Having a variety of cash-paying programs can increase the profit of your physical therapy business. Nitin Chhoda elaborates the importance of setting-up different cash-paying programs so that your practice does not depend on insurance claims alone.
In any other service industry, cash paying programs are a given. Consider the food service industry; every time a service is provided, the customer pays immediately.
In healthcare practices, like in physical therapy business, the system is quite different.
The patients are not usually the ones paying the bill, and if they are, they probably only pay a part of it. Additionally, patients have little to no idea what their financial responsibility is, as it relates to their insurance plan.
Physical Therapy Billing is Different
So in general, physical therapy practices, even with good physical therapy marketing, are in a position to provide a service which they do not know will be paid for, until the cash comes in.
Add to that fact, insurance companies will use any excuse to reject or deny a claim, and the cash flow of the practice can look very bleak. More and more practices are looking for ways to bring in cash through cash paying programs.
Physical Therapy Services Are Not Just For Injuries Anymore
One way that you can start to bring in cash is by starting a great physical therapy marketing campaign that focuses on the many ways that physical therapy can help people. For example, as we age our muscles and bones get weaker and we are more prone to injuries.
Most elderly people do not consider going to a physical therapist until they are injured and need to recover. But more and more physical therapy marketing messages focus on prevention rather than just dealing with an injury. Physical therapists can help elderly people to stay stronger and healthier, which will reduce the risk and likelihood of an injury.
Offer a Variety of Programs
For many physical therapy marketing strategists, this is a message that is often targeted towards the children of elderly parents. If you can bring in a few clients who are simply there to get into better physical shape through targeted exercises, the income you make will be in cash.
When we say cash in any business, we don’t necessarily mean dollar bills. Cash refers to any form of legal tender that immediately becomes available once the transaction is complete. This can include cash, credit card payments, and checks.
For a physical therapy service like strength training for the elderly, the physical therapy marketing program will need to be marketed carefully and the right audience needs to be targeted.
That way, when people walk through the door they will be expecting to pay for the visits they get.
Using an EMR to Better Track Patient Payments
Another important way to ensure you have some cash flow is by implementing a more efficient physical therapy marketing system for determining just how much each patient will pay.
Medical EMRs make it easier to track a patient’s responsibility in regards to payment, and well-organized physical therapy marketing of practices now ask for up-front payment of the portion that patients are responsible for, whether that is a co-pay or refers to the amount of their deductible that they still owe. The state of insurance is complex, and getting a little bit of help from an EMR is almost necessary to track it accurately.
