Most businesses wouldn’t even consider firing a customer. But sometimes it’s the smartest thing you can do.
When you start your holistic practice, it seems like any patient is a great patient - money’s tight and every face that comes through the door is another chance to pay the rent.
Over time, though, it becomes critical to cherry-pick the best of the best. Here are a few characteristics of great patients for any alternative health practice:
The allopathic community has a set precedent for reaching a “practice capacity”. Many MD’s will reach a designated number of patient files, and then no longer accept new patients, particularly in regions where health care is publicly funded.
Since most CAM practices run on a private sector business model, my suggestion is that you never stop accepting new patients. Here are a few reasons why.
“I have some clients who miss appointments without calling. It’s very frustrating. Should I be charging them a fee?”
This one has no clear answer. Ask around, and you’ll get different opinions. Compared with more mainstream medicine, my guess is CAM professionals are less likely to charge for no shows, simply because lack of insurance coverage and a smaller patient base may have made the industry more service-oriented.
