HOW TO START A MOBILE PHYSICAL THERAPY PRACTICE

Custom Care Rehab just celebrated its one-year birthday! So in good fashion, we talked with Vestibular First on what it took to get there. Click on the video to watch the full interview on “How to Start a Mobile Physical Therapy Practice”.

HOW TO START A MOBILE PHYSICAL THERAPY PRACTICE

Establishing a Need

You may have wondered why Custom Care Rehab was even started. After 15 years in corporate healthcare, I observed the need for improved access to specialty care in the field of vestibular and concussion treatment. In the typical outpatient setting, patients often had difficulty driving to therapy while symptomatic, finding a ride, difficulty taking time off school and work, or finding a sitter for their little ones just to be able to come to therapy. These obstacles led to poor therapy outcomes, non-compliance, and finally the lack of symptom resolution. This led to the conception of Custom Care Rehab which will eliminate all of those obstacles and bring the therapy to the client.

STEPS TO BEGIN

This is a condensed list of the steps I took. This is one specific journey, but there are so many business models.

Business

1. Pick your Logo and Name

   • You can design your own, use a local small business as I did, Pixel Innovations found HERE. There are also freelance companies like Fiverr to help you design your logo. For company names, bounce ideas of loved ones to see what sticks, check the state business registry to ensure your name is not already taken, or use an online name generator to help.

2. Decide what type of clients you want to see

   • Who do you really enjoy working with and what are you good at? If you stay true to who you are, you will deliver great service and your name will travel! The opportunities are endless and sometimes difficult to reign in; see the Uncaged Clinician FB group for inspiration.

   • Would you like to see Medicare patients? Ensure you follow the rules and seek clarification before starting down this road. There are many great resources to ensure compliance with Medicare, like rehab compliance expert Nancy Beckley’s or Rick Gawenda’s resources.

3. Decide what type of insurance you will accept

   • Cash pay, Medicare, commercial insurance, workers comp, or a hybrid model. Because of my payer mix in this area and who I like to work with, I decided to be out of network or cash-based with commercial insurances and become a participating Medicare provider. A lot of research was done on how to enroll and accept Medicare. Most of what I learned came from these great resources: Tony Maritato or Dr. Jarod Carter

   • You will need to set up a way to accept payment. In addition to cash and check, I chose to use Square for mobile payment because of its ease, has ability to take FSA/HSA, and security compliance. However, there are other options like Stripe and Zelle.

   • Know your state laws regarding obtaining and seeing patients. Do you need a script or does your state have a version of Direct Access?

Business Legalities

1. Register your company and get state EIN

   • A limited liability company (LLC) is a structure allowed by state statute. An LLC is formed by filing articles of organization with the individual state’s secretary of state. There can only be one LLC with the same name in any one state. EIN stands for an employee identification number, and it’s a form of federal tax ID that the IRS uses to identify a business for tax purposes. An EIN is a 9-digit number, like a social security number, that the IRS uses to identify certain entities for tax reasons. I wanted to make sure my company was legally sound, so I spent the money to hire a local healthcare lawyer to file all the paperwork for Custom Care Rehab. The money was well spent and I had peace of mind knowing that all my ducks were in a row.

2. Get liability insurance

   • Look closely at the need for professional liability coverage for the company and yourself as an individual

   • Some options include CM&F or HPSO.

3. Establish a business bank account

   • I researched local banking options that would not charge a service fee to open a business account. You’ll need the LLC paperwork and EIN to begin. The bank was also able to give me a notarized bank letter, that was necessary to register with Medicare electronic fund transfer to receive payment.

4. Patient Records System

   • Decide which form of documentation system you would like. There are so many electronic systems that streamline documentation, billing, and even scheduling. To keep costs low you could start with pen and paper, but know that you have to keep records stored securely and for 7 years in my state of Ohio. Some EMR systems include WebPT, JaneApp, HelloNote, or Google Suites with a BAA just to name a few. I chose to have my business lawyer set up some of my forms for Custom Care Rehab, it was a huge time-saving investment:

   • HIPAA

   • Consent form

   • Notice of Privacy

Marketing

1. Website

   • There are marketing and freelance companies that can help you create your website. However, site builders like WordPress make it easy to start a basic webpage that will establish your authority. You will also need to establish a domain name and host for your website. All of this was foreign to me, so I enlisted the services of previously mentioned small business Pixel Innovations to make my website function, take payment, secure hosting, and maintenance on the back end. Their services were very affordable and I have captured quite a few referrals from my website.

2. Establish social media pages depending on your target audience. LinkedIn, Facebook, Google Business, Twitter, and Instagram just to name a few.

3. Marketing Company

   • All of the content and social media can be overwhelming and time-consuming. You may look into a marketing company to help you. I chose to use Brad Cote, a Healthcare Marketing Strategist to help me in my marketing journey. He allows me to learn how to market and understand my business so I can replicate the process in the future and not rely on a company in the long term journey. Subcontracting work is convenient but I like to have control of my business message and understand how the process works.

Equipment

To begin you’ll need some basic equipment. I started with a massage table, telescoping stool, ankle weights, BP cuff, pulse Ox, Clorox wipes, sheets, gaze stability sticks, balance pad, goniometer, massage cream, theraband, Ktape, and scissors. As you grow you will obtain more equipment like the awesome Vestibular First infrared video goggles that help me with improved diagnosis and treatment of vestibular and concussion dysfunction. 

Get your Name Out

Word of mouth and great service are the best referral out there! Ask for google reviews and respond to them, this will demonstrate that you're a reliable business. Consider joining a local networking chapter, I chose eWomenNetwork because it is more intimate and allows you to establish yourself in a community.  Reach out to businesses that you compliment. PT is one point in a client’s journey and we cannot treat a person as a single issue but an entire person. Figure out what else that person needs in their journey and connect with those businesses. Hopefully, this helps give you an idea of what Custom Care Rehab stands for and what led to its conception! I enjoy meeting new people who can help give people the best outcome possible, feel free to email me at customcarerehab@gmail.com to connect!