How Automated Exercise Programs Can Boost Patient Retention

Highlights

• Exercise helps patients with both chronic health conditions and injuries to recover better and have less pain.
• Sending automated exercise programs to chiropractic patients through email can make chiropractic visits more effective.
• Patients will sense that treatment is working and want to continue.

Chiropractic care is important for correcting imbalances in the body’s functions as well as treating and repairing injuries. But even the best chiropractic care will be only a temporary fix for many chiropractic patients if they don’t take care of their bodies between visits.

Most patients will need to return to their chiropractor again and again to have the same problems adjusted if they don’t exercise their bodies to strengthen and repair them. While it’s true that ongoing patient care may be a goal for chiropractors, they also want their patients to be as healthy and strong as possible — and that means exercise.

Imagine how far chiropractors could take their patients if those patients exercised to resolve the initial problems and pain points they had as new patients. Now, imagine how motivated patients would be to continue their care if they could see definite progress and improvement over time.

People tend to want to keep doing what’s working. It’s a great idea to remind your patients that exercise works to heal and improve the body. It also helps people stay motivated to keep their care regimen going in order to continue seeing benefits from both the exercise and their chiropractic treatment.

The Importance of Exercise

Exercise and its role in strengthening the body have many important benefits for chiropractic patients. Done properly, exercise can decrease pain, slow or decrease muscle deterioration, increase stability and range of motion, and prevent new or recurring injuries.

The number one cause of injury is a previous injury, according to sports chiropractor and owner of the company Web Exercises Dr. David Cruz.

Dr. Cruz reminds us that when people are injured, they begin to move differently, sometimes asymmetrically, which can cause further injury as well as pain from too much pressure on certain muscles and joints. When people learn to move properly through exercise, they can prevent many of these injuries from occurring.

In addition, regular exercise and movement can greatly reduce people’s risk of death compared to those who don’t exercise. These benefits are due to better circulation, improved heart health, and often, a reduction in weight that may feel modest but has profound effects on overall health.

Using CTSmartFit to Send Exercise Programs to Chiropractic Patients

It’s a given that chiropractors should provide exercises to their patients. But logistically, many practices say they just don’t have time to formulate an exercise regimen for all of their patients, teach them how to do it, and provide instructions they can use at home.

This can be a time-consuming process that takes hours for each active patient and must be repeated often as patient needs change.

But there is an easier way.

The ChiroTouch module CTSmartFit lets you automate and send regular exercise prescriptions to your patients that they can do at home. It contains videos by Web Exercises and more than 80 exercise programs for different parts of the body and different needs.

The programs can be customized in seconds with the touch of a button. Practices can create their own protocols for each patient or type of patient as well as for special or patient-specific needs.

CTSmartFit automates the process of providing exercise to patients, saving your practice hours of formulating plans and delivering them. The tool even automatically adds the exercise programs to patient notes, saving even more time and making it easy for the practitioner to see what the patient has been prescribed.

Many chiropractors have patients who haven’t visited their practices since the beginning of the pandemic and are still hesitant to attend in-person sessions. Sending them customized exercise programs can be a way to keep in touch, keep your practice in their minds, and offer added value your patients will appreciate.

Additionally, exercise protocols can be billed to insurance, providing a source of revenue for your practice.

Using ChiroTouch to Increase Patient Retention

When patients experience the impact of exercise on their pain levels, strength, and overall health, they will really begin to feel that chiropractic care is working for them. For many people receiving treatment for an injury or chronic condition, anything that can help them be healthier and more aware of their body’s functioning is a welcome advancement.

These patients will be more likely to continue their chiropractic care so they can continue to experience the health benefits of doing so. Who doesn’t want to feel great? As a bonus, satisfied patients will often become enthusiastic ambassadors for your practice, leave positive social media reviews, and boost your practice’s brand.

Better Together

CTSmartFit is only one of ChiroTouch’s features designed to make patient retention efforts easy. The CTSmartFit module works together with CTAppointments and CTInTouch to keep patients informed about their care and how they can maximize the impact of the care they receive.

Patients can use CTAppointments to book online appointments, then add them automatically to their personal calendars, which reduces missed appointments and prioritizes their chiropractic care.

With CTInTouch, you can send automated appointment, exercise, and missed-appointment reminders. You can also use CTInTouch to send birthday greetings and other personalized communications. These are messages that patients are often happy to get.

Most reminder messages from medical professionals ask you to book a return appointment or pay an invoice, things that patients often perceive to benefit the practice more than the patient.

Using ChiroTouch’s patient communication tools allows you to automate messages that your patients will be glad to receive because they offer them something of value — such as exercise programs — without asking for anything in return.

Setting up these automated exercise protocols and reminders takes only a few seconds for each patient. They can then be repeated over and over again without any additional effort on your part. The time spent creating these messages will pay off quickly, even if only a small percentage of patients make return appointments.

Boost Efficiency and Patient Care With ChiroTouch Cloud

Cloud-based ChiroTouch supports your efforts to connect with patients and provide them with the necessary tools to improve their health. The cloud version of ChiroTouch is available from anywhere, anytime, and under one log-in, so you can view patient data and communicate when needed. With the cloud version of ChiroTouch, you can send automated texts or emails sharing exercise programs with your patients from any office location or even your home computer or tablet.

The cloud version of ChiroTouch can improve efficiency and productivity among your staff with effective communication, integrated patient management, and role-specific functionality. Our software eliminates the need for multiple programs, such as separate inventory ordering and billing software, and replaces it with an all-in-one, integrated solution.

When compared to the classic, on-site version, cloud-based ChiroTouch also offers:

• Improved efficiency
• Ability to share files practicewide
• Streamlined billing, payments, and insurance claims processing with ChiroTouch Advanced
• Simplified CMC compliance

Cloud-based ChiroTouch offers better security, ensuring that your practice data is kept private and secure. With cloud technology, your electronic files are protected with multi-factor authentication and modern encryption to stay HIPAA-compliant.

Take a Peek!

If you’re curious about all the new features available in the new cloud-based ChiroTouch, one of our specialists can take you on a tour.