With nearly 350 sites nationwide, The Joint is changing the way patients typically receive chiropractic health care. A visit doesn’t require insurance or an appointment, and seven locations in the Twin Cities, including Plymouth and Maple Grove, make it easy for individuals and families to receive the chiropractic care they need.
The Joint’s local franchise owner, Minnesota native and former Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball player Robb Quinlan, currently resides in Plymouth with his wife, Amanda, and their 5-year-old daughter. After retiring from playing major league baseball in 2011, he took an interest in The Joint’s concept. “[I was] looking to get involved in the management team at The Joint and I thought it was a great model,” Quinlan says.
The membership-based model is an alternative private pay approach to chiropractic health care. The Joint offers a variety of payment options depending on an individual’s needs. A wellness plan would be ideal for a patient using services regularly each month, while a package can be purchased to be used throughout the year.
“If it’s a little bit of care, or a ton of care, it’s the same pricing ... If it’s on a plan, a package, a walk-in rate, whatever they’re on, [the clients] know up front what they are paying so there are no surprises,” Quinlan says.
As the business owner, Quinlan’s role means overseeing the day-to-day operations across locations: ensuring each clinic is running properly, providing the equipment each site needs and interviewing new doctors or front desk staff. The centers are open evenings and weekends, six or seven days a week depending on the location. Every site operates with highly trained full-time and part-time licensed doctors of chiropractic.
Quinlan himself has reaped the benefits of seeing chiropractors throughout his athletic career. Early on, a tear to his oblique muscle later affected his back, shoulder and spinal alignment. Quinlan received the care he needed when the Angels hired a team chiropractor in 2005.
After several visits he recalled thinking, “Wow, I feel good now; this is how I used to feel before I got hurt. I can swing, I can throw better.” That treatment led to one of the best career years he had in 2006.
Quinlan now seeks to help others experience the same relief from pain issues in the easiest, most accessible way possible.
For Dr. Trent Hinton, a full-time chiropractor at The Joint’s Plymouth location, the new business model allows him to spend valuable time with each client instead of processing paperwork.
“I see a lot more of this idea starting to happen; even in medical practices people are dropping the insurance model and basically removing that third party interference. They’re getting rid of that extra person that doesn’t need to really be involved between the patient and doctor relationship,” says Hinton, who is known as “Dr. Trent” to patients.
Jaclyn Ewing is one of Hinton’s patients. “I liked the approach of, ‘I don’t have to make an appointment,’" says Ewing. “I have a family and it’s easy for me just to shoot down there after work when it’s convenient for me.”
Her weekly sessions have led to better nights’ rest and alleviation of recurring back and sciatic nerve pain she had been experiencing. “He’s helped me with issues that no other chiropractor has been able to help me with,” Ewing says.
Hinton says the most common conditions he treats are upper back and neck pain and postural distortions caused from prolonged time in front of laptops and keyboards. He sees younger patients regularly due to increased usage of smart phones, screen time and tablets.
“The biggest thing is the sedentary lifestyle problems these days,” he says. He recommends avoiding premature chiropractic visits with an easy, preventative measure. “Be active; exercise, there’s not a wrong one—yoga, all the way up to CrossFit."
