Making Acupuncture Pay: Real-World Advice for Successful Private Practice

Matt Bauer does a great service to acupuncture providers who aspire to be effective, successful, and profitable in a field where many practitioners struggle. He takes people out of fanciful thinking and right into the nuts and bolts of making things work for a larger percentage of the population. He points out that there are only so many upper class, high paying patients to go around. Therefore, it is best to adopt methods that make the cost a course of therapy manageable for most people. He provides advice on how to more reliably create and communicate treatment plans to often skeptical and hesitant patients.I have been in practice 10 years and am fortunate to stay busy. The book helped provide me with new ways to be clearer with patients. That alone was worth the read. The perspectives he offers are consistent with what I have found to be true in this field. If you are new to the field, or are considering it, you can save yourself years of hard lessons by reading this book.

This is a great little book full of practice management advice for acupuncturists. Practice management was sort of glossed over in my school, and is one of the most important skills to develop. Frankly, if any practice management book helps you even one time with one patient, the book has paid for itself many times over.Mr. Bauer offers some nuts-and-bolts practical advice, and I enjoyed his candid and pragmatic writing. Since reading his book, I have made two changes: 1) I am trying to work together with my patients to more clearly articulate short-, middle-, and long-term health goals and 2) being more aware of objective treatment outcomes.I have been in practice for 16 years as an LMT and 9 years as an LAc.

As a successful acupuncturist and someone who has taught a practice management class for several years, I appreciate the value of this text for anyone trying to make a living in Chinese Medicine. This book has some hits and misses. The sections on how to explain acupuncture and how to set expectations with patients is pure gold, and worth the price of the book. That would be roughly chapters 7-14 for those looking to shorten their reading load. The other chapters I found less useful, but others may find value in them. The book is certainly better for new practitioners, veterans are likely to find some gems as well.

I read this whole book in 3 days It is very good. 60 of the 183 pages are worth way more than the cost of the book. Some of the stuffhere I heard in school but Matthew has a way of writing it that really speaks to me. After many years of struggling to stay in business,I see here what I always suspected: a fair amount of your success has little to do with your actual skill but how you track progress, how you space treatments and how you create a pleasant atmosphere. I have gotten as much out of this book as I have from the many technical acupuncture books I have read.

This book is for anyone who wants to make a living as an acupuncturist, I bought this book in 2012 and have re-read it several times. Along with Points for Profit, this was required reading when I taught Practice Management at the local acupuncture school. When you are in school, you learn lots of Chinese Medicine theory and are prepared to pass the licensing exams. You need this book to prepare you for the realities of managing a successful acupuncture practice.

I was hesitant to buy this book because of the cover. I recognize the photo as something from istockphotos.com that I used in my own marketing materials. Having read the book and checked out the very useful companion website, I have to say that the cover exactly sums up this book. It is not a slick production, but it is a heartfelt collection of wisdom the author has gained over many years of practice. I have been in practice for 5 years, and found a lot of useful information. In particular, the author helped to clarify and articulate my own observations on the likelihood of success for clients, how often they need to be treated, etc. I think if I had known this starting my practice, I could have approached new clients with much more confidence. There is also a great explanation on how acupuncture works that is geared toward the client, not fellow acupuncturists. I think it is worth the price of the book. I'm recommending this to other colleagues.

I bought this book for a friend who is an acupuncturist and he seems to really like the book. He read it quickly and got a lot out of it.

Helpful information and insight for new acupuncture business owners

Amazing advice for acupuncturists. Its a must! I treasure the advice in this book as I feel I have been given pearls of wisdom to help prepare me for running a successful clinic. Thank You Matthew Bauer for sharing.

Good book

There are not that many books talking about the acupuncture business management and marketing. Matthew did good job providing his real life experience as a sample to show the entry level acupuncturist how to survive the first few years of starting your own clinic. I recommend this book to the current acupuncture students, or anyone who's interested in studying acupuncture and make it as a career. You really need a good understanding what kind of business you get yourself into and how to survive in the real world before the reality destroy your dream of helping others.