The American Chiropractor Volume 36, Issue 6 | Page 35

FEATURE
Because we focused highly on growing our practice and because our systems were so solid, we became more and more
successful. Not only did our clinics grow, but the scrutiny and
unfair treatment from insurance companies also grew. We did
everything in our power to expand our practices and be successful, but ultimately, our financial success was in the hands of
the insurance companies that had a financial interest in seeing
we didn' t get paid. 1 realize not all chiropractors have such a
terrible experience with insurance companies, but when you
have the biggest clinics in your state, you are constantly a target.
After years and years of fighting, we became completely disillusioned with the unfair tactics of insurance companies. We
actually considered getting out of practice all together. 1 hated
what 1 was doing-fighting day in and day out with insurance
companies, treating patients according to what their insurance
companies would or wouldn' t allow.
1 was finished! 1 was done! So 1 reasoned I'd better find a
new profession because all 1 really knew how to do was run
an insurance-based practice. My wife and 1 actually started attending real estate seminars as we had decided it was going to
be impossible to have a large, thriving practice in the insurance
climate in which we lived.
One morning, 1 woke up after having recently attended a real
estate seminar and it hit me like a ton of bricks! 1 hated real
estate. 1 hated insurance billing. What 1 did love was being a
chiropractor, and 1 especially loved helping patients get better
using nutritional protocols 1 had learned and used through the
years.
1 turned to my wife and said, "I hate real estate. 1 hate billing
insurance. Let's open up a nutrition clinic! That's what
1 really want to do! "

NS: 1 thought he was crazy! We had always had a small nutrition room within our practices, but we never made any money
doing nutrition. We did it because my husband's real passion
was helping patients nutritionally, but it was not ever profitable.
So when he said he wanted to open a nutrition practice, my
first thought was that it was a terrible business idea. But one
thing 1 had learned after doing business consulting for so many
years was that in order to be successful, you have to have passion for what you are doing!
1 knew my husband was passionate about helping people nutritionally, so 1 gave it some serious thought. 1 realized that if
we got the proper systems in place and if we got the marketing
just right, our nutrition practice would succeed.
Once we decided to focus on nutrition, we realized that in
order to have a viable practice, we needed new patients who
wanted to "buy" what we were "selling." We knew that most
people weren' t searching for help with nutritional protocols,
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JUNE 2014 I The American Chiropractor I 31