3 Tips to Negotiating a Successful Chiropractic Contract

Hi, I'm Dr. Jeff Langmaid with the Evidence Based Chiropractor. And today I wanted to give you three crucial pieces of information that you need to know when negotiating your first chiropractic salary or negotiating a chiropractic contract. I know for many people out there, the thought of going through a contract negotiation or a salary negotiation can absolutely make you crumble. And for many people it's one of the worst times in their career is that negotiation process. But having a few key things clarify before you go into that conversation can make a world of difference not only for you, but also for the other party and make sure that it is a mutually beneficial arrangement. So the three things we're going to talk about today are number one, know your role. Understanding what you are going to do within that clinic is absolutely crucial. Number two is new patient acquisition. Who is responsible, how are they going to do it and who is paying for it. And, and number three is identifying your long term goals. We're gonna break down all three of those, talk through them and also give some real life examples to make sure that you have the best opportunity to negotiate a fair salary and contract for yourself. So number one, we are talking about knowing your role. What are you gonna be doing in the clinic? Are you going full service? Are you doing just examinations? Are you doing examinations and treatment? Is it mostly modalities? What is your role going to be within that clinic? That is very to understand. Knowing whether you're going to be responsible for any marketing, all of these things are crucial to making sure you have a great understanding of what the position entails because that correlates back to your salary. Additionally, knowing your role within the organization, is this organization perhaps have six clinics with 10 physicians and are growing dramatically by spending a lot on advertising? Or is it maybe a single doc with a single front desk person that's been in practice for 25 years? Knowing not only your role, but the context of that role within the organization can help you tremendously when negotiating your salary and ultimately just be a lot more realistic with what may happen in that setting. Just because one clinic is in the ideal location doesn't necessarily mean it's the best place for you. So keep that in mind. Number two is all about new patient acquisition. Are you driving new patients into that practice or are you taking care of existing patients? Who is responsible for that lead gen? This might be the number one area where I see new docs get tripped up with that initial contract negotiation. If you are expected to go out there and get patients, then you darn well should be compensated for it and make sure that you have that built into your contract. You definitely want to at least ask this question. So it's not a surprise if after your first week or your first month, that doc starts asking you to get out there and it's not what you expected. That's an uncomfortable position to be in. So understanding who are who in the clinic, is it the clinic or you that is driving new patients and what percentage is that expected to be is again another crucial piece to understanding your leverage point in that salary or negotiation. And finally, number three is knowing your long term goals. Is this an area where you're hoping to get experience? Is this a clinic that you eventually may want to take over and co own or become a partner in, that depending upon the clinic type, and more specifically your goals that can help drive your contract and salary negotiations? Because if it's the perfect opportunity to learn, to grow, to get some check marks on your resume, and you don't intend on being there long term, well, maybe you can take a slightly less salary for the opportunity to practice there. Otherwise, if you want to make sure that you are there long term, while in your contract, you might build in some preemptive checkpoints or or gatekeeping points that allow you access to more ownership in that company. But understanding what you want to do is crucial to identify the steps to get there. And as always, keep in mind with any contract negotiation, understand what clinic, what practice, what organization are you speaking with? If you are speaking to a hospital or a large multidisciplinary group, you might have salary on the table, paid vacation time, continuing education credits, and additional perks such as food and much more. However, if you are in a local clinic, again that clinic owned by a single individual who has not been keeping up with the times and maybe wants you to market the practice for them, it might be a lot more difficult to get any of those perks or those guarantees. And it might be much more a percentage split of revenue generated from your services directly. Neither of these is necessarily wrong or right. But. But understanding again where you want to go, what are your practice goals? Who are going to generate those new patients? Is it the practice or yourself? And what is your specific role day to day in that practice and with their growth plan will absolutely set you on the right path to negotiating a fair contract, not only for the clinic, but also for yourself. Sam.