I normally try to sit down at the end of the year and put together some thoughts about the previous year and reflect on the things that went well, went bad and what we can change in the office to make it more convenient and accessible to everyone that comes in the doors. I’m taking a few days off to gather some sanity and thoughts so I’m going to do some writing.

2024 was largely an unremarkable year; we saw lots of changes in regards to Medicare Advantage plans and some insurance in general. In all honesty, it was a pretty stagnate year which I think if you talk to most business owners, they would largely agree.  There is no real rhyme or reason why it was but it just was. (Think pre-authorization process for the doctor with lots more documentation requests all while taking longer for claims to get paid/processed)

We made a push and will continue to push to grow the DOT side of the business.  Hundreds of DOT physicals were performed this year and we would like to continue to see that number grow.  Drug and alcohol testing is growing as well.  Our consortium continues to add more and more members that trust us to keep everyone in line with FMCSA/DOT drug and alcohol standards.

From a chiropractic perspective, we saw LOTS of patients of all ages and demographics. Different conditions come into the offices regularly.  It’s not uncommon to hit just about every complaint in a day, from a headache, sciatica and elbow pain, sometimes all in one patient. We can handle lots of conditions but we do have our favorites and are comfortable with.

Patients seem to like the laid back atmosphere of our offices and quite honestly, I do too but we go into the new year I’m going to be making a push to see more follow up visits.  While that doesn’t mean that long, drawn out treatment plans are going to be coming in, we are going to try to make a more conscious effort to track patient progress a little closer.

I would also like to make the point, that we are a business that has bills to pay and people to pay, so while we field a lot of comments that I must just be raking it in because I’m a “doctor.” If it only worked like that, raising prices doesn’t work that well because you are beholden to insurance contracts and still need to be competitive in the market. It’s not my favorite topic to broach with patients, sometimes the hard conversation needs to be had about insurance coverage, cost per visit and how we as an office did not select the plan that you selected whether it be on the marketplace or through your employer.

2024 was not a bad year by any means but it was just interesting.  I’m hoping that 2025 continues the trajectory that we have set out on over the past few years and the ups and downs that come along with owning a business, but reflection and fixing certain situations most certainly project that 2025 should be a better year than 2024.

We look forward to seeing everyone in the new year after a few days off to gather some thoughts, rest and sanity.