In this episode I had the opportunity to talk with Cyndee Bowen, a speech therapist who owns a private practice in Florida.   She knew she wanted to pursue a private practice right out of graduate school.  She became an independent practitioner in 2009, and in 2012 decided to take it to the next level and open a brick and mortar clinic.  Her private practice has been a success, and she is here to share some of her wisdom with you. 

 Here are some topics we cover:

• billing insurance
• marketing
• practice management software
• using debt to start a practice
• having a niche
• importance of a website
• ASHA Private Practice Institute

I have received many questions from therapists that I want to present in this Podcast episode. I bring my wife Jennifer on to help out. Be sure and listen all the way to the end because I tell you what I do when doctors call me wanting information quickly about a client we serve. You will definitely want to scroll to the end of this post at www.startatherapypractice.com/11 for some great links that I mention in the podcast and a picture of the marketing poster I mentioned.

Here are the topics we cover:

• Marketing poster and the QR code used on it
• What to do when the doc calls needing fast information on a client
• Shark Tank and the Entrepreneur Therapist
• How to let a client know you are tired of sitting in poop in their house
• Automatically be informed when Medicaid or Insurance is accepting new providers
• What type of screenings my clinic does and what I recommend
• What to do if a client switches providers and brings their previous evaluation report to you for treatment
• What insurance providers are doing now with Prior Authorizations
• Do you rent your therapy gym for events such as birthday parties?
• What to do when a client doesn't pay for your services
• Sissy Dog and Miss Kitty

Kim Lewis is a Speech Therapist who does solo private practice. She treats pediatric clients in thier homes, daycares and schools. Kim also has a very helpful website at ActivityTaylor.com. You will learn how Kim got started and how she markets her private practice. Allow Kim to peek your interest in developing a product that relates to the type of therapy you do.

Kim is a very innovative therapist that has allowed her talents to bring other forms of revenue to her private practice.

I coaxed my wife Jennifer into the cloffice (that's part closet part office) to sit down for an interview.  You have heard of the better half, well she is more than that to me.  If you so desire you can go to this post and see a lovely picture of Jennifer and I.  She is the one that makes it lovely, not I.

In this interview you will hear her take on the following:

What type of personality traits do you need to run a private practice

What she thinks are the best marketing tools that we use

How to start off

How to choose a location

Opening a therapy practice is hard work but worth it

What our kids have learned from our private practice

There may be a funny blooper or two placed after the music at the end

Ideas of where to do therapy without owning or renting a physical location. Also tips I learned from my recent presentation. I also throw in a productivity tip and ask your help with a survey that you can learn a lot from.

This is the first podcast episode about marketing and referrals for your private practice. I have also created a downloadable PDF file that further explains marketing and getting more referrals for your private practice.

Some of what you will learn in this podcast:

• Who the most important person is in your marketing plan
• What to do if you are just starting
• People you need to market to
• The most important type of person to be when marketing
• What to put on your business card
• What to put in your brochure
• Who is your target audience
• Social Media marketing

The Affordable Healthcare Act or Obamacare will affect everything in the next few years and it is not going away.

Here is what you will learn in this Podcast

• What I learned at little known Healthcare meetings
• What are Medical Homes
• Who are the people pulling the strings in this system
• What to expect as a consumer
• What to expect as a doctor
• What to expect as a therapist
• Will reimbursement rates go down
• Will my insurance premium go up
• What steps can I take now
• Concierge and Cashed Based Medicine

Links

A quote I found regarding medical homes in AR--they were talking about adding hip and knee replacement and congestive heart failure but of course these quotes will apply to all.

  http://freebeacon.com/government-seeking-inclusion-of-social-and-behavioral-in-health-records/

What You Will Learn in this Podcast:

• Specifics of what you need in a treatment note
• How to set up a treatment note template
• What notes need to have in case of an audit
• How to minimize time writing notes
• Why you need to stop handwriting notes

• Why, as a newbie independent clinician,  you don't need to pay monthly fees to a note writing software companies

Links Mentioned

www.dropbox.com

http://www.quickoffice.com

Scott's Therapy Note

Tasks and activities that a therapist needs to start doing and thinking about whether you want to start a private practice today or years down the road

In this Start a Therapy Practice Podcast. I walk you through our insurance billing process and give you definition of terms and billing tips to get started

This is a brief launch episode where I introduce myself and give some background of how I got started with my private practice and grew it into two brick and mortar clinics. I also let you know what to expect in future episodes.