physical therapy business Archives | Page 5 of 9

Physical Therapy Marketing – Knowing Limits and Setting Realistic Income Goals

by Nitin Chhoda PT, DPT | Oct 15, 2017 | Physical Therapy Documentation, Physical Therapy Management, Physical Therapy Marketing

Making income goals for your practice is a must, just make sure they are limited and realistic especially if your just starting out. Nitin Chhoda explains why setting your goals with realistic income is important in order to meet the expectations of your practice.

In addition to hiring a qualified physical therapy marketing staff and organizing your practice to be efficient and effective, you should already have a plan on how you’ll pay your bills before you even sign the lease.

That means coming up with at least an estimated physical therapy marketing budget based on a few known quantities, such as expenses like rent and an estimate of how many referrals you can expect from alliances with other medical practices. There seems to be a tendency among practice owners to fluff up numbers or at least be very optimistic when budgeting.

Limiting Expectations

Don’t make your own success harder than it has to be; budget according to real numbers and realistic expectations. If your goals are attainable, you can reach them and make even bigger goals. But if you start with goals that are almost impossible to reach, you’ll find yourself barely treading water.

Every practice owner has to be at least a bit of an optimist. Now is a great time to start a business with a great physical therapy marketing plan, especially with incentives from the government to hire people and to take out loans.

In fact, the physical therapy marketing plan is likely to pick up in the coming decade like never before. The baby boomers are aging, and that means the largest elderly generation the United States has ever experienced.

The Good News

This is good news for physical therapists, but it means that things like physical therapy marketing are going to become even more important than ever before. There may be many potential patients, but there are also a lot of other physical therapy practices that are expecting an increase in business.

Physical therapy marketing is a necessity these days, so don’t forget to budget for a great physical therapy marketing plan and implementation strategy.

Just don’t expect everything to work out perfectly at first. Starting any business takes a lot of work and a huge financial risk. The only way to mitigate that risk is by keeping your expectations low and reflecting low expectations in your budget.

If you know how much it will cost to pay for your physical therapy marketing each month, find out how to make at least that much with the minimum amount of effort and time.

Take Your Time

Another easy-to-adopt mistake is to rush into a fast-paced and busy physical therapy marketing environment. Remember that every member of the staff is essentially new and they are all learning to work together.

Everyone needs to start with enough time to do their jobs right, so they can form good habits rather than bad ones.

A rushed and over-worked staff member will make mistakes and work inefficiently. That includes the owner and manager.

Plan for a slow ramp up, expect limitations at the beginning, and set realistic income goals and targets. You should always err on the side of pessimistic, if only because it’s better to overshoot your physical therapy marketing goals than to not reach them at all.

Physical Therapy Marketing: Cash Paying Programs That Work

by Nitin Chhoda PT, DPT | Oct 1, 2017 | Physical Therapy Documentation, Physical Therapy Management, Physical Therapy Marketing

It’s never to late for your physical therapy business to provide cash-paying programs in order for your practice to receive income in real-time.

Nitin Chhoda shares how by putting up some cash-paying programs for your patients you will help them stay connected, as well as provide an alternative source of income for your practice.

The secret recipe for a successful physical therapy marketing plan of a practice sounds like something that any owner would pay a lot of money to obtain. Sadly, there is no secret recipe.

There are, however, very open and public ways that physical therapy practices have been able to increase their cash flow.

This doesn’t mean that physical therapists are charging more for services or scheduling shorter sessions and charging the same amount. Cash paying programs from an effective physical therapy marketing are ways that a practice can offset the lag that comes from billing insurance companies for most patients’ expenses.

Making Insurance Companies Pay

The best way to get the cash to your practice is to streamline and improve your claims submission process. For some practices this will mean hiring a medical billing and coding service.

For others it will mean implementing a medical EMR that integrates the clinician’s notes with the coder’s system and the biller’s system. An EMR can drastically improve the rate of accepted claims and that is big physical therapy marketing business plan for any type of service.

Changing the Way Patients Pay

Some EMR systems of business actually improve the way medical billing and physical therapy marketing happens to the point that the biller or receptionist can collect the patient portion of the payment the same day as the appointment. Getting to that point may take a bit of time and energy, but getting payment up front is well worth your time and effort.

An incorrect claim to the insurance company will be rejected. If you have done the research and figured out just what the insurance company will cover before you send the claim, you can not only improve the rate of accepted claims, but you can ensure that cash owed by the patient is paid in a timely manner.

Changing the Way Patients View Physical Therapy

This point cannot be made strongly enough. If you want a real cash paying program to exist as part of your physical therapy marketing practice, you must incorporate preventative and non-billable programs.

Because the challenge for physical therapy practices, as well as almost every other healthcare practice, lies in the billing of insurance companies, it can be hard to change the way you think about cash income.

These can be as simple as exercise classes for elderly patients who want to avoid injury. Each patient may pay in cash for the class, and overall, the practice earns the money that is paid.

It’s Never Too Late

But it’s never too late to start a physical therapy marketing campaign, or to encourage current clients to continue to come to your practice, even when they’ve healed from their injury.

Physical therapy marketing is similar to the way we market good health in general. Everyone wants to be healthy, and good health makes people happy.

If you start a physical therapy marketing campaign that encourages people to get healthier through physical therapy marketing and programs that your practice offers, you may be adding exactly the kind of cash paying program that your practice needs to stay ahead of the game.

Physical Therapy Marketing to Patients Is Part of Healthcare Today

by Nitin Chhoda PT, DPT | Sep 17, 2017 | Physical Therapy Documentation, Physical Therapy Management, Physical Therapy Marketing

All businesses, including physical therapy, have to have an effective marketing strategy. Nitin Chhoda reveals a few techniques on effective physical therapy marketing that will help your practice succeed.

Physical therapy marketing has changed dramatically over the past decade. Nobody looks at the yellow pages anymore, and people move so frequently that relying on word-of-mouth is less and less practical.

Instead, everyone is finding the information they need online, using online word-of-mouth tools like social networks and consumer review websites.

Health care providers such as physical therapists, have to market themselves too, and they have to have effective physical therapy marketing even to their current patients.

Knowing the Physical Therapy Marketing Niche

The first step toward effective physical therapy marketing is to understand the market that you are trying to appeal to. Most people don’t want to have to go to the doctor, or to the hospital, or to a physical therapist.

When they do go, they are apprehensive, and not just because they are concerned that something may be wrong. They are also always worried about what it will cost them to find out if they need more healthcare.

One way to attract patient using modern physical therapy marketing is to present a modern and confident sense of health care and great physical therapy marketing. Of course, having a comprehensive, integrated EMR in place will put you in the position to demonstrate modernity and efficiency.

But beyond that, you will want to let you patients know that they can trust you to deal effectively with their insurance companies.

Because so many patients don’t even know what is covered by their insurance plan, they are even more anxious about the billing process. One way to help patients is to talk frankly and openly with them about what they can expect.

Insurance Plan Coverage

Finding out just what the insurance plan does cover before the patient comes in for an appointment is not always easy, but it does give you an incredible physical therapy marketing message.

What if you could tell patients that you will work with their insurance company even before they walk through the doors, so they know what they’ll pay even before they accept any health care services?

Patients are a difficult market to target with a convincing and inoffensive physical therapy marketing ideas and strategy.

You don’t want to infer that they aren’t getting the care they need or that they have been doing things wrong. But you do want to offer them something they haven’t been getting: convenience and transparency when it comes to paying bills.

Establishing Relationships

Physical therapy marketing doesn’t have to be focused solely on commercials and advertisements. You should also establish relationships with the complementary practices that may be able to send you referrals.

You want the confidence of anyone who can send you a referral, because referrals are one of the most consistent forms of marketing you can get. Patients are much more likely to go to you because someone they know and trust sent them.

And physical therapy marketing doesn’t stop when the patient makes an appointment. You’ll continue to share your marketing messages with your patients during and after each visit.

This may mean improving as you go and taking feedback, but the end result will be a practice that actually caters to the needs of patients and ensures that when they do need health care, they will come to your practice.

Physical Therapy Marketing to Patients Before, During, and After Visits

by Nitin Chhoda PT, DPT | Sep 10, 2017 | Physical Therapy Documentation, Physical Therapy Management, Physical Therapy Marketing

Marketing your physical therapy business doesn’t rely on producing creative brochures alone. It also depends on how you treat your patients before, during and after each visit. Nitin Chhoda shows how treating your patients can make or break your practice.

Most healthcare practice managers think of physical therapy marketing as something they buy. You can hire a physical therapy marketing professional to handle your advertising and published materials.

You can also ask them to research competitors and find ways to incorporate successful competitive messages into your marketing plan.

But physical therapy marketing is also something your practice does whenever anyone has contact with a patient. The overall impression that patients have of the entire practice is what will determine whether or not they’ll come back.

Referrals: Professional and Personal

You probably have a pretty good idea of how important professional referrals are to your practice. If you work with a few other, complementary practices, you probably have a consistent stream of referred patients.

But there are other physical therapy marketing referrals that happen all the time, and you may or may not even realize how much of a difference they are making.

Personal referrals from current patients to potential patients are very powerful physical therapy marketing plan. In fact, it is worthwhile to think about the potential patients when making decisions about how to run the practice.

Patients Feedback Are Important

What do you want your patients to say about the care they receive when they come to your practice? As an example, on a Facebook feed a friend wrote about her dentist. She said they take very good care of her, have a very comfortable waiting area and even some other perks.

She looks forward to going to her dentist. If all 800 friends of hers saw that post, a percentage of them will actually take action and check out that dentist. How many people do you know that say they look forward to going to the dentist’s office?

It’s the same thing when it comes to your physical therapy practice. Having a great physical therapy marketing should always consider the word-of-mouth referrals.

You want this kind of referral to be a physical therapy marketing tool that works for you. It can just as easily work against you, with people complaining about long waiting times, rushed appointments, and disorganized offices. Making a good impression is marketing at its most basic.

Post-Visit Physical Therapy Marketing

Another critical part of your physical therapy marketing plan will be the follow-up after appointments. Take every opportunity to learn from your patients by asking for feedback in a few different ways.

Have a comments box in the waiting room, communicate via email when scheduling future appointments, and periodically send a card to ask patients how they feel about their experiences in your practice.

Continue to Care for Your Patients Even After the Visit

Your patients should feel that they are cared for, that their clinician is not just doing their job, but is someone they can rely on to communicate with them and educate them about ways they can stay healthy. Rather than treating a visit to your practice as a burden or because there’s something wrong, a visit should be a simple check-up to make sure things are going okay.

The best physical therapy marketing you do will be to frame the work you do in a positive light, communicate messages that inform patients about how your practice wants them to feel good, and ensuring that the experience is always refreshingly honest, open, and relaxed.

Physical Therapy Management: Importance of Technology and Automation for the New Economy Practice

by Nitin Chhoda PT, DPT | Jan 1, 2017 | Physical Therapy Documentation, Physical Therapy Management

Nitin Chhoda discusses the importance of an automated electronic medical records software to streamline and automate the ‘drivers’ of your practice. These include marketing, documentation, coding and billing.

Today’s society is a high-stress environment with a myriad of ways for injuries to occur that require the services of a physical therapist.

To meet the needs of a burgeoning clientele, physical therapy management must include office systems and automation to provide better patient care, control costs, increase revenues, and market practices efficiently.

Learn to Coordinate Physical Therapy Information from Other Sources

The day of the single healthcare provider is over. Today’s patient receives treatments from multiple providers and consumes a multitude of prescriptions.

The need to coordinate, as part of physical therapy management, of information from numerous sources is obvious, and electronic medical record (EMR) systems simplify the process for fewer errors, more effective treatments, less waste and faster payments.

Any therapist evaluating an EMR should choose one that allows for the exchange of information with other patient-centered care facilities.

Extreme sports and amusements, an aging population, and healthcare reform present an increased need for therapists to automate as many low-dollar activities as possible. Web-based EMRs provide the means for therapists to control labor costs, schedule staff, purchase equipment, and plan expansions.

The Role of Having a Physical Therapy Software

Physical therapy management EMRs provide metrics and analytics that assist therapists to define where marketing campaigns should be implemented for the highest return on investment and where referrals are originating.

Physical therapy management software allows information to be updated once, used in a variety of ways, and is available to other authorized professionals who require access. Data can be used to track patient progress, educate clients and manage better treatment outcomes.

Information contained within an EMR provides therapists with a powerful tool for reporting statistics, creating new and innovative treatments and providing data for the public good.

Use Electronic Medical Records or EMR

Electronic medical records utilize the latest physical therapy management technology to facilitate reimbursements through electronic billing for better cash flow, while reducing the instance of paybacks and denials. Web-based systems provide instant access to everything from patient records to billing from any location equipped with an Internet connection.

EMRs can be installed on laptops or the iPad and are compatible with Windows and Mac operating systems.

EMRs are positioned to become the norm for physical therapy management, providing essential automation for the 21st century practice.

Why Use EMR Technology?

Enhanced patient care, quicker reimbursements and more efficient physical therapy management allows practice owners to gain better control over every aspect of their clinic for greater profitability.

The technology is available and there’s no logical reason not to employ it to benefit physical therapy management. The systems handle low-dollar activities, allowing therapists to concentrate on innovative treatments, better patient care and future financial planning to establish their personal income goals.

Physical Therapy Marketing: Establishing Income Goals in Your Practice

by Nitin Chhoda PT, DPT | Dec 26, 2016 | Physical Therapy Management, Physical Therapy Marketing

Every business should have an income goal and physical therapy practices and medical practices are no exception. Nitin Chhoda explains how to establish income goals for your practice and set the stage for a profitable business.

Financial planning is a key element for any business owner, but it can be more difficult for physical therapists who deal with fluctuating patient numbers.

Those without a solid plan for physical therapy marketing can soon find themselves adrift in an economy where their services are undervalued and their standard of living is at risk.

It’s important to realize that in the beginning, the anticipated income that’s set in a financial action plan aren’t nearly as important as actually creating the plan to attain the goal.

Develop a Good Strategy

Developing a strategy to clarify direction and determine income not only helps eliminate unwelcome surprises, it also provides physical therapy marketing practice owners with a double dose of reality.

Implementing an electronic medical record system other office systems that automate low-dollar activities provide significant savings and present a good place to start.

A six-figure income isn’t beyond the realm of possibility, but it may not be attainable with the current state of the practice. By setting a dollar figure, therapists will have a clear physical therapy marketing plan of what they want to accomplish with their practice, the steps that need to be taken to reach their goals, and help them differentiate between valid opportunities and unproductive distractions.

Gather Financial Records From the Past Years

A good place to begin is by gathering financial records for the past three or four years and set aside an entire day to be incommunicado. Clear the calendar, turn off the phone and email, and shut down social media connections.

For a physical therapy marketing task of this importance, it’s essential to eliminate outside distractions.

Therapists will need to break down each year’s income into specific categories, leaving nothing out.

It’s helpful to use a spreadsheet for the exercise that encompasses income from all avenues, including teaching, speaking engagements, consulting services and product sales.

Leave a column for notes to record personal insights about the numbers. With the assistance of a spreadsheet, it will soon become apparent to therapists where their most profitable activities and biggest moneymakers for each month are generated.

Track Physical Therapy Marketing Trends

Therapists can track physical therapy marketing trends for various times of the year and use those to plan and organize high-dollar events to coincide with points of low income. It will quickly become clear if the anticipated income goals are achievable and if not, what must be done to boost revenues.

Physical therapy marketing and management requires practice owners to be ruthless in pursuit of a profitably operated clinic. Income levels fluctuate and they’re affected by a wide array of variables.

Physical therapy marketing campaigns, new referral sources, and the addition of services will all combine to affect the flow of patient traffic. Slow months can be augmented with special promotions and the upcoming year can be planned around a comprehensive plan of action.

Have a Definite Plan of Action

Physical therapy marketing is a critical element of profitable practices, and the most highly successful therapists have a definite plan of action to achieve their financial goals and those for their clinic.

Practice owners want the best possible treatments and outcomes for their patients, but they also need to make a living.

Therapists can easily define their efforts for future financial security by closely analyzing every aspect of their business. For those who prefer a more physical therapy marketing in-depth approach, therapists can reverse engineer their current operating system for enhanced income opportunities and patient care.