Learn How and Why To Increase Your PVA

Staying aware of your total business strategy and growth can be difficult when you’re busy seeing patients all day, have a personal and family life as well as dealing with health emergencies for others, but it is important to keep track of the averages of patient visits in your office.

The total of your patient visit details is where the growth factor and value lies in creating and sustaining a successful chiropractic practice, and doing the math and staying on top of the numbers regularly can help you grow your practice by monitoring your patient visit average, known as PVA.

Measuring the ongoing patient return visits and paying attention to the continued prospects of a wellness plan for each patient, creates steady acquisition and retention of your patient base. This is where the importance of calculating the numbers and watching your PVA, (patient visit average) helps to manage your bottom line and provide growth sustainability.

PVA & Retention: It’s more than a number

Calculating PVA is relatively straightforward, simply take a month of your Total Patient visits, and divide them by the number of new patients. This can be over a set of weeks or a month, even an annual assessment, and it can show you exactly how many patients are returning after an initial treatment plan, for the most value, which is ongoing wellness maintenance.

You will learn how many patients were the acute type patients, that may not have returned after a set number of visits- often calculated as the ‘emergency factor patient.’ These patients can often be returned to the patient retention numbers, when you reach out to them, asked how they are doing, give them a long term wellness plan and offer new treatment options. Value, the real value, is in the retention numbers of new and existing patients that have a rapport with you as a doctor, and with your staff. Communication and wellness offerings retain clients, and bolster your PVA.

Since most doctors see approximately 120-140 patients in a month as a patient visit average, and often the treatment plan averages approx. 10-15 visits per patient, retaining them as a patient who finds the future wellness offerings valuable to their overall well-being is crucial to providing a whole body wellness practice.

How additional treatments can complement your practice

Chiropractors are finding that adding additional services into their practice is helping the long-term wellness of patients and increasing their office PVA. Some treatments that are benefiting the patient and the practice are physical therapy, sports massage and injury massage therapy, as well as whole body cryotherapy.

Physical therapy, especially for ongoing flexibility and movement in sports muscle and tendon injuries also helps to return patients to your office, whether or not it is an adjustment day for them. It benefits them physically and mentally, to see that you treat the whole body with different modalities to sustain their health.

Utilizing whole body cryotherapy before adjustments, or in between adjustments has provided substantial benefits to patients, enabling them to heal faster, as well as handling chiropractic adjustments better because they are more numb to the pain from the cold treatment. Cryotherapy reduces their inflammation and helps bolster the blood system to improve the overall healing effect.

The Chiropractor That Grows Their PVA

Rather than focusing on treating urgent symptoms only, chiropractors that focus on long term wellness and health benefits find increased PVAs and overall happier clients who then tell others about the multiple treatment options that their doctor offers. Throughout the corrective process for patients, they learn that you can show them sustained wellness and healthy processes that will benefit them for the long term.

PVA grows when patients know that all of the treatment modalities work together to benefit them when they work with you for their healing and lifestyle. Ask your patients what works for them, show them the options for their care and bring them into a wellness plan that works for life, and raise your PVA.