Tips for Chiropractors: Simplify Forms, Streamline Appointment Reminders

Tips from a Personal Injury Attorney: In my many years of working as a personal injury attorney; working with clients immediately after they have experienced traumatic back pain or injuries from car accidents, I have come to realize the importance of creating a seamlesspatient experience.

The tips and best practices I have devised for creating a postive client- lawyer relationship can be applied just as equally to the patient-chiropractor relationship. 

Forms are the First Impression

The first thing to consider is the intake form. 

The intake form is one of the first things a patient sees. For this reason, they have a much larger impact on perceived customer service than most doctors realize. 

In order to ensure that your paperwork procedure is efficient and simple, ask your team members to complete the forms you usually give to new patients. Set a reasonable deadline, like 5 minutes, and see how many finish. 

Look for problems such as:

1. Requiring the same information more than once

2. Asking unnecessary questions

3. Providing unclear instructions

4. Failing to allocate enough room for answers

Revising your forms to remove these types of problems will go a long way in setting first impressions with your patients.

At The Law Office of David Brauns, we recently reviewed our intake forms at the firm and cut down our internal forms by almost 25%. We also reviewed client sign-up documents and dramatically decreased their length. We realized the length of the documents may have unnecessarily intimated prospective clients. Now when we sign up new clients, the discussion is much smoother and simpler.

Appointment reminders

Another important administrative piece that can cause hiccups in the patient- chiropractor relationship is missed appointments.

A recent Johns Hopkins study found 58% of people miss their doctor’s appointments.

The “I forgot” excuse is easily fixed.

Most of my personal injury clients communicate with me via text much more so than email (I have a business line that I give out specifically for client’s to text message me).

Automated voice or SMS text messaging services can be a great, simple way to remind patients of appointments. The messages may not be personal, but it can serve as a straightforward reminder. Since you can automate the process it won’t take manpower away from your staff.

Just search online for an automated texting service and you will find plenty of options. 

The proven tips I've discussed are equally as relevant for doctors as they are for lawyer.

So what are you waiting for? Start building that positive patient- chiropractor relationship today. I promise your patients will thank you. 

This post was contributed by David Brauns, personal injury attorney. David has continually focused on how to create and grow a uniquely effective process that empowers clients, staff, and partners to be informed and compensated. His mission is to innovate the way personal injury legal services are delivered.