The COVID-19 coronavirus had a profound effect on holistic patient care. Many practices were forced to see patients under highly restrictive circumstances, and sometimes they were not able to see them at all. As state-mandated social distancing guidelines are slowly relaxed, many holistic practices are wondering what to do with themselves until patient levels return to the pre-lockdown levels.

What COVID-19 Has Meant for Holistic Patient Care

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on holistic patient care has been somewhat uneven and determined primarily by whether or not a particular practice area is designated as an essential service. Chiropractic providers were given that distinction by the Department of Homeland Security in late March, which allowed many chiropractors to remain open and see patients even during the height of state-imposed social distancing requirements.

Unfortunately, massage therapy and acupuncture practices did not receive the same endorsement from federal authorities, which meant that most states ended up designating them as “non-essential” medical services. These practices often had no choice but to close their offices for the duration of the stay-at-home restrictions.

While most states have taken steps to roll back restrictions and allow businesses to reopen, some holistic practices either aren’t ready to resume seeing patients or will be serving fewer patients than they did prior to the crisis. Whether an office is reopening or taking a “wait and see” approach for the time being, many holistic practitioners are looking for ways to remain productive until they’re able to get back to full capacity.

5 Ways to Stay Productive While Unable to Give Holistic Patient Care or Operate at Maximum Capacity

1. Focus on Continuing Education

If your holistic practice is still closed or you’re only seeing a much smaller number of patients, this is a perfect opportunity to catch up on the latest trends and developments within your specialty. Most states have some form of licensing system in place that requires holistic patient care providers to take part in continuing education to ensure that they’re aware of changing best practices when it comes to delivering care. Finding the time to fit this training in between a full schedule of patients can be quite a challenge, but it should be much easier to do so during the temporary slowdown. Focusing on education will also help you to keep your skills sharp for when your patients return.

2. Reassess (or Create) Infection/Disease Prevention Policies

The impact of COVID-19 will continue to be felt even after most businesses reopen. Until an effective treatment or a vaccine is developed, there will be an ongoing risk of infection and potentially even another rapid outbreak. It’s critical, then, for every holistic practice to take extreme caution as they begin seeing patients again. One thing you can do to promote better safety is to review your policies for limiting disease exposure (or developing them if you don’t have them). This could include how you schedule and manage patients all the way down to what items you keep in your waiting room. Taking these steps now will help to reassure patients when they return that you’ve done everything in your power to create a safe and healthy environment for them.

3. Reevaluate Your Practice Procedures

Is there something about the way you schedule clients or manage your records that always caused your holistic practice headaches in the past? Now is the perfect time to solve those problems. Many practices tolerate certain inefficiencies or systems because it would be too disruptive to change them. Now that your holistic practice is functioning well below capacity, however, it’s the perfect time to make those policy changes you’ve always had in mind, whether it’s changing the way you communicate with patients or how you bill holistic patient care to insurance companies. It may also be a good time to review PPP loan forgiveness guidelines if your practice received such a loan.

4. Clean and Repair Your Office

While your office should never be dirty, there’s always a deeper level of cleaning that simply takes too much time to complete when you have a steady schedule of patients. The same goes for longstanding repairs that need to be done. It simply isn’t practical to close down your waiting room for a few days to have the carpeting torn out and replaced with wood floors, just as there never seems to be the time to steam clean or disinfect every corner of the office. Make sure that when you do begin seeing patients again, they’ll know immediately that you’re committed to making their visit as accomodating and as comfortable as possible.

5. Network, Network, Network

Managing a full load of patients can be overwhelming at times, leaving little opportunity to connect with fellow holistic care providers. The slowdown is a good time to start building (or rebuilding, in some cases) those connections. Find out what other practices are doing to address the COVID-19 crisis. How are they handling their billing and coding? Are they attending industry events and putting their names out in the community to attract new patients? Networking with your peers not only exposes you to new ways of managing your practice, but also creates opportunities for you to reach new patients and partners.

Keep Your Holistic Practice Productive and Profitable with Holistic Billing!

As a medical insurance billing provider dedicated solely to the unique needs of holistic practices, Holistic Billing Services is here to help as you prepare to reopen your practice following the COVID-19 shutdown. With many people losing their private health insurance after being laid off, you may well find yourself billing for more Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements. Having an experienced billing service like Holistic Billing at your side can ensure that you’re acupuncture billing, massage therapy billing, and chiropractic billing are being done properly to get you reimbursed faster. Contact our team today to learn more about how we can get your practice back on its feed following the several months of coronavirus restrictions.