“It is important to set up a financial formula that you would accept if the role was reversed.” determines whether this is a hot or cold lead. If the new patient is referred by a patient that the associate sees, then the patient should go to the associate. If the new patient is referred by the owner or senior doctor (as we often will refer to in this article) then the new patient goes to the senior doctor or owner – if indeed the senior doctor is the owner. On the other hand, a rotation system should be set up for cold leads. New patients coming from cold lead sources, such as the internet, walk-in, massage referral, etc., should go to the doctor who is up next in the cold lead rotation system. If the referral source is from a previous patient who is no longer ac-tive, then one must determine the time frame for when the hot lead changes to a cold lead. An important area to discuss is the protocol for payment when one doctor covers for the other. If a senior doctor covers for an associate, payment can vary from the junior doctor receiving as little as 10 per cent to 40 per cent. The range is big but, again, it must be discussed in advance so both parties are in agreement. The associate must be aware that the senior doctor might be providing all the overhead costs and the service itself; and the senior doctor must understand that this is income that would not exist without the associate being there. Again, the percentage can vary depend-ing on the situation, but it has to be evaluated and written up in advance in the contract. There should also be a policy for when a patient wants to switch from one doctor to another in the same of-fice, as this is where egos get bruised and associateships often fail. The best way to minimize situations where patients are switching doctors is to talk to the patients and say, “You are best to continue with [insert doctor’s name here], as they were your initiating doctor and know your case very well.” If the patient insists, however, then you better have a policy for how to handle this situation. Our policy was to check our egos at the door and do what www.canadianchiropractor.ca CC_Matrix_Feb18_CSA.indd 1 February 2018 Canadian Chiropractor 21 2018-01-23 2:22 PM
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