CyberPT Physical Therapy Forum : Private Practice

CyberPT Physical Therapy Forum : Private Practice http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/ Copyright (c) 2006-2013 Web Wiz Forums - All Rights Reserved. Mon, 20 Apr 2026 20:45:07 +0000 Tue, 22 Oct 2019 16:28:49 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Web Wiz Forums 11.03 30 www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/RSS_topic_feed.asp?FID=15 <![CDATA[CyberPT Physical Therapy Forum]]> http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_images/pt_logo.gif http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/ <![CDATA[Private Practice : Physical Therapy Practice For Sale]]> http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1874&PID=2566&title=physical-therapy-practice-for-sale#2566 Author: CurePT
Subject: Physical Therapy Practice For Sale
Posted: Oct 22 2019 at 4:28pm

Has anyone sold a small practice?

I have owned a small outpatient PT practice for 14 years and just looking to transition out now. Still a very busy practice, just simply don't want to do it anymore. I have looked into listing and formal sales through broker, but just seems like a rip off. Has anyone had any experience with selling a small practice. Anyone interested in purchasing a small practice.

]]> Tue, 22 Oct 2019 16:28:49 +0000 http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1874&PID=2566&title=physical-therapy-practice-for-sale#2566 <![CDATA[Private Practice : Billing]]> http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1580&PID=2246&title=billing#2246 Author: Tracy
Subject: Billing
Posted: Jan 09 2019 at 7:43am

With the new Medicare rules and dropping the need to use FLR codes what is happening with other insurances such as Anthem Medicare Advantage, CareSource, BCMH, and other Medicare replacement plans. Is the FLR still needed on claims going to these payers?]]> Wed, 09 Jan 2019 07:43:22 +0000 http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1580&PID=2246&title=billing#2246 <![CDATA[Private Practice : An Introduction to Google AdWords]]> http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1496&PID=2076&title=an-introduction-to-google-adwords#2076 Author: pathwaysoftware
Subject: An Introduction to Google AdWords
Posted: Dec 03 2013 at 11:05am

For those looking to extend their digital marketing efforts, delving into Google Adwords can be an effective and low-cost way of promoting your practice to potential new clients.

What are Google Adwords?
Google Adwords are the paid advertisements that appear at the top, right hand side, and bottom of the page when you perform a Google Search. They are indicated by a faint yellow background, and allow you to be listed at the top when users enter specific search terms that relate to your practice.

Why should you use them?
Creating ads for specific keywords provides an easy mechanism to allow your practice to be listed on Page 1 when a potential client enters relevant search criteria. As 97% of consumers search for local businesses (like yours) online, having a prominent placing on Google can help to ensure that you are found by existing and potential clients.

How much does AdWords cost?
There is no fixed price for AdWords, rather there is a “cost-per-click” associated with your advertisements, and you can set a daily limit to cap your spend. These costs all depend on how competitive your market is, however Google has made it very easy to get an estimated cost.

Picking Keywords
To start using AdWords, go to www.adwords.google.co.uk and sign up for an account. Once you are logged in, you can then start to pick your keywords and create a campaign.

Click on Tools & Analysis and then select “Keyword Tool”. Now you can enter every possible keyword combination that you think might be relevant to your practice, so include your speciality and your location.

For example we entered “Physiotherapy New York” and you can see that there are 12,100 searches performed for that phrase and competition is “High” as you might expect.

Consequently the Cost per Click (CPC) is reasonably high at £3.04. However, this needs to be considered in the context of what your probable fee income will be from a course of treatment.

For example, if you have a New:Review ratio of 1:6, Initial Consultation cost of £40 and Follow-up Cost of £35 your average fee income per client is going to be £215. If your Click to New Client ratio is 100% (i.e. every click converts into a new client) then £3.04 is a small price to pay, however if your conversion rate is 1% you’re going to lose money!

Decide on some specific keywords, and then you can start to create a campaign.

Creating your First Campaign
When logged in, click on the “Create your first campaign” button you should see in your dashboard.

To try and keep it simple in the first instance, don’t change too many of the factors on this screen, but do name your campaign, selecting a “Standard” Type. The “Location” will be set to United Kingdom by default, but you may wish to localise this to your area.

You will be asked to specify a maximum daily budget. Without being too flippant (or wasteful), start off by picking a budget that you prepared to “write-off”, say £5. Obviously, this won’t work too well if the Keyword Tool tells you that your estimated CPC for your preferred keyword phrase (Cost per Click) is £7.50. Pick a sensible budget that you can afford, and don’t forget that you can modify this over time.

On the next page, you need to craft your advertisement that links to your site. Include your URL, and specify a headline (max 25 characters) and 2 description lines (max 25 characters each).

Then, based on your previous research, select your Keywords. Keep the tips in mind, and look towards Google-provided resources such as How to build the best keyword list.

Finally, enter your billing information, and you’re ready to go!

Refining your Campaign
Run your campaign for a week or so and see what you the results are like. AdWords provides you with a whole host of analysis tools. From these you will be able to review key measures like:

- The Average Position of your Ad

- The Number of Clicks you received

- The Number of Impressions – these indicate how often your ad has appeared on a search results page or website on the Google Network

- The effectiveness of your ads – you should create multiple ads with different messages so that you see which yield the best results

- Which keyword combinations are yielding the best results (i.e. most clicks and conversions)

Getting more Complex
Once you have got the hang of Adwords through refining your campaigns, you can begin to get more complex by setting up several that run simultaneously, or optimising them for different devices. Google provide lots of excellent, free resources to help you get the best out of your experience.

I hope this is useful!

Nat
www.writeupp.com

Edited by pathwaysoftware - Dec 03 2013 at 11:05am]]> Tue, 03 Dec 2013 11:05:02 +0000 http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1496&PID=2076&title=an-introduction-to-google-adwords#2076 <![CDATA[Private Practice : How to reduce no-shows in your Private Practice]]> http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1491&PID=2071&title=how-to-reduce-noshows-in-your-private-practice#2071 Author: pathwaysoftware
Subject: How to reduce no-shows in your Private Practice
Posted: Oct 17 2013 at 8:21am

Whilst attracting new clients is often a major concern for many private practices, difficulties can arise in actually getting people to show up for their scheduled appointments. No-shows can be costly both financially and in terms of your valuable time, and can affect the relationships that you build with your clients.

Whilst the reasons for failing to attend can be numerous, there are a few simple changes that you can make to help reduce the number of instances where clients Did Not Attend (DNA).

1. SMS and Email Reminders

One of the simplest explanations for a missed appointment is that the client simply forgets. To combat this sending a reminder message prior to the appointment can help to jog their memory to attend or to contact you in the event that they need to cancel or rearrange.

Whilst you could do this manually, investing in a Practice Management System can take away a lot of this headache for you. In many cases, SMS and Email Reminders are sent automatically as a result of appointment creation, and can be configured to be distributed at specified intervals before the appointment takes place.

Most systems will allow you to specify caseload-wide policies and then give you the ability opt-in or opt-out specific clients so that you don’t run foul of any privacy rules.

Many systems have built-in SMS services which negate the need for you to procure a separate mobile phone or use your personal number or device. These services can often customised so that SMS messages contain your practice name, and emails contain your contact details.

In most cases email reminders are provided free and text messages are charged on a per message basis which can vary dramatically so check the small print!

2. SMS and Email Confirmations

Much like the Reminders, sending a Confirmation immediately after booking an appointment to the client’s phone or inbox can serve as a useful aide memoire. It provides them with your contact details should they need to get in touch and may even prompt them to put the appointment straight into their own calendar.

3. Online Booking

Allowing clients to chose their own appointment slots can help to ensure that they only schedule appointments for times they are genuinely able to make. Presenting a view of the availability of your clinic hours and schedule in a client-friendly format can also help them to plan in a more informed manner, and puts the responsibility of selecting a date and time into their hands.

Online booking software that links to your online diary can allow clients to select exactly what type of treatment they want, and presents current availability with yourself or your colleagues, depending on the configuration of your practice.

Each treatment type can have a specific description, including information about price and duration, so that anyone looking to book can make a more informed decision. Clients can navigate forward in time to get a better idea of your upcoming availability, and you can offset this as much as you wish to accept last-minute bookings, or only those in a few days time.

Some systems encompass a text verification module that doubles as both a reducer of erroneous bookings and as a method to match your clients to any records for them that exist within your Practice Management System. Clients who exist in your system are matched to their details, whilst new clients can enter their phone number and email address, automating record creation and allowing you to contact them at a later date.

Once an online appointment has been booked by the client, they can be sent a confirmation email, and be presented with an easily printable page which details your practice terms and conditions, and directions to your location.

4. Prepayment

Undoubtedly, services that are paid for up front are less likely to be missed. You can consider taking up front payments, either in full or a deposit, to lessen the chance of missed appointments, and reduce the financial impact if they do occur.

One of the simplest ways is to implement a PayPal shop front on your site to take payments for different treatment types, which they can pay for directly through PayPal into your account.

Alternatively your clients can use PayPal mobile to pay you directly from their smartphone in a process that takes less than 30 seconds.

5. Tracking, tagging and Records

Whilst you can attribute many DNA’s to simple forgetfulness or a change of circumstance, you may find that patterns emerge, and that specific clients are repeat offenders. Without accurate record-keeping you may miss these trends, so you should consider a manner of identifying these individuals.

If you have a Practice Management System, you should be able to view a clear appointment history for each client. You can also mark appointments with different statuses, so you could mark all those who fail to attend as having “DNA” appointments, which will also remove them from any expected income calculations or invoices.

If failure to attend happens repeatedly for a specific client, you may wish to consider adding a note to their record indicating that they routinely miss appointments. This information will therefore be immediately to hand next time you or a colleague wishes to book an appointment for them. Systems with a “tagging” functionality can allow you to easily amalgamate these individuals into one easy exportable list, and their DNA tag will be easily viewable on their record.

Full client profiles with contact details can also be helpful if you wish to follow-up missed appointments with an email or phone call. Ensure that you capture as much information as possible for each client, and that you make an effort to contact patients who have slipped out of your regular caseload.

Nat
www.writeupp.com]]> Thu, 17 Oct 2013 08:21:47 +0000 http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1491&PID=2071&title=how-to-reduce-noshows-in-your-private-practice#2071 <![CDATA[Private Practice : Attracting New Business to your Private Practice]]> http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1490&PID=2070&title=attracting-new-business-to-your-private-practice#2070 Author: pathwaysoftware
Subject: Attracting New Business to your Private Practice
Posted: Aug 14 2013 at 11:03am

Introduction

Attracting new business is often the biggest cause of heartache for most small businesses, not just healthcare professionals.

So, what to do?

Here’s a brief list of practical things that you can do to get started, followed by some slightly more detailed guidance on SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).

If you wondering what SEO has to do with you, please maintain an open mind. There are changes afoot in that field that will benefit practitioners (like you) that genuinely enhance the lives of their clients!

Also, bear in mind that Google now estimates that 97% of people search for local businesses (like yours) online.

A Note of Caution! If you’re not a believer in the internet or having a website, it’s probably not worthwhile reading any further! Most (but not all) of what I have covered below relates to driving traffic to your website

Kickstarting Demand

Here are a few quick things that you can do to drive traffic to your site and clients through your door:

Sign up for Google Places for Business – it’s FREE and you will likely appear on Page 1 for any location-based search in your area (provided you don’t have loads of competition who have already done it)

Set up a simple Google Adwords campaign – choose keywords that are relevant to your target market, create an ad, allocate a small budget (i.e. £2/day) and then make sure you do your utmost to convert the clicks to your site into business – this obviously hinges on the quality of your site to a large extent. If you don’t find you’re getting business from the Campaigns you can turn them off immediately.

Also try some Facebook Campaigns – very similar to AdWords but your target market is defined by “interests” not keywords.

Register with Health Insurance companies where applicable. I know currently a number of the providers aren’t taking on private practitioners in certain specialities. As part of the application process any evidence you can provide of Outcomes (PROM’s), Satisfaction, and Recommendations will help your cause.

Register with appropriate Online Directories. These generally fall into one of two camps i) Those that are run by professional bodies where membership includes a listing ii) independent providers that will charge you for a listing. To establish if its worthwhile doing either, perform an incognito search for your services in your area and see if they appear on Page 1. If they don’t, they’re nothing worth being in.

Local Newspaper editorial (NOT ADVERTISING) – in some respects relates to the points that I will discuss about SEO later. Essentially by demonstrating expertise in a subject you will get business. These days features editors are really stretched so if you go to them with a nice piece about the “Pressures of working life in the 21st Century” they’ll probably bite your arm off. Additionally, most have some kind of online presence so it also helps your SEO!

Ultra Local Publications have become very popular in the UK. Generally they target small geographical communities (5000-10,000 households) delivering a free publication listing local businesses and a bit of local news. They’re generally very cheap – £20 for a small ad per month

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) – Changing Times

Why should SEO matter to me? If you accept the premise that more than 90% of people search for local businesses online, you naturally want to appear at the top of Page 1 when a potential client types keywords or phrases into Google that relate to your area of expertise.

Historically, this “black-art” (of SEO) was focused on the way you structured your website, how densely you packed it with keywords and how aggressively you secured back-links (external links to your site). Of course there’s more science to it than this, but this is the essence of the way things have been since Google dominated search.

But now, thankfully, things are changing. Google has introduced something called Semantic Search in a bid to stop people from “gaming” the system and appearing in search results where perhaps they shouldn’t.

This isn’t the place to go into detail about these changes but the guiding principles that underpin this new approach are:

- Trust

- Reputation

- Authority

Which is great news if 1) you genuinely enhance the lives of your clients 2) you know your subject matter 3) 1 & 2 are then conveyed via your online presence. You should be able to tick all three of these!

This doesn’t mean you should discard the old staples of SEO. Your site still needs to be well structured and you need to use the correct terms in your copy, but this won’t cut it going forwards. The number of datapoints that Google is going to utilise to determine where you appear in search is going to increase significantly along with the inferences (and connections) between those datapoints.

SEO – Practical Next Steps

I deliberately started this piece with some quick tactical things that you can do to get customers coming in through the door. SEO by its very nature is a slow burn, driven in part by the initial clients that you see.

By following the steps I have outlined below continuously over a period of 3-9 months, you will start to see significant results. That may seem like a long time and a significant commitment, but don’t forget 85% of search attention is focused on the top 5 results on Page 1 – if you’re not there you’re potentially missing out on business. If you are currently in Position 1 of Page 1 and you’re not doing any of this stuff you might find your position falling over the coming months/years.

If you don’t have a blog on your site or some vehicle for you to easily add content, you should get one added to your site ASAP. This will enable you to publish interesting content (to your target audience) that will demonstrate your reputation & authority

Set up accounts on Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and possibly LinkedIn – depending on your area of specialisation

Create your own original content – allocate 30 minutes at the start of the day to this and post it on your blog. It’ll be a slog at first, but you will reap the rewards. Don’t just limit it to written content. If you can produce videos (nothing flashy) or pictographs, they work tremendously

If you don’t have the time to write original content every day, use Google Alerts to pinpoint fresh, RELEVANT content that you can comment on in your blog – always taking care to credit the source

Push this content out through all social networks – most importantly Google+. More on this later

As soon as is humanly practical get testimonials from your clients and post them on your website, with their consent obviously – this helps to establish reputation but is nowhere near as useful as client-authored recommendation via social networks – obviously this is dependent on your area of specialisation

A Word on Google+

To implement the new search approach that I outlined above, Google needs access to vast amounts of data (shares, comments, recommendations, content etc.). Unfortunately the biggest sources of this type of content were/are Facebook/Twitter/YouTube/Instagram. But Google doesn’t have unfettered access to these platforms (with the exception of YouTube) so it launched Google+, its own Social Networking platform. Doubtless many of you aren’t on it or don’t believe you have time for another social networking site but you NEED to get on it.

Content distributed, shared and +1′d (liked) on Google+ gets greater prominence when Google is ranking your site.

Nat
www.writeupp.com]]> Wed, 14 Aug 2013 11:03:41 +0000 http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1490&PID=2070&title=attracting-new-business-to-your-private-practice#2070 <![CDATA[Private Practice : Pros & Cons of Online Booking for your Practice]]> http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1483&PID=2062&title=pros-cons-of-online-booking-for-your-practice#2062 Author: pathwaysoftware
Subject: Pros & Cons of Online Booking for your Practice
Posted: Jul 11 2013 at 9:15am

These days you can book almost anything online and increasingly clients are expecting to be able to do the same when they go to their local PT.

In the UK many clients have started using the NHS’s “Choose & Book” Service to schedule appointments in Acute care. Latest figures suggest that more than 10 million appointments are now booked via “Choose & Book” with a significant proportion of them being booked online.

As a result of "Choose & book" and similar initiatives around the world many clients have become familiar with the concept of online booking and in many cases they expect the same capabilities to be available in the private sector.

Considerations

- To be able to accept online bookings it’s preferable that you have your own website

- Don’t be tempted to try and get someone to develop your website and booking engine themselves - there are lots of pre-built booking engines out there that mean that you don’t need to re-invent the wheel - it will also be expensive!

- If you decide to go down the route of accepting online bookings you need to make sure that it doesn’t create more admin headaches for you than accepting bookings via the phone

- If possible, look for solutions that integrate with whatever systems or processes you are already using to run your practice, or look for an integrated solution that does both online bookings and practice management

- To minimise the possibility of increased “no shows” you should make sure that your chosen solution supports SMS/Email reminders and where possible includes some sort of mechanism that validates the client’s identity

- A number of solutions provide mechanisms for online payment which is great if you are offering one-off treatments, but in cases where the duration of the treatment is unknown until initial assessment it might be less appropriate

- You should probably give some thought to who you want to book online and what they can book. Some practices only offer follow-up treatments online and require prospective new clients to phone in. This has the benefit of allowing you to pre-screen the client before they book and assuming you have a New:Follow-Up Ratio > 1 it shouldn’t be too time consuming

- Using online booking there is the opportunity automate certain tasks including the acceptance of booking terms and provision of directions to your practice or clinic

Pros

- You’re able to take bookings 24*7

- Time spent answering the phone doesn’t eat into your client-facing time

- You may be able to eradicate all reception/admin related costs

- Taking online bookings will differentiate you from your competitors

- It provides added convenience for your clients

Cons

- By opening up your availability to online booking you will probably have less control of your diary. This can be mitigated by not allowing online bookings within a certain number of days of the current day but this could mean missing out on urgent appointments that might fill your schedule and increase your income.

- It may lead to an increase in “no shows” unless appropriate identity validation is put in place

- There will be less or no opportunity for pre-consultation. In many cases this may not be a problem but depending on your circumstances or your degree of specialisation it may be an issue

Conclusion

In most situations the case for online booking is a good one:

- Clients are generally accustomed to booking online;

- the costs of implementing online booking have fallen dramatically;

- the operational savings can be significant;

- its more convenient for your clients

As long as it suits you and the type of treatment you offer it’s probably worthwhile sticking your toe in the water.

Regards,

Natalie

www.writeupp.com]]> Thu, 11 Jul 2013 09:15:41 +0000 http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1483&PID=2062&title=pros-cons-of-online-booking-for-your-practice#2062 <![CDATA[Private Practice : Starting up a Private Practice?]]> http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1190&PID=2047&title=starting-up-a-private-practice#2047 Author: pathwaysoftware
Subject: Starting up a Private Practice?
Posted: Jun 07 2013 at 8:02am

No problem, glad we could help! You might also be interested in Part 2 of the series: "Marketing your Start-up Practice".

This covers:
- Branding your Practice
- Online Demand Generation
- Offline Demand Generation

I hope this is of use.

Natalie
http://www.writeupp.com/marketing-your-start-up-practice

Edited by pathwaysoftware - Jun 07 2013 at 8:02am]]> Fri, 07 Jun 2013 08:02:11 +0000 http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1190&PID=2047&title=starting-up-a-private-practice#2047 <![CDATA[Private Practice : Starting up a Private Practice?]]> http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1190&PID=1772&title=starting-up-a-private-practice#1772 Author: athenmartin
Subject: Starting up a Private Practice?
Posted: Mar 22 2013 at 2:55am

Thanks, its great that you are sharing this information here. one of my friend want to make his carrier in physical therapy I will definitely share it with him. :)]]> Fri, 22 Mar 2013 02:55:52 +0000 http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1190&PID=1772&title=starting-up-a-private-practice#1772 <![CDATA[Private Practice : Medicare Reimbursement]]> http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1248&PID=1749&title=medicare-reimbursement#1749 Author: Ask a PT
Subject: Medicare Reimbursement
Posted: Mar 13 2013 at 5:59pm

Our user asked: "With the Medicare rate on private practice being so low, how can PT clinics remain open."

Ask a PT Response: "Yes, that is a big problem. Reducing expenses and maximizing return on investment is the best way to make it in private practice. I know alot of private practices are diversifying there payer mix as well. ie. work comp, personal injury, community programs - ie. Healthy steps, etc. When seeing Medicare patients the PT will have no choice to accomplish as much as possible in less time given reimbursement rates. Checking out the APTA Private Practice Setion may give you some more insight as well: http://www.ppsapta.org/ I hope this helps."

]]> Wed, 13 Mar 2013 17:59:37 +0000 http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1248&PID=1749&title=medicare-reimbursement#1749 <![CDATA[Private Practice : Starting up a Private Practice?]]> http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1190&PID=1663&title=starting-up-a-private-practice#1663 Author: pathwaysoftware
Subject: Starting up a Private Practice?
Posted: Feb 08 2013 at 11:13am

Hi,

This might help if anyone is considering Starting Up.

I've written a pretty detailed piece about "Starting up the RIGHT practice" which covers

- Scoping the Macro opportunity
- Using Online Tools to Understand your Competition
- Ways to Guess-timate your Income
- Should you consider "Buying" instead of "Building"
- Some thoughts on Business Plans
- Questions you need to ask yourself before you jump in

I hope it's useful!

Natalie
http://www.writeupp.com/start-up-the-right-healthcare-practice]]> Fri, 08 Feb 2013 11:13:02 +0000 http://www.cyberpt.com/ptforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1190&PID=1663&title=starting-up-a-private-practice#1663