Dr. Erson "Dr E" Religioso III DPT talks to Dr. Justin Trosclair DC on A Doctor's Perspective Podcast
Becoming a cashPT clinic has hurdles. Dr. Aaron LeBauer DPT discusses creating a fair fee, why not take insurance, onboarding and training staff, answering the phone, discounting services, handling objections and his favorite seminars.
His backstory involves learning the limitations of his massage therapy offerings and realizing very early on in clinical rotations that he did not want to see 43 patients per day. That was his big revelation that he can do physical therapy treatment on his terms, give the patient the best of his time and efforts, not play the insurance game and just accept high end cash rates. After being in the trenches and learning and having coaches of his own, he packaged what he has learned and now offers CashPT © coaching for others looking to break free from insurance and practice exactly the way you want to.
When you get paid $43 from insurance regardless of how long you treat the patient or what actual treatment you give to satisfy the code, on top of being used to making $85 for an hour 1 on1 as a massage therapist… Dr. LeBauer decision to go cashPT was practically a given.
How do you handle the caller that asks "do you take my insurance?" What are the 2 reasons why a potential patient would ask about insurance to begin with?
Do you discuss fees on the phone if they ask? How do you build value on the phone so they come in for a consultation and exam - knowing that they will pay cash?
Acknowledge the objections and redirect with questions to determine the deeper why they want physical therapy, the motivation to seek treatment now instead of earlier and what is actually wrong with you.
Why are patients referred by a medical doctor some of the hardest patients to pay cash for services?
What questions can another physician ask a physical therapist to see what kind of treatment they will provide your patients? Joint restriction, soft tissue restriction or motor control problem with treatment like manual therapy, exercises and patient empowerment.
PICKING A FEE
How do you pick a cash fee? Do you pull a number out of the sky, is there a formula, does the size of the town and median income play a part, can you over price yourself or is it just undervaluing your service?
If you charge a high fee per hour, what happens when the patient only needed 38 minutes that day? What ethical dilemmas can surface from that type of payment model?
Should you charge a case fee: for example, headaches cost XYZ? Can the same condition be a different fee from person to person or does it need to be uniformed?
How do you charge for Results?
What about a unique cashPT fee amount for each individual person for their unique condition? This fee could be $2500 and you might recommend it will take 7 visits to get better… so what happens if they aren’t better by 7 visits? Or maybe they got better in 4 visits.. What do you do then?
Can you believe that with only 9 patients a week you could earn $100,000? What are some of his go to formulas to help doctors establish a fee schedule?
Does the doctor or a dedicated person “close the deal?” Is it better to have a patient pay per visit or commit to 8 visits and spread the payments out?
Can you discount too much for a prepay? What is the main underlining reason for the heavy discounts? He briefly touches on preframing patients as well.
What type of clinic setting to choose?
Do you do mobile PT (drive to a patients house) or do you rent from another place (like a busy gym) or rent space from another healthcare provider that compliments yours or own your own space (with much higher overhead)? pluses and minuses of each scenario
If you are a PT should you work in a PT or Chiropractor office? Should you pick a place that is cash only like you or can the other doctor be in-network with insurances?