Modification to interventions relative to compensation model

[kyle Participant]

Since this cash pay model allows you to be cost effective by seeing patient’s less.. in your experience, have you found that for certain referrals such as post operative patients.. treatment is focused more heavily on patient education/self care since they will be spending a lot more time with self rehabilitation?

Also for post operative patients are the physical therapy appointments significantly spaced further apart (ie every 2 weeks) than an insurance based reimbursement PT practice?

[Kevin Prue Participant]

Hey Kyle,

I don’t see a lot of post operative patients, for 2 reasons primarily. First, I don’t get a lot of physician referrals due to the cash model, so most of my patients come to me via direct access, and if we think a surgical or other medical intervention may be necessary we refer to an MD. The second reason we don’t see is a lot of post operative patients is because of the increased frequency of visits a post op patient typically needs. When we do see post operative patients, I generally start seeing them after they have completed the first phase or two of rehab somewhere else once the visit limits for therapy have been reached. For those rare patients that want to come to me for their entire post operative treatment, we do focus a lot of patient education and self care in the early phases. We also offer 30 minute appointments at a cheaper rate so I can see a post op patient a little more frequently.

[Meredith Victor Keymaster]

Interesting topic, guys. Kevin, I am wondering how you get people in the door in the first place. Do you advertise anywhere specific, or do you use search engine techniques to get folks to land on your page? Thanks!

[Kevin Prue Participant]

Great questions Meredith, my marketing efforts are similar to how a financial planner, attorney, account or other professional service provider would attract customers. I market directly to my patients through seminars, internet SEO marketing, and building relationships with non-traditional referral sources like personal trainers, coaches, yoga instructors and massage therapists. I will have an article up pretty soon with all the details, so the New Grad PT community should keep an eye out for that, because even if you aren’t in a cash PT practice you can still use some of my methods to impress your boss and build your caseload no matter what your work environment consists of.

[Meredith Victor Keymaster]

Thanks, Kevin! Quite a few outpatient clinics expect their PTs to drum up business and build their own caseloads. That can be pretty nerve wracking if you’re not the networking type! We’ll look forward to your next article

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