How The Founder of The Independent Clinician Got Her Very First Private Speech Therapy Client10/1/2012
And So It StartedMonths prior to this fateful day, I had been becoming more and more interested in the prospect of developing my own private patient business. I had watched two of my SLP colleagues grow their practices to their desired levels. They were both working part-time at our work so they could have benefits and colleague interaction- otherwise they were making nearly double the income in half the amount of time with their private patients. I was three years out of graduate school at that time. I had gained both knowledge/skills and also the confidence to feel that I was truly worth $80 (or $100!) per hour. My colleague Rick said, “Someday soon someone will ask and you simply say, ‘Yes.” A Conflict of Interest?My first private patient was a two year old boy who had been born extremely premature and was now presenting with many developmental delays. There was a conflict of interest at hand: I was evaluating him at the hospital where I worked. At the time, my schedule was so full that I could only offer them therapy once per week. They were interested in the private therapy to supplement his treatment and to help increase the chances of carryover in the home. While part of me felt uneasy about this, I told them that as soon as I had more openings on my schedule, I would offer him a second slot at the hospital. A few weeks later, my schedule at the hospital opened up and as promised, I told the mother that I could now see him twice weekly at work and we didn’t have to continue privately. (The part of me that was enjoying the extra cash was a little sad about this- but I knew it was the right thing to do.) To my surprise, the mother said, “What if we continued once weekly at your office and increased private therapy to twice a week?” As the little boy was very complex, she found that he was more comfortable in the home and felt that he was making more progress there. * On a side note, money was not an issue for this family and I think the mom liked the added convenience of my coming to her. I felt like although the makings of a conflict of interest were certainly present, I offered all of the choices to the family and they chose to do both private and insurance based therapy. I know that private patients are like customers: they need to be informed of their options and they make the best decision for themselves/their families. Lessons Learned With My First Private Therapy ClientI saw my first private patient for several months and then the family moved out of state. To be honest, the family was turning out to be a bit strange and I was somewhat relieved when they told me of their plans to move. I would have referred him elsewhere if they had not moved. I learned quite a bit about myself during this experience:
Cindy Weinberger, OT/L, CHT share her occupational therapy private practice success story To read more private practice success stories, click here.
What were your hesitations in going into private practice? I have always been fearful of the “business” end of private practice (billing and marketing) and have also not been in a financial position to give up my full time employment. The risk of giving up our family’s health plan and the “guaranteed” paycheck have discouraged me from pursuing my own practice, but the thought was never far from my mind. Tell me about the process of setting up your business. I had no idea how to begin. I live in an area where I knew that if I did not accept insurance, I would not get clients. I began the process 6 months in advance of planning to see any patients, applying to become credentialed with medicare, medicaid and 5 other commercial insurances that are commonly seen in my area. This process is tedious and detail oriented (not my forte!) but I made it through getting an NPI #, CAQH, malpractice insurance etc. I consulted with a PT friend who recently started a practice and she recommended a company named Office Ally, for FREE billing. So far, they have great customer service and are submitting my bills. I did not want big overhead initially, so I am renting a corner of an existing PT practice with use of their office supplies, receptionist for scheduling and modalities. My purchases were not very big. What’s Happening With Your Practice Now? I have been “open” for 2 months so far and it is steadily growing. I changed my job hours to 4, 10 hour days, having one day to work at the private practice. If needed, I fit in a patient on a Saturday, or an evening appt on my way home from my “regular job” Admittedly, it is a bit crazy schedule wise, but I am excited to be building something of my OWN and my family is supportive (key) What is one piece of advice that you would give to someone who is just getting started with private patients? The few things I wish I did differently are:
What I am glad that I did is that by not leaving my job, or reducing my hours, I am not stressed about the practice growth. It can grow slowly, and that is OK. I am also glad I do not have big overhead and am starting small. A year from now, if I am busy and have reduced my hours at the hospital, I can consider setting up my own space, and at that point, I will register a real name!! I am amazed at how much I have learned from my first thoughts on this when I purchased Jena’s book, to now, but I have a long way to go and lots more to learn. So, that’s my story! I am on LinkedIn but no website (yet!) You may not be aware of this but each month there are several SLP's, OT's and PT's who are earning some extra cash - by sharing The Independent Clinician message with their friends, connections and followers. This is done through my affiliate program. Firstly, what IS an affiliate program? An affiliate program is a fantastic way for you to take part in spreading the Independent Clinician message with me. If you liked the book/s (The Guide to Private Patients and The Guide to Creating a Web Presence), share your thoughts on it/them with your friends, colleagues, followers, readers, and I’ll help you make some money for your efforts. Can anyone be an affiliate? Yes! You share your unique affiliate link through your website, as well as a newsletter, in an e-mail, Facebook updates, Tweets, put it in your email auto-signature, and many other creative ideas. What do you get? For my affiliate program, 25% commission on every sale that goes through your site. This means you make $12.48 on the eBook versions of both books and $16.24 on the coil bound version of the Guide to Private Patients. It's pretty easy money --> Share your link and get paid. That's it! I really recommend sharing not selling. That is, tell your readers what you really think about my books and how they might help them. Be honest. Not sales-y. Think about how YOU like to be sold to. Don't you prefer recommendations from friends over hard-selling? The easiest ways to promote The Guides:
The best way to make the most out of being an affiliate is by actively engaging your readers, sharing the book as a handy reference, explaining the books and The Independent Clinician philosophy, and getting people motivated. Share how you used The Guides, what happened for you. Be personal. No hard sell, just thorough Guides to help your fellow SLP's, OT's and PT's. |
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