One of the most common career trajectories for a chiropractor is to work at an existing clinic after graduation for a few years before opening a clinic. If you are looking to start a practice, read on to learn what every chiropractor needs, from an office to a compliance plan.
An Office
First, you’ll need a physical office space to meet and treat clients and take care of the daily business duties. Fortunately, one of the advantages of opening a chiropractic clinic is that it doesn’t require much space or equipment to start. This is especially true if you are starting with a small staff and client list, as most start-up clinics do.
When choosing an office, you’ll want to conduct a lot of research on the surrounding area. Look for the following things:
- The population of the surrounding area
- Median household income
- The average age of residents
- Nearby wellness clinics
Also, remember the accessibility of the location. Many of the clients will have physical movement and spinal issues, so you don’t want them to come to a location that’s hard to get to!
Legal Entity Status & Tax Registration
Once you’ve got an ideal location and place to conduct business, it’s time to complete some paperwork and turn your idea into an actual legal entity. There are many business structures for owners, but the most common structure for chiropractic and wellness clinics is a limited liability corporation (LLC).
You can form an LLC on your own, but some firms offer services for setting up an LLC structure with experience and expertise for a small fee. An LLC structure benefits chiropractic clinics by protecting the individual owner from personal liability should the clinic fail or be sued. After establishing your LLC, it’s time to register for state and federal taxes, which includes applying for an employee identification number (EIN).
Insurance
As the clinic owner, you need to limit your personal and your clinic’s liability, which is why every chiropractor needs insurance to start a clinic. As a business, there are many basic policies the chiropractic clinic will require—general liability, business owner’s insurance, and worker’s compensation insurance.
As a medical clinic, a chiropractor needs other insurance policies to reduce risk, such as medical malpractice insurance. All these policies may seem expensive, but they could be the difference between a clinic succeeding or going under from a lawsuit or accident.
Compliance Plan
Another thing that every chiropractic clinic needs before seeing their first client is a compliance plan. A compliance plan is crucial for any health or wellness clinic that deals with insurance, as insurance scams and fraud are significant issues in the healthcare industry.
By making a compliance plan for your chiropractic practice, you create barriers to unethical conduct and shield the clinic from sanctions and fines if an employee conducts insurance fraud. No matter how small, a thorough compliance plan for a chiropractic clinic establishes credibility and minimizes wrongdoing.
