Just a Quick Good Laugh

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I recently saw 2 different patients who paid through the nose for off-brand cash pay modalities at a chiropractor's office.

-One received 2 rounds of stem cell injections to the knee and ankle for $3000, twice.
-A second received through a Carecredit account or whatever its called - $5000 worth of shockwave which they are paying off.
*I recently added shockwave albeit not at $5000 🤣

The first has severe ankle arthritis and malposition. Their insurance used to pay $1800K for an ankle fusion but recently cut our reimbursement without discussion to 1.1X Medicare. The second probably has tarsal tunnel syndrome.

From a business perspective, the most valuable service you can offer a patient is something where the reimbursement is not set by insurance.
 
heybrother said:
I recently saw 2 different patients who paid through the nose for off-brand cash pay modalities at a chiropractor's office.

-One received 2 rounds of stem cell injections to the knee and ankle for $3000, twice.
-A second received through a Carecredit account or whatever its called - $5000 worth of shockwave which they are paying off.
*I recently added shockwave albeit not at $5000 🤣

The first has severe ankle arthritis and malposition. Their insurance used to pay $1800K for an ankle fusion but recently cut our reimbursement without discussion to 1.1X Medicare. The second probably has tarsal tunnel syndrome.

From a business perspective, the most valuable service you can offer a patient is something where the reimbursement is not set by insurance.
Click to expand...
Those crappy thin cork so-called “custom orthotics” from chiropractor offices are also a joke. I hate when I have patients that come in with them.
 
Shiyuan said:
Those crappy thin cork so-called “custom orthotics” from chiropractor offices are also a joke. I hate when I have patients that come in with them.
Click to expand...
Well, I'm not saying they're great or not or what their insoles/orthotics do... but it can pay to have a fair or good working relationship with chiros in your area.

Like it or not, they do see a fair amount of foot pathology, and like PTs, they can decide where it goes (for surgery, etc). People who see chiros also tend to like them (this may be a function of the results or the fact that they typically don't have a lot of patients and do very long visits compared to most allo docs). Point is not to ever bash the chiro nsoles or chiro to the pt, jmo.

It can be beneficial to have a basic face-to-a-name relationship with the DCs in the area. If they aren't sending to you, they are probably sending somewhere else. (note: downside to DC refers to podiatry = some pretty eccentric pts... but a surprising amount of normal ones too!)

heybrother said:
I recently saw 2 different patients who paid through the nose for off-brand cash pay modalities at a chiropractor's office.

-One received 2 rounds of stem cell injections to the knee and ankle for $3000, twice.
-A second received through a Carecredit account or whatever its called - $5000 worth of shockwave which they are paying off.
*I recently added shockwave albeit not at $5000 🤣

The first has severe ankle arthritis and malposition. Their insurance used to pay $1800K for an ankle fusion but recently cut our reimbursement without discussion to 1.1X Medicare. The second probably has tarsal tunnel syndrome.

From a business perspective, the most valuable service you can offer a patient is something where the reimbursement is not set by insurance.
Click to expand...
This is the truly scary part to me.^^

I think a lot of chiros mean well, but they are highly saturated, they are not super highly trained, and because of that combo, they are usually forced to market heavy and add "creative" services and OTC stuff to increase bottom line.

This was a great one:
My bud who I lifted weights with in Mich went to a chiro for back pain.
He was talked into nearly $1000 "mitochondrial DNA testing" (urine test, cash pay).
Upon f/u visit for results, the urine test recommendation was... expensive cash-pay vitamins sold in the chiro office (shocker).
So, very cool guy, not unintelligent (entrepreneur)... just not medically trained whatsoever. He spent almost $2k for some generic vitamins he almost certainly didn't need, and many others surely did the same at that DC office and others running that same racket. It is crazy what ppl fall for.

I think podiatry can learn a few things from chiro (longer visits = trust, trust = loyalty or more likely to buy cash services), but they are also absolutely an example of the many vary serious perils of saturation for a profession.
 
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I saw one of my elderly "snow bird" patients recently, and the poor lady paid a quack down in Arizona for b/l ankle, stem cell injections to treat her neuropathy. She paid $3500 per injection and was told she may not notice any improvement for up to a year. I sometimes wonder how these people can sleep at night, but then again you can buy a pretty nice mattress with that kind of reimbursement.
 
My only encounter with them was a chiropractor with a Charcot foot. He tried talking me into making custom orthotics to lift the arch up. Also something about making the foot muscles stronger and that would also lift the arches without surgery. BKA on the other side due to previous gangrene. And of course like all Charcot patients... also wanted the dystrophic toenails treated.
I immediately referred him out.
 
msion said:
My only encounter with them was a chiropractor with a Charcot foot. He tried talking me into making custom orthotics to lift the arch up. Also something about making the foot muscles stronger and that would also lift the arches without surgery. BKA on the other side due to previous gangrene. And of course like all Charcot patients... also wanted the dystrophic toenails treated.
I immediately referred him out.
Click to expand...
We had a chiropractor during residency as an inpatient. Always made everyone refer to him as doctor. Didn't matter if I was rounding on him at like 5am, I'd knock on the door and say "Mr. Smith?" and immediately get corrected with "DOCTOR smith."

He had charcot and gas on the left side, ended up in a BKA. The stump went on to get infected as well, but he refused to have anyone look at it (I rounded on him in several services).

Right side ended up getting an ulceration as well, but he died of a heart attack at home before that one was resolved. He was super rude to the nurses too as he was addicted to opiates, and demanded they inject anything in him "fast, so he can FEEL it."
 
GreenHousePub said:
We had a chiropractor during residency as an inpatient. Always made everyone refer to him as doctor. Didn't matter if I was rounding on him at like 5am, I'd knock on the door and say "Mr. Smith?" and immediately get corrected with "DOCTOR smith."

He had charcot and gas on the left side, ended up in a BKA. The stump went on to get infected as well, but he refused to have anyone look at it (I rounded on him in several services).

Right side ended up getting an ulceration as well, but he died of a heart attack at home before that one was resolved. He was super rude to the nurses too as he was addicted to opiates, and demanded they inject anything in him "fast, so he can FEEL it."
Click to expand...
That's a brutal end of life existence. It sucks when you see patients that will literally be better off dead.
 
Feli said:
It can be beneficial to have a basic face-to-a-name relationship with the DCs in the area. If they aren't sending to you, they are probably sending somewhere else. (note: downside to DC refers to podiatry = some pretty eccentric pts... but a surprising amount of normal ones too!)
Click to expand...
I know a few chiropracters and they indeed send some wacky patients.

Wait -- I see a chiropracter myself...

think from dusk till dawn GIF by The Paley Center for Media
 
"When chiropractor meets WWE"... he even got a helicopter LOL
 
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