lower and now. So I've paid off my high interest rate. Now I'm on that mid interest rate loan tier right now, and I'm paying those off by bumping all those at this point, and so I'm accelerating my payoff process. Now, what would stop that if this market keeps dropping? I'm gonna have a panic attack. No, that's not what's gonna happen. If this market keeps dropping, I'm gonna quit making extra payments and I'm gonna pull all that money and I'm gonna dump it right in the market. Yep. That way I can catch the climb. Yep. So when you're on a dip, you can always go, you know what? I'm not gonna pay that this month and next month I'm gonna throw$5,000 at the market right now. Yep. I think historically you're gonna win with that bet every time, just make your minimum payment. But if the market's up and you're like, eh, it's up right now, I don't know what I wanna do. If you're indecisive, make the payment on that loan and drop that loan payment down. If as long as your tax people are telling you to do that, if it's a something where they're going, Hey, we don't want you to make more than the minimum payment, then don't listen to me on that one. But I'm saying, if this is something you need to get paid down, then make a little extra If you're indecisive.
Dr. Michael Perusich:
Yep. Yep. So this is just a good time to be financially astute. Take a look at your p and l. Where can you cut the fat? Pay down high interest rate credit cards if you can. And above all, focus on the revenue stream in your practice and how you can grow it. Because remember in downtimes is when the most money is made, and you can do the same thing in your practice. So if you wanna know more about what we do and how we're helping. Doctors, build those practices and find those revenue opportunities, go to katz consultants.com. Go check us out. We've been around a long time. We've got an incredibly experienced team and I think you'll see why our clients are so happy and so profitable. Troy, anything else to add?
Dr. Troy Fox:
I haven't been around as long as you so I just want to clarify that real quickly, that I'm younger than you I think by about 25 years or something. Oh yeah. I look at me. I look 25 years younger, but No, he's exactly right. We got a ton of experience and here's what's interesting to me. Sometimes I talk to prospective clients that are interested in talking with us, and sometimes they say. There's this new young group that come together and, and a lot of times they're talking about new patient volume and visit volume and all the stuff That was the big thing back in the eighties. But they've dolled it up to make it look like the newest, biggest thing. Here's where we're at. I don't really buy into the high PVA high new patient high visit practice. You know what we, you know what we like to do? We like to create a good. Margin for you. Margin is where it's at. Yeah. Because if it costs me$19,000 a month in marketing, advertising, staff, building, and equipment to make$19,000 a month. It looks really cool on paper until you try to take that to the bank. Exactly. But we try to create practices that have a margin and are actually profitable. We approach your practice from a business standpoint, not just from a rah standpoint. And so for me, I'm excited about the way we work and that's a little bit of maturity. So sometimes having a guy that's missing his hair or having a guy that's got a little gray hair on his head and you younger folks. Going I identify more with this guy that's 30 years old that drove up in a big four wheel drive truck in his ad, and they've got the coolest chiropractic marketing system on the planet. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So my, my, my take on that is not to bash any other group. But I think sometimes with age comes wisdom and I think we've got a pretty good program put together that actually addresses profit and it addresses your profit or your profit status from an individual standpoint. So there's my rant about that is I feel like we individualize your practice and we're looking at profit for you. Not just, gee, we're gonna increase your collections, but we're also gonna increase your expenses.'cause you're gonna spend so much on marketing, you don't make any more money. That doesn't
Dr. Michael Perusich:
make any sense. Don't get sucked in by the glitz, the glamor and the newest, shiny thing. Keep it simple, stupid. Keep it simple. Keep it simple. Yep. All right, everybody after that, shameless plug. Thanks Troy. Yep. We'll we'll check out here. So thanks everybody for tuning into the KC ChiroPulse Podcast, brought to you by Kats Consultants in Chiro Health, USA. We appreciate you guys being here. It's because of you that we, our podcast is growing by leaps and bounds, so be sure to subscribe and and we'll see you next time. We'll see you.