Tag: practice management

cash-based PT services

Looking to grow your physical therapy practice and increase profitability? Adding a cash-based PT product or service to your standard offerings can greatly add value to your practice and your patients.

In a recent Grow Your Practice Podcast episode, several physical therapy practice owners spoke about their experience adding cash-based services.

We took the best insights from that conversation to develop this article. Read on to learn about the benefits and challenges of adding a cash based PT service in your practice. Discover three of our favorite technologies that practice owners are selling as a cash-based service today. Gain an understanding of the process for implementing a cash-based service in your private practice.

Why Add a Cash Based PT Service?

Increase Profitability

Physical therapy clinics often operate with tight margins. In the last few years, margins have been squeezed further by declining reimbursements and rising costs. Many practices are operating with substantial financial risk. Some have had to close for good or sell prematurely.

Whether you’re looking to reduce financial risk or stay ahead of the curve, adding a cash-based PT service is a proven way to become more profitable.

cash-based PT

Differentiate Your Practice

Have stiff competition from local practices and hospitals? Having additional forms of treatment can be the differentiator that makes your practice stand out from the crowd.

Enhance the Patient Experience

Medical devices can complement physical therapy treatment to offer improved patient outcomes. Some patients will experience relief or another desired outcome within a single visit, making them more likely to return and recommend your services.

Increase Lifetime Patient Value

Lifetime Patient Value is the amount of revenue an individual patient generates throughout their journey with your practice. It’s more cost-effective and efficient to maximize lifetime patient value than to attract new patients. There are two ways that adding a cash based PT service can help you increase lifetime patient value.

1) You can increase the value of your plan of care. If you’re at maximum capacity or have experienced staffing challenges, then adding a cash-based service could be a great way to increase revenue without having to increase your patient volume.

2) You can increase past patient reactivations. Adding a cash based PT service presents an opportunity for you to reengage past patients and attract them back to your clinic.

3 Cash-Based Services for Private Practices

Cash-based PT services should add unique and discernible value to your patients. If your patients feel a difference within just a few treatments, the value of this service will exceed its costs. For this reason, selecting a service that offers exceptional patient health outcomes is important. Consider these outstanding options:

LightForce® Therapy Lasers and Focused Shock Wave Therapy

cash-based PT
Image courtesy of Enovis™ Chattanooga® LightForce®

Enovis™ Chattanooga® LightForce® offers numerous medical devices that help improve patient outcomes. Two of their most popular devices are the LightForce® Therapy Lasers and Focused Shock Wave Therapy. LightForce® Therapy Lasers are used to treat chronic and acute musculoskeletal conditions as well as post-activity recovery. As a non-drug, non-surgical solution, LightForce® Therapy Lasers have been proven to reduce pain without the side effects of medication.

Focused Shock Wave therapy is another non-invasive treatment option for patients with trapezius muscle pain, shoulder pain, elbow pain, knee pain, achilles tendon pain, or plantar and heel pain. It can treat large areas in a short treatment time.

With both devices, patients often report noticeable pain reduction with just a few treatments.

Many practice owners in the Breakthrough community have adopted these technologies with great results.

Practice owner Tony Cere has added $300,000 in annual cash-based revenue. “Patients will come in for the laser, and turn into physical therapy patients,” he said.

According to Tom Loyd, Practice Owner at Bryn Mawr Sports Therapy, “The Lightforce 40-watt laser generates improved patient outcomes and adds an accessory form of income.”

The Neubie by Neufit

cash-based PT
Image courtesy of Neufit

The Neubie by NeuFit is a direct current (DC) electrical stimulation device. It targets the nervous system to reset broken and blocked neural pathways. It can be used to reduce pain, restore function after neurological injury or disease, produce a faster path to recovery after an injury or surgery, and improve fitness and performance.

The unique value proposition that Neubie adds has demonstrated extraordinary revenue potential. For instance, a private practice owner in Tampa, Florida, Jason Waz, boosted monthly cash-based revenue at his practice from $8,000 a month to $50,000 a month by implementing the Neubie device. In fact, the first year he implemented Neubie, his revenue per visit improved by $15 per visit across all payers.

Jason even managed to have the best month in his 10-year history while moving locations, which he attributes to the value differentiator of the Neubie.

3D Running Technology From RunDNA

physical therapy
Image courtesy of RunDNA

RunDNA provides specific value to runners by combining technology and education to assess and improve their movement. The technology allows you to analyze patient movement, craft unique injury profiles, and create comprehensive plans for runners’ success.

If you’d like to attract more runners to your practice, RunDNA’s solution could be a great fit. It will enable you to attract your ideal patient and increase revenue per patient.

Challenges of Adding a Cash-Based PT Service

Any time you change your services or add a new one, you may encounter resistance as you guide your patients and staff through new protocols. As always, the goal is to maintain the highest standards of patient care throughout the process, which may require additional client and staff education measures. Your staff, in particular, will want to see evidence the technology works before recommending it to patients. Be prepared with research and evidence. If possible, give your staff an opportunity to trial the technology themselves.

Patient education is also critical. Some clients will be used to having insurance cover their treatment and may hesitate to pay for services directly. Ensure your staff clearly communicates the cost and value.

In addition, keep an eye on the services your competitors offer and industry trends. Stay updated on the latest treatments so you can quickly adapt to emerging technologies.

How to Effectively Implement Cash-Based Services

Effective change management starts with a plan. To get the most immediate value out of offering cash-based PT services, you should implement them strategically. Here are some key factors to account for:

  • Patient Experience: Determine how a new cash-based service offering would fit into your patient experience. Is it offered as a standalone service or as an add-on to the plan of care? Create a roll-out plan that offers a seamless patient experience for existing and new patients.
  • Target Market: To choose the right cash-based PT service, you need to identify your primary target market. Will this service help facilitate healing and recovery for the primary conditions you treat? Is there a willingness to pay cash for this type of treatment? You might be surprised to discover how many patients are willing to invest in solutions to improve their health and reduce pain. Consider asking your existing patient base or conducting a survey to gauge interest and willingness to pay.
  • Selling: Your patients don’t necessarily need a sales pitch, but they often need to be educated on the personal value they’ll get from a specific service. Train your staff on how and when to educate patients about your new offering. Consider including it as part of your recommended plan of care for new patients. You can also incentivize staff to encourage adoption.
  • Marketing: Run campaigns to past patients to spread the word about your new offering and encourage past patient reactivations. You can also run workshops for people in your community who could benefit from the treatment. Workshops can take place in the community by partnering with a local gym, employer, or other organization with a lookalike audience to yours. Alternatively, you can host an educational event at your practice or virtually. Promote it through your social channels, email, or online advertising.

Grow with a Community of Like-Minded Practice Owners

Strategically implementing cash-based PT services is one of the most effective ways to improve revenue per patient. However, this is just one aspect of increasing profitability so you can grow your practice, increase practice value, and leave a lasting legacy in your community.

Running a practice is harder than ever. Declining reimbursements, staffing challenges, and rising costs require owners to innovate and come up with creative solutions if they want to succeed.

Why do this on your own when you can learn from others?

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel and come up with new ideas by yourself. Many practice owners have achieved success and want to share their knowledge and experience with other practice owners to benefit our industry as a whole.

Introducing Profitability Under a Pressure: A Program Exclusively for Physical Therapy Practice Owners.

The program includes a course, weekly group calls, access to an online community of practice owners, and opportunities to attend in-person events with other practice owners facing the same challenges you are who are committed to finding solutions.

Click here to learn more and apply for Profitability Under Pressure.

checklist

Marketing tips for physical therapists and chiropractors from the Evidence Based Chiropractor on the Grow Your Practice Podcast.

How to Grow Revenue and Help More People in Your Community

In a recent episode of the Grow Your Practice Podcast, chiropractic marketer Dr. Jeff Langmaid shares his top marketing tips for chiropractors. 

Known as the “Evidence Based Chiropractor,” Jeff is devoted to increasing chiropractic utilization. His great-grandfather was a chiropractor who studied under BJ Palmer nearly 100 years ago. His goal is to continue that legacy as a chiropractor himself and by highlighting the power of chiropractic adjustment through research and marketing. He believes it’s time for conservative care practitioners of all types to step up and create a healthier world by scaling their unique healthcare professions. 

Chad and Jeff discussed the top marketing tips for chiropractors. Some of Jeff’s key principles are to start with your patient database, lead with educational content, and create monthly recurring revenue. By implementing these practices, owners of chiropractic clinics and integrated wellness centers can improve profitability and generate consistent visits. 

Why should practice owners care about marketing? 

Dr. Jeff shared an unfortunate approach that he sees many clinicians make. He labels it the “journey of professional indifference.” 

Every day in your community, there are people undergoing unnecessary surgeries, taking unnecessary medications, and receiving unnecessary injections that affect them and their families for the rest of their lives. Opioid addictions are by far the worst they have ever been, largely due to doctors overprescribing opioid painkillers after surgery. 

The “journey of professional indifference” describes the approach where a practice owner passively waits for patients to come to them. These patients may have already undergone surgery or another intervention. They could have been referred by their physician or found you as a last hope. 

Whether you’re a PT, OT, or DC you are an integral part of a patient’s journey. You have the ability to get in earlier in a patient’s journey and help them take their health into their own hands. So they can avoid the fate that so many people in your community fall into. 

“If you care about the health of the people in your community, you need to get out there and tell your story,” Langmaid said. “You have to be proactively answering the questions people have about their health. The more you can build trust and rapport, the more you can help people in your community avoid the fate that so many have fallen into.” 

So you want to help more patients. Where to start? 

Dr. Jeff and Chad both recommend that you always start with your warmest audience. These are the people you have already seen. People who likely already know, like, and trust you. Reach out to your existing or past patient database. Email them consistently to let them know you’re around. 

Share educational content in your emails and invite them to something to learn more. A webinar, a workshop, or an appointment. Avoid using jargon or overly medical terms. For instance, if you’re writing an email to educate about radiculopathy, use terms like ‘how to tell if your arm pain is coming from your neck’ instead of the actual term ‘radiculopathy.’ Use patient-centric language and offer something of value. Then invite them to come in if they’re still not seeing relief. 

The key is to engage with your patient database consistently. Being consistent is what most practices struggle with most. Patient Demand software can help you automate this process, enabling you to choose from hundreds of pre-written and customizable campaigns. 

Top 3 Marketing Tips for Chiropractors 

When it comes to getting started with marketing, the lowest-hanging fruit is marketing to your past and existing patients. But that’s not where your marketing should end. To reach a broader audience and help more people in your community, you eventually need to create demand beyond your existing list. 

Here are the top 3 marketing tips for practice owners:

1. Lead with Patient Education: Teach and Invite

Jeff’s core philosophy is to teach and invite consistently. If you show up and teach, engage, entertain, and then invite – and you do that consistently – then you’re going to see success. Lead with educational content, then invite them to something: Say give us a call, hop on the schedule, join the webinar, or come to a workshop. 

This methodology applies to all audiences: past patients, existing patients, and cold traffic (people who haven’t interacted with you before). As practice owners, we often have this resistance to sales and marketing. We think we’re going to provide high quality-of-care and evidence-based practice, then just grow by word-of-mouth referral. But we need to be getting out there and educating, building marketing systems, teaching, and inviting. The reality is that marketing is just educating people in your community and showing them how you can help solve their health problems. 

Most people equate marketing with paid marketing and discount advertising. That’s just a small piece. The majority of your marketing should lead with education.

2. Avoid Discount Advertising

Tens of thousands of providers are offering deep discount advertising on a regular basis. This is not a cost-effective marketing strategy. Why? Most often, patients that come in because they saw an ad for a discounted service are not the people that are going to stay, pay, and refer. They are deal shoppers. And what do deal shoppers do? They shop for deals! So when they take advantage of that offer, you’re going to notice that there’s a small percentage of them that actually stick around. You’re going to get dramatically fewer visits from someone who comes in from discount advertising compared to someone who comes in through educational content. In most cases, Jeff recommends sticking to the teach-and-invite methodology over discount advertising.

When IS it okay to offer discount advertising? If you’re doing it to keep your doors open in the short term, that may be appropriate for you. Or, if you’re already doing everything else right, and you want to sprinkle on some discount advertising, that’s fine. But Jeff recommends first leveraging free or lower-cost options. This includes marketing to past and existing patients, teaching and inviting, and leveraging retargeted online advertising. 

3. Create Monthly Recurring Revenue

There are ways to create monthly recurring revenue and this is a great way to diversify your income stream. You can make your practice more durable and less vulnerable. The goal is here to create monthly recurring revenue that meets your minimum viable monthly expenses each month. If you can have recurring revenue that meets your expenses, working in your practice becomes a lot more fun and way less stressful. 

This does not mean changing your business model or giving up patient care. This is about diversifying income streams, reducing stress and increasing revenue in a patient-centric way. Dr. Jeff and his business partner Jason identified three primary ways that most clinicians can implement this in a way that makes sense:

  • Provide ongoing services

    This can look like a monthly movement assessment, a monthly check-in, or any type of maintenance care that makes sense for you. After your patients complete their plan of care, have them check in with you once a month. A majority of the time this is warranted and is not overtreating. Your patients come in because they have a problem and they come back for accountability. It’s better for the patient and better for you. Many of us have movement-based facilities that can be leveraged for a monthly check-in, but most of us don’t do it. A monthly check-in is a great way to increase patient visits and create monthly recurring revenue.

  • Open an e-commerce store

    Sell items that supplement your services. Supplements are a great example of what you can sell in an online store. We know that between 50 to 70% of people going to conservative care providers take supplements each and every day, whether it’s a multivitamin, Vitamin D, Omegas, etc. Other options could include exercise props, therapeutic heating/cooling devices, and ergonomic products for sleep or work as examples. The key here is to create auto-recurring revenue to have an online store that drop-ships direct to your patient. This way, you don’t need to have the inventory and utilize space in your clinic. Better for the patient, better for you.

  • Offer online coaching

    This could look like anything from telehealth all the way up to lifestyle coaching. For many providers, this may feel like very new territory, but there’s an avenue there to create monthly revenue by providing value on an ongoing basis. This can be leveraged at scale online. You can create courses that can be sold online without actually requiring significant amounts of your time on an ongoing basis.

Summarized Marketing Tips for Chiropractors

Practice owners wanting to grow revenue and help more people in their community can start by: 

  1. Consistently engaging your past and existing patient database. Lead with patient education. Teach and invite. 
  2. Avoid overusing discounts in your online advertising. 
  3. Come up with a strategy to create monthly recurring revenue. 

Would you like to be able to automatically create educational campaigns for your patients and community, without much effort? Patient Demand software can help. 

See How It Works.