"Give your patient twenty dollars and them to go home so at least you can have a cup of coffee while you're losing money", is what Chuck Felder of HCS Consulting suggested in his speech at the American Physical Therapy Association's Private Practice Section Conference in San Diego in the fall of 2007. He went on to explain that with the average cost of a PT visit's being $81 accepting an insurance contract that pays less can be disastrous.
How Physical Therapy Clinics are doing:
Of the PT clinics surveyed in his study they ran from a 30% loss to a 38% profit with the median profit being 12%.
What Physical Therapy Clinics are Charging:
In the clinics studied charge amounts ranged from $75/visit to a high of $160/visit. The average charge was stated as $137/visit though the average income per visit was only $91/visit. If that sounds good to you remember that the average cost per visit was $81. Chuck says that if you charge 125 to 150% of Medicare Rates you can expect a 30% write off. He also stated that the average accounts receivable for a standard PT clinic is 200% of the monthly charge. Alison Palic, PT, a contributor to the Cash Practice Secrets home study course stated that she charges $95 cash for a 50-minute session and has no accounts receivable.
The president of the private practice section of the APTA, Steve Andersen, PT notes that reimbursement rates seem to be decreasing "beyond our control".
Chuck stated that cash-based physical therapy was an area we want to grow in because there's a much higher hassle factor when you're trying to get paid after the fact.
Chuck showed a picture of his son shooting a black powder rifle but used it to illustrate a good point. He said, "Take good aim at what you want to do and you'll hit your target".
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