Chiropractors may be inclined to offer novel treatment options for their clients as a way to promote overall health. Like many other healthcare decisions, the choice to offer a product that may improve a patient’s well-being and quality of life comes with benefits and drawbacks.
Benefits of Offering New Treatments and Therapies
A new therapy, protocol, or treatment option is an effective way for you to distinguish your chiropractic practice from other competitors. There is a novelty and excitement surrounding anything new, which can result in more traffic to your clinic as patients explore whether your therapy options may be of use to them.
There is also the potential that whatever new product, therapy, or service you are offering will be helpful to the patients who use it. Aside from improving their quality of life, this will likely generate more business for your clinic as these patients share their positive experiences with family and friends.
Potential Drawbacks of Providing New Therapies
Patients have a legitimate expectation that care providers like chiropractors will not promote or offer treatments and products that are not safe or effective. If you do not do your due diligence and investigate a new therapy before offering it to patients, you could be held responsible for injuries and damages your patients suffer.
For example, suppose a new machine was recently released that promises to provide results for your clients that are superior to any other existing machine. You purchase the machine and begin marketing it to clients based on this praise alone. Even though you use the machine as directed, patients express worse symptoms after using it.
In this situation, you could face civil liability as well as disciplinary action for failing to take reasonable measures to determine whether the machine would have been helpful to your patients first.
How to Minimize the Risks of New Therapies
Given these potential dangers to your livelihood and practice that new therapies pose, you may be hesitant to adopt any and instead rely solely on tried-and-true methods. However, you can maximize the benefits of offering a new therapy while minimizing any risks by following a few key tips:
- Do not rely on sales pitches and puffery when deciding to adopt new therapies
- Read reviews about new products and get the opinions of other providers
- Ask informed questions about the potential side effects and risks
- Communicate with clients about the novelty of the treatment and its potential risks and rewards
Patients should always be given the option of whether they want to try a new therapy or continue with more traditional therapies.
If you do encounter issues after introducing a new therapy, a chiropractor license defense can be your best ally.
Consult a Chiropractor License Defense Lawyer Today
A chiropractor license defense lawyer from S J Harris Law can help you weigh the risks of introducing a new therapy to your practice. If you have already offered such a solution in your practice and are now facing negative actions against your license, we can tailor a defense strategy suited to your needs and fight tirelessly on your behalf.
Contact us to learn more about how we can protect your future today.
