How To Make Your Private PT Practice Soar

Many physical therapists choose to open a private practice so they can treat patients how they see fit and cultivate an environment that encourages staff and patients to thrive. The irony of physical therapy private practice is that no matter how amazing your therapists are, how good your patient outcomes are, or how well you run your business, decreasing reimbursements and heavy regulations make operating a private practice extremely challenging. While you can't control the state of healthcare regulation, there are many aspects of your private practice you can control. We’ve rounded up some of the best practices, tools, and tips to really make your private PT practice soar!

Invest in Your Staff

Turnover and burnout are worsening in the PT industry. Hiring and onboarding someone new is also far more stressful and expensive than retaining staff. In fact, research shows that the average cost to replace an employee is 33% of their annual salary. We recently dug a little deeper and found that the average replacement cost of PT is $65,000. Lower turnover and higher employee loyalty also create a better environment for patients receiving care—here are some ways to drive higher PT retention and loyalty:

• Create a positive company culture. Employees want to work in a place where they feel valued. As a leader, you can set and maintain the kind of culture that therapists are drawn to with open and clear communication, regular check-ins with staff, and a clear path to helping them achieve their goals. Don't discount small gestures of appreciation like treating them to morning coffee and bagels or a Friday happy hour. And don’t forget to bring some fun into your practice! Host team challenges (such as a water or steps challenge), encourage staff to dress up on holidays and create opportunities for social interaction. 

• Lead by example. Employees are drawn to leaders who demonstrate the same values they expect from employees. Define and live your company values in how you treat patients and interact with staff. And don’t forget, leading by example also applies to work-life balance. If you are at the clinic every night until 8 pm finishing up documentation, your staff will most likely feel they are also obligated to stay. This often leads to burnout and resentment.

• Commit to individual growth. Your staff cares about growth and development, so it should also matter to you. When employees feel their talents are being utilized fully and valued, performance skyrockets. Take time to coach your therapists and staff and invest in them through continuing education courses.

Master Your Marketing

Whether we like it or not, we live in a fast-paced world where everything we desire is literally within the fingertip reach of our smartphone. As a business owner, you have to keep up, or you risk being swallowed by your competition, even if you provide a better service. Now more than ever, marketing is critical to help grow and sustain your business (yes, even in the PT world). Present and future clients expect to find you online in some way, and not having a digital presence can signal to a consumer that your business is, well, beat. Equally important, potential new employees will look at a clinic’s website and social presence to get a feel for the company and are unlikely to be drawn to a business without a strong digital presence.

Marketing does not have to be complicated. Here are the essentials and some tools to help you master them easily.

• Claim your Google Business Profile. If you haven't done so already, this is one of the easiest and highest ROI actions you should take right now. This ensures that if anyone in your area Googles your business or even keywords related to your business, your profile will appear on the right side of the search page. To do this, simply go to google.com/business and select ‘Manage Now.’ From there, you will be prompted to create a profile and you can fill out all the information on your business that is helpful for clients to know. Your Google Business profile is also a place to collect reviews. After an encounter, send an automated email to clients asking them to leave a Google review with a link to your business profile. Alternatively, you could print an eye-catching flier for your clinic with a QR code that links directly to your business profile review page. 

• Define your niche. Defining and understanding your unique selling proposition (USP) is a must to master your marketing. What makes your practice special? What makes your services stand out from the competition? Who exactly do you serve? What do your clients care about? Having clear, thorough answers to these questions will help steer your messaging and strengthen your positioning in the market.

• Make sure your website is up-to-date. Brownie points if it looks modern, clean, and inviting. First impressions are everything! Most likely, your website will be the first place a potential client will go to check out your business. Having up-to-date information (such as address, phone number, insurance accepted, staff members, etc.) is vital to attracting and retaining patients. Test your website from the eyes of a user. If you don’t love the experience, it’s time for a refresh. You can pay a professional to help you update your website (it will generally cost a few thousand dollars, depending on how much updating is needed). However, there are many website-building tools available that anyone can use (such as Wix or Squarespace), regardless of experience. Building a website can be really fun, and doing it yourself gives you the control to update it anytime you need it. Additionally, having a blog on your website can go a long way to demonstrate to potential clients your expertise and it can help drive traffic to your website. 

• Expand your referral network. Your first focus surrounding referral efforts should be geared toward current and past patients. Have your team follow up with patients during and after an episode of care, asking how their experience has been. Also, have them ask if there is anyone in their life that might benefit from physical therapy. Create marketing content of value you can send to patients via email or physically hand them at the clinic around what conditions your therapists treat, results clients have experienced, or the proven benefits of therapy. This will make it easy for patients to share with others and also as a reminder to come back when the need arises. The second focus in expanding your referral network should be on building partner relationships. Physician referrals are an obvious place to start but don’t discount other wellness-related businesses, such as gyms, yoga studios, massage studios, and health shops. For all of these businesses, it pays to meet them in person to discuss how you can help their clients (use research-backed data). Bring marketing materials (such as brochures and business cards) to leave with them to make referrals easy. Offer to host some type of free class or educational session for their constituents based on your particular expertise. Follow up with them regularly and thank them for their partnership. 

• Jump on the social media train. A significant benefit for your business to have a presence on social media is that it provides a free way to engage potential clients and build trust with them. Social media is a fantastic medium to tell your story, share testimonials, introduce your staff, share interesting articles or blog posts, and reach new folks who might be intrigued by what your practice has to offer. Another perk to social media is that it offers a huge reach for free if used wisely. It is not necessary to be active on every single platform; choose one or two where potential customers have a presence and do them well. For great suggestions on how to maximize your social media presence as a PT clinic, check out this great article.

Use Technology to Your Advantage

Healthcare tech is booming, and for good reason. It can dramatically improve the workflow of your entire clinic, take over mundane tasks, and organize and analyze big data, all in a fraction of the time and cost of an FTE. Below are the best ways you can use technology to boost your practice operations.

• Go completely digital. When it comes to compliance and security, digital is the way to go. Patients are increasingly concerned about how their data is used. Having patient charts, appointment schedules, business records, and financials stored on a digital platform is far more secure (and generally more organized) than paper form.

• Use a good EMR. While switching EMRs can be a pain, it may be worth considering if yours isn’t up to snuff. Today, many EMRs boost features such as online appointment booking, a patient portal with secure messaging, automated patient tools, documentation templates, and much more. Additionally, EMRs are often upgrading and adding different features and integrations, so take some time to be sure your team is utilizing all the features to get the most bang for your buck. 

• Ensure therapists are documenting correctly and optimally billing and coding. Documentation is often one of the biggest stressors for a therapist and can be a major source of burnout. It doesn’t have to be this way! AI technology like Practice Intel and Sidekick can shave hours of documentation time of your therapists' days through ambient listening and AI-powered compliant documentation and real-time CPT coding feedback and give leaders actionable visibility into the documentation compliance of each therapist and location.  Documentation is also important for proving medical necessity and reducing denials. Documentation must support what is being billed and vice versa. With a solution like Practice Intel, practice owners and leadership can set benchmarks for billing and coding, and administrators and therapists alike can easily glean insights into how to improve their billing and coding practices to increase revenue for the practice. AI technology isn't just about scribing, the best solutions on the marketing helping therapists become better, more efficient, and more compliant, quickly.

Time to Soar

If you're ready to take your physical therapy practice to the next level, it is time to begin tackling these best practices. Investing in your staff, mastering your marketing, and using tech to your advantage will help your practice grow and thrive. Of course, you don't have to do it all at once—choose a few to start with that you intuitively feel would be high ROI for your business. Once you’ve conquered those, you can start to expand into other suggestions. Ultimately, you hold the power to make your private practice soar, and we feel confident these tips can help make it happen!