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Diane -> How to start a small solo PT practice (March 23, 2005 6:48:00 AM)
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Randy asked me in the PT Salaries thread in another forum how this worked.
[URL=http://www.rehabedge.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=10;t=000077;p=1]PT Salaries[/URL]
[QUOTE]I've been wanting a marketing/business section on this forum. Why don't you and FLA and any other therapists, maybe the chiro's also, share with us your experience, ideas and routine. I think a lot of therapists would like to practice like you do, but just haven't really been exposed to it as a practical idea. How do you market, bill, do you have staff, do you answer to anybody, overhead, etc.[/QUOTE]I see Nicole opened a thread that is for marketing all varieties of practice, but my understanding is that some of you would like your own little dream solo practice. So I will address this in ths thread, and Holly and others who have 'stopped the madness', can add their thoughts too..
I'll leave out the first couple decades of practice. It was good practice, that's all. I went to manual therapy courses and studied, got myself to a place that I thought was adequate first. I was in absolutely no hurry, took my time, way more than most people would probably. I must give Loren Rex DO at the URSA school credit for providing a model of what a solo manual therapy practice could look like. It is essentially the one I adopted.
Here are the steps:
1.Psychological preparedness
includes:
a)be confident with your hands as palpatory and treatment devices. You'll be dealing with peoples' persistant pain mostly. Focus on how to help alleviate that and your practice will grow naturally.
b)learn to spot red flags and refer them to a medical person
c)be fed up with your working life to the point of wanting to change it completely.
d)enjoy learning. Be perpetually discontent with what you know. Strive in all ways to be better as you grow/age. There will be just you, no co-workers to consult, so have a clue and get a grip.
2. Find a location you like and find a room to rent. It doesn't have to be around MDs. It can be anywhere. I picked my own neighbourhood because I saw that it had no other PTs in it, besides I wanted to walk to work. It's a retail neighbourhood, had a couple chiros, many hairdressers, some MDs, some dentists, and several well-established massage therapists, a naturopath, a yoga studio, and now a PT. All these people know me and I know them, lots of them have referred people, lots of them (including the MDs) have come for treatment.
My first "clinic" was a secondfloor office space. It had no amenities, not even parking. It was just me and my table. Very low profile. I moved to a nicer hole in the wall a few blocks up 4 years later, then to a much nicer, more permanent space with an elevator etc., 4 years after that. Patience. When your practice is humble and you affix yourself to your patients' successful rehab instead of your "job" and keep the same phone number, you can move your table to a new address in the same neighbourhood without losing your base.
3. Become direct access somehow. The whole point is that you want to be accessible to people, not have them need to go through hoops to get to you.
4. Get your place chosen and a phone number for it. Sign a lease or go month to month. Go get a line of credit to pay bills with for awhile. Don't be scared. Get a sign out front. You'll feel like such an adult. I made sure I wouldn't starve by lining up a locum two days a week at a busy practice for a few months. I needn't have bothered.. my "practice" paid for itself the first month it was open. However the stress level was much lower and I was able to seem more relaxed and confident by having no financial worries at all. It took about 4 months before I was actually making enough to live on. I must say, seeing fewer patients for more money was very self-reinforcing. It began to dawn on me what a serf I had been in my prior PT existance.
5. Marketing: Simply let people know you are around. You don't have to be razzledazzle to get attention. I gritted my teeth and visited MDs..once. I didn't want to, but the first patients had to come fom somewhere. Lots of people came from referrals from friends. Some people saw the sign and came to check me out. I realized that each happy patient was a direct marketing tool. I never hassled anyone for referrals. I waited patiently, and they trickled in. It grew by itself. I was fully booked all the time by my second year.
6. Getting paid: I stopped being an insurance collector on behalf on my patients finally. Other PTs like me were cash only long before I had the nerve to be, and they did OK. Takeaway point: You'll not only survive, you will thrive. Work for your patients, not as a cog in a wheel that only benefits the CEOs of insurance companies.
I'll happily answer any questions.
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