Mind Your OT Business

Go cash-pay or accept insurance? It’s one of the toughest questions any therapy business owner has to ask themselves, and the answer isn’t always simple.

In this episode, I’m chatting with Brandon Seigel about the complexities of accepting payment in your therapy business. We’re digging into your options for accepting or not accepting insurance, explaining how to best advocate for your patients, and discussing how to balance acting as a therapist and a business owner.

Brandon Seigel is the owner of Wellness Works Management Partners, and provides coaching, consulting, & management solutions for therapy entrepreneurs in the areas of operations, digital marketing, revenue cycle management, and workforce analytics and empowerment. WWMP is a results-oriented team that brings a unique subset of expertise to Human Resources, Technology Innovation, Medical Billing, Data Analytics, Digital Marketing, & So Much More! Their website is wellnessworksmp.com.

[Disclaimer: The information in this episode is primarily applicable to therapy practices within the United States. It may not be applicable in your country of practice.]

We discuss:

• Why Brandon developed his own medical billing company
• How to get paid faster for your services while still advocating for your patients
• Why should you learn to work with insurance, not against it
• How to serve both in-network and out-of-network patients well
• Why some patients are more willing to pay in cash than others
• How licensure is changing to allow for more telehealth opportunities
• The benefits of charging more for your services, even when working with insurance
• How to create documentation to benefit your patients, their families, and the payers
• Understanding the mindset of both your patients and insurance companies
• How to balance working as a therapist and a business owner

Resources from this episode:

Listen to my first episode with Brandon

Explore Brandon's company: Wellness Work Management Partners

Check out Brandon’s book, The Private Practice Survival Guide

My favorite Electronic Medical Record: Therabyte

P. S. Are you a pediatric therapist interested in taking your work with children out into nature? The ConTiGO Approach Online Course will open for registration soon: visit www.contigoapproach.com to join the waitlist.

This is the MOST nervous I have ever been about publishing an episode! 😳

Laura Joyce Davis is a dear friend, a talented author, and the creator and host of Shelter in Place- a podcast about “finding daily sanity in a world that feels increasingly insane.” (Great tagline, right?)

A few weeks ago, she interviewed ME for her podcast. Then she surprised me by suggesting I share it with all of YOU here on the MYOTBiz podcast. I was rather resistant to this idea but in the end, decided to lean into the discomfort and share it. You’ll hear why in my super-nervous intro...

We discuss occupational therapy, entrepreneurship, parenting, and lessons learned during this time of the Coronavirus pandemic. I hope you feel encouraged after listening to our conversation.

What were your takeaways? I would love to hear! Comment below or join us in the Mind Your OT Business Facebook group to discuss your thoughts. 💚

For more thought-provoking content about finding sanity in a world that feels increasingly insane, go to laurajoycedavis.com or listen to Shelter in Place wherever you get your podcast fix

It’s that time of year that, frankly, many business owners have come to dread: tax season. It can be overwhelming, but know that you’re not alone. You don’t need to have stress around taxes. It is in your best interest to outsource tasks that are not in your wheelhouse so you can run your business effectively and focus on your expertise.

Enter, Sandi York, my wonderful CPA. She’s on the podcast today to talk about all the things taxes, and to remind us that it doesn’t have to be a stressful situation. We’re breaking down common tax concepts and situations as well as tips for staying financially savvy as a business owner. You’re going to want to take notes.

We discuss:

• Sandi’s experience as a tax professional
• Breakdown of basic categories of types of taxes
• Sole proprietor vs. LLC vs. S-Corp (which is best for you depends on many factors)
• The importance of hiring finance professionals (bookkeepers, accountants, payroll companies)
• Making sure you hire someone that you trust who is attentive to your needs
• The ins and outs of self-employment taxes
• Getting familiar with your state’s website for taxes and employers
• Independent contractor vs. employee (rules vary by state)
• Keeping a positive mindset around finances
• How even a base financial understanding helps you sustain and grow your business
• Getting your systems in place while you’re still small

Resources from this episode:

Sandi’s Instagram

OnPay

Gusto

Avalara

Robert Kiyosakai - Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Tom Wheelright - Tax-Free Wealth Podcast

Laura’s Instagram

My Contigo Approach online course, which is the nature-based approach to pediatric therapy that I developed, is now open for enrollment. I’m also offering a free 1-hour masterclass for anyone interested in nature-based pediatric therapy, called The 5-Step Framework To Be An Effective and Confident Nature-Based Pediatric Therapist. It includes tons of resources, whether you’re just getting started or you want to deepen your work. In that masterclass, you have the opportunity to enroll in the Contigo Approach online course if you want to dive deeper. Visit naturemasterclass.com to register for the free masterclass.

Sheela Ivlev is an occupational therapist and owner of OT Bay Area, a wellness-based OT practice in California. Her passion is serving others to improve their mental health and wellness.

In this episode, you’ll learn a variety of ways to serve ALLLL the possible people in your niche market. Sheela shares a variety of ways to increase equity and access to services in your business, while also keeping your focus on your specific niche clientele.

Sheela and I discuss:

• How Sheela runs her mental health and wellness OT practice.
• How OTs can help destigmatize mental health challenges.
• The significance of July being Minority Mental Health Awareness Month.
• How we as OTs should consider disparities in health care access when creating our business models, and what we can do about it as business owners.
• Sheela describes how it is OK to have a niche in business! No business can serve everyone. But she shares ways you can think about equity while still maintaining your niche focus in your business.
• I share some ways I struggle with my own fears of perceptions around reaching out specifically to communities of color as a white OT business owner. Sheela’s responses surprised me and you’ll hear me process in the episode what this may mean for my own practice! I hope her ideas will inspire you to take steps in your business to increase equity to services.
• Why we have to get over our FEAR and discomfort and put ourselves out there to increase equity and access to our services.
• How we perpetuate inequities by staying silent and not taking action.
• How it is possible within a cash-based model to take steps to increase access to services.
• Why we should think about marketing to a wide-range of people within our specific niche market.
• The differences between “mental health” OT and “regular” OT...there aren’t many! :)
• Mentoring pre-OT students as a way to increase diversity in our profession.
• Why diversifying our social media feeds may help us understand the perspectives of those who are different than us and educate us and equip us with resources to help us serve a diverse range of clients in our ideal niche in our businesses.

Resources from this episode:

OT Entrepreneurs Facebook Group

Peggy McIntosh’s article: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

Instagram hashtag: #blacktherapistsrock

Sheela’s business website with loads of resources!: www.OTbayarea.com

Sheela’s business on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/otbayareasf/

Follow Sheela on Instagram @otbayarea

In this solo episode, I share some BIG announcements + 10 surefire ways to get new clients...and you’ll get 2 more here in the show notes. :)

First for the announcements!

• We now have a FREE Facebook group now for Mind Your OT Business listeners to interact and discuss content from episodes! I would love to meet you there and welcome you to this community. JOIN HERE!
• The OT Entrepreneur Summit is coming May 11-20! Trish Williams and I have curated a highly-qualified list of speakers who have agreed to take you “behind the scenes” of their success as OT entrepreneurs! Interviews will be sent via email to attendees (so you can watch on your own schedule) and we will have a FB group open till the end of May for us to discuss topics.
• Finally, I just opened registration for the 2020 dates for Therapy in the Great Outdoors- A Training Retreat for Pediatric Practitioners. Early bird rates till April 1!

OK- Now for your list of 12 sure-fire ways to get more clients!!! We talked about 10 on the podcast and there are 2 more for you here in the show notes...

1. Make a list of everyone you know and send a personal email letting them know about your services. Make sure to make it EASY for them to send referrals your way by including relevant content in the email to allow them to simply forward to a friend.
2. Give a discount or other incentive to get people to sign up for new services by a specific deadline, and advertise this heavily in social media and in paper flyers/postcards locally.
3. Do a brainstorm about where your ideal clients hang out locally and then leave postcards in all of those locations.
4. Offer 15-minute inquiry calls or consultation calls to interested clients (then OVER-deliver and spend 30 minutes talking to them). During the call, simply aim to HELP in some way...not necessarily get them to pay you for services...but really it will be people who are a bit interested. This builds “know, like and trust” value with people in your community. Even if the person doesn’t become your client, they have had a good experience with you being helpful...which means they may mention it to others in your community.
5. Offer free or low-cost one-time sessions for interested people, and then have a specific offer for them if they sign up by a certain date for an assessment or services.
6. Share relevant and helpful content (NOT just info about your services) on social media. Aim to HELP people...NOT sell your services. Every now and then, have a special offer for people who take advantage of the offer by a specific deadline.
7. Do research on Facebook and other social media about where your ideal clients hang out online, and offer meaningful and relevant comments in these forums. (Again, aim to be helpful, not sell your services. You are building your expertise in these communities, and by helping, you will get people to know, like & trust you as a provider.)
8. Face-to-face networking and personal connections are the BEST way to find new clients....this also takes the most time. Put yourself out there! Offer free in-services for people in your target market, or attend networking events that are NOT just for therapists.
9. Ask your current or past clients to refer their friends, or leave online reviews of your business. Send a very specific email asking them to send new referrals your way. Make sure to make THEM the HERO! Emphasize how they will be helping others by leaving a review, as it will help people find the services they need. Provide links directly in the email so they can easily click and write a quick review.
10. Build an email list! Most of the people who visit your website are NOT going to purchase services right at that second! You MUST have a way to capture their email to stay in touch with them because they are potential future clients! Make a short list of valuable tips or advice for your clients’ problems and give it away for free to people who sign up for your email list. (Do some research on how to make a great “lead magnet” online. Also make sure to be GDPR compliant with your emails...I’ll let you research that piece online.)
11. After you have an email list, start a drip email marketing campaign to help potential clients and stay top-of-mind in your clients’ and interested parties’ minds. This is NOT to just bombard your audience with a request to purchase your services; it IS a series of helpful emails you send to your list on a regular basis to give them FREE helpful tips or advice to serve and care for them and their needs. Mine ar...