"In law, malpractice is a type of negligence in which the professional under a duty to act fails to follow generally accepted professional standards, and that breach of duty is the proximate cause of injury to a plaintiff who suffers harm.

It is committed by a professional or her/his subordinates or agents on behalf of a client or patient that causes damages to the client or patient." (Wikipedia)

With respect to this definition, most chiropractors are committing "revenue malpractice" and running their practice more along the lines of a nonprofit corporation without the 501(c)(3) benefits or legal registration. Unfortunately, we have failed to follow generally accepted standards set by other professions such as dentists, orthodontists or medical doctors – all of whom typically see fewer patients, work less and profit more than chiropractors. Our "breach of duty" that causes potential harm is not to our patients or employees. In most cases, we are the recipient of our own neglect in financial matters.

Our chiropractic "revenue malpractice" does not result in a loss of license, disciplinary measures or other punitive damage typical of traditional malpractice. Instead, we find ourselves progressively working more and enjoying less. We put in longer hours, process more paperwork and have to see more patients than we did in years past, and we are now making less money and showing less profit.

Because most chiropractors enter the profession with a genuine desire to help others, we frequently place our own financial well-being on the back burner for far too long. It's not all about money; however, if your business fails to generate significant revenues or profits, then your doors will close and you won't be helping anyone because they will be forced to go to another chiropractor or some other health care provider.

Therefore, creating adequate income within your practice is a basic necessity, and the failure to do so should be viewed with the same sense of responsibility that you carry for your clinical skills in order to avoid medical malpractice. With that in mind, here are the six most common things you need to avoid so that you do not commit chiropractic "revenue malpractice."

Degenerative Doctor Disease

One of the most deadly conditions that affects chiropractors as business owners is the unwillingness to change. Just as spinal joints tend to degenerate over time without healthy, fresh input, our practices follow a similar pattern. Not everything that worked well for you (or other chiropractors) in the '80s will produce success today. Far too often, I find doctors are billing for services based on nothing more than "that's the way we've always done it." Worse, some fail to notice that their strategies aren't even working, as they have been billing for services with obsolete codes or utilizing outdated information. Other items such as marketing and patient care all follow the same degenerative pattern.

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