How do I check how a chiropractor’s patient base is split between new and long-term visits?

Ask the owner to export visits by patient, with each patient’s first visit date. Your accountant or an adviser can group them by how long each person has been coming. You are looking for the shape of the patient base, not exact scores.

A base made mostly of new patients may mean the clinic depends on marketing, referrals or a location with heavy foot traffic. A base made mostly of long-term patients may mean strong loyalty, or a clinic that is not attracting anyone new. Neither is right or wrong. Each tells you what to protect or fix.

Look at the trend as well. Ask whether the mix has changed over the last few periods, and why. A lost referral source or a departed associate often shows up here first. Finally, ask who the long-term patients see. If most are attached to the owner personally, think carefully about how they will respond to a new chiropractor, and discuss that with the seller before you decide. Ask your accountant to be clear about what the data cannot tell you. A cluster of new patients may be a single burst from one promotion, and a base of long-term patients may include people who come rarely. Context from the front desk helps explain the numbers.

Key takeaways

• Request visit data tied to each patient’s first visit date.
• Compare the mix over several periods, not a single snapshot.
• Find out how many long-term patients are loyal to the owner personally.