The Government Shutdown and the Future of Chiropractic « The Blog of Matthew Loop

The Government Shutdown and the Future of Chiropractic

Here’s a special guest blog post by Dr. Pat Gentempo, who’s an internationally renowned visionary, lecturer, business leader and author. He’s the founder and CEO of Action Potential Holdings, Inc., a holding company with investments in numerous companies in the world of health and wellness.

Dr. Gentempo has also founded and co-founded several successful businesses including Chiropractic Leadership Alliance (CLA), which has over 8,000 chiropractic clients on 6 continents and Creating Wellness Alliance which boasts over 300 Creating Wellness Centers worldwide.

The headlines make it inescapable. The issue of health insurance and third-party pay and the dysfunction that goes along with it has now escalated to an all-time high. Literally, our federal government in the United States is shut down over this issue.

So my question to you is… How do you think this affects your future?

I first started teaching chiropractors how to get off of insurance dependence in the mid-1990s. This was a part stimulated by the disposition of the Clinton administration and the rise of HMOs.

The writing was on the wall then and third-party pay has degenerated ever since.

The unfortunate circumstances been that the majority of chiropractic relationship and political capital has been spent on trying to get even the most miniscule benefits for care out of the gargantuan insurance apparatus.

And we’ve done nothing but fight a losing battle with ever diminishing results.

In the end, here’s what I know (and this is true for any business)… The person or entity that pays you is your customer. If for the most part the insurance companies or the federal government is paying you, then they are your customer not the patient.

However, if the patient is paying you than the patient is your customer. It’s a simple concept, but the implications are quite profound. So it begs the question… Who do you want your customer to be?

Many thought that Obamacare was a victory for chiropractic and that our inclusion in the essential benefits package was an open up the door for zillions of newly insured people to come in and get our services.

I railed against this as it seemed like déjà vu.

The promise of rich coffers that would fund chiropractic care resulting in all our troubles would being over. I hope by now, you can see that this is a fantasy and if you’re going to have any kind of the future or career is time to face reality.

I believe that that packaged with every challenge is also a solution. The problem is that we focus too much on the challenge we don’t see the solution.

Right now, the attempted initiation of Obamacare into the culture has created an uprising that is so significant that as I write this, our federal government shutdown! What are some of the implications as they relate to you?

Well, it has become pretty clear that most people feel that the level of service that will be offered under Obama care is pretty crappy.

Secondly, we’ve already seen numerous headlines talking about medical doctors who left the system and are discounting their fees, creating membership practices, and working directly with their patients as their customers and turned their back on the third-party pay system.

The reality is that chiropractors are in a much better position to do this than medical doctors.

Condition based care for the most part is really stuck with the third-party pay system. However consumers expect to pay out-of-pocket when they are engaging in care that seems to be an alternative to the medical sick care system or proactively wellness-based in its orientation.

Time for you to take a look in the mirror and decide who you are and what the purpose of your practice is. And further, start really clarifying the goals you have for every person that comes to your practice.

I for one am excited about the opportunity this represents. Why? Because I believe that these headlines and news stories which are blatantly in the face of every US citizen right now has created a conversation that we need to assert our influence on.

People are confused and they’re waiting for a leader to show up and give them some direction that is sensible and will help them. The sick care crisis is a danger to every citizen.

Chiropractic care in the chiropractic lifestyle is an extremely attractive answer.

I anticipated what’s going on right now years ago, and that shouldn’t be impressive as it was all pretty obvious. With this, about a year ago Dr. Troy Dukowitz and I launched a robust, transformative solution to this problem.

We created a company called FreeForm. We developed a seven step process to help chiropractors rationally convert from insurance dependence to noninsurance dependence and actually have their practices grow, NOT shrink, when they do.

We also provide as a part of this not only the training but the practice tools necessary to implement this. Right now, this is the hottest movement within the profession and for good reason.

It is completely irrational at this point in time for chiropractors to hope that somehow insurance benefits will still be a viable foundation on which to build their practice.

The very good news is there is a huge market of consumers who are looking for affordable ways to assure their health and well-being and they are more than willing to pay out-of-pocket for the services. And this isn’t just a matter of survival.

I am not exaggerating when I tell you that I have clients who have multimillion dollar practices and accept no insurance whatsoever. Practices collecting $500,000 – $1,000,000 that are non-insurance dependent are becoming more typical every day.

I would like to be very clear about one point; I AM NOT SAYING GO COLD TURKEY, 100% CASH TOMORROW!

And I want to make an important distinction, non-insurance dependence is not the same thing as a 100% cash practice. You don’t have to completely give up third-party pay to become non-insurance dependent.

You simply have to create practice models where at least 75% of the revenue the practice collects comes directly from the patient and 25% or less comes from third-party pay. We have mastered the strategy for making this happen.

My goal with this brief blog is to raise the issue and get you thinking about it. Further, at our website www.FreeFormChiro.com, we have a lot of free resources and information that can support you. I would suggest signing up for our Anarchist Chronicles.

These are interviews with colleagues that talk about how they made the shift from insurance dependence to noninsurance dependence. They are free and may give you some great ideas while getting your head in a more positive space.

Don’t let fear prevent you from taking action here. Be free to form your future by getting off of insurance dependency and leading your community to higher ground.

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Related Blog Posts:

To Be or Not to Be… Insurance Dependent?

Chiropractor Fractures Wrists in Accident! Now What?

3 Instant Income Multipliers For Chiropractors

[Replay] 7 Steps to Ending Chiropractic Insurance Dependency

About the Author

Matthew Loop is an author, speaker, investor, philanthropist, and the highest paid social media revenue strategist in North America. He helps brands, startups, and small business owners multiply their influence, impact, and income by harnessing the power of the Internet. Since 2005 he’s trained over 21,000 clients in 25 countries. Millions have viewed his free business growth tutorials online. Connect with him on FacebookInstagram, and Twitter.

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