Physical Therapy Business Tips
June 5, 2024
Knowing which physical therapy services to offer for your clients can be an ongoing struggle. With constant changes in the healthcare industry, iterations on the scope of physical therapy practice, and the coming and going of fad treatments, many physical therapy practice owners aren’t sure how to plan their next service offering.
But don’t worry, there are plenty of physical therapy services that you can start offering your clients today to start bringing in more revenue for your physical therapy practice. Better yet, we’re going to cover six of those services right here, right now. Let’s get started!
There are many physical therapy services you can offer to boost revenue at your clinic, including dry needling, personal training, group exercise classes, wellness programs, telehealth, and Astym therapy. Offering the right service to the right audience can seriously increase the visibility and success of your physical therapy practice.
Knowing the benefits of each physical therapy service you could offer at your physical therapy clinic is the first step in reaping the benefits, so let’s break down each of these services individually.
Possibly one of the most popular physical therapy services around right now, dry needling involves using needles to stimulate fascia with the goal of relaxing tense muscles, relieving pain, and improving muscle and fascia function.
Dry needling is popular among athletes and exercise enthusiasts, but can be offered to most of your healthy caseload and used as a selling point for other potential patients.
Most physical therapists provide guided exercise therapy to their patients in a normal course of treatment, but few ever consider the potential of exercise guidance through personal training as a means to expand their service offerings.
Personal training is an excellent service to offer your patients who have “graduated” from their rehabilitation and are ready to start a more generalized strength and conditioning program. Of course, it can also be offered as a new entry point for potential patients who are looking for exercise training from a highly skilled expert who specializes in injury reduction.
Similar to personal training, group exercise is another great way to flex your exercise skills with patients while offering a unique service outside of typical physical therapy treatments. Group exercise is also a great way to build community within your client base and create an additional entry point for new clients who may be referred by your current clients.
Of course, if you don’t like the idea of providing group exercise classes yourself, they are a great opportunity to bring in an outside expert, such as a strength and conditioning specialist, who can handle your personal training or group exercise caseload for you.
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Even if you don’t identify as a wellness expert, it’s important to recognize that all licensed physical therapists have the training to guide their patients through a valuable wellness program that incorporates the principles of exercise and self-care. This can be as simple as building a comprehensive exercise routine, or as complex as a longevity program.
If you’re not feeling entirely confident in your ability to provide wellness services to your clients without more training, there are plenty of continuing education opportunities to enhance your skill set and better understand how to make your wellness programs excellent for your patients.
In the modern world of physical therapy, patients are looking for ways to simplify how they receive their care. This means that new technology like online learning, smart devices, and of course - telehealth - have become massively important for a successful physical therapy practice to know about.
Offering telehealth is a great way to make yourself more accessible to patients and alleviate some of the challenges around getting to an in-person appointment, such as commuting or scheduling difficulties. In fact, many physical therapist practice owners offer hybrid care plans with alternating telehealth and in-person appointments.
Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM) comes in many different forms, and one of the most popular techniques around today is Astym. Astym therapy uses a set of specialized tools that are designed to work on muscles and joints of all shapes and sizes.
What sets Astym therapy apart from traditional IASTM techniques is that it focuses on stimulating muscles and fascia with specialized stroke patterns to help tissues heal on their own, rather than attempting to “break up” scar tissue with brute force.
One of the biggest benefits of using Astym is that it’s designed to be paired with exercise to get the best results, which makes it an adjunct to the services you’re already offering, rather than a detractor. Better yet, you can also advertise your Astym certification to your community through a badge on your website and even a sticker in your physical therapy clinic window.
Regardless of the services you’re providing to your patients, having a reliable and fast way to document them is key to spending less time charting and more time working with your patient. Having a template for SOAP notes is a great way to improve your efficiency without clicking through endless boxes or starting from scratch every time.
There are several effective ways to promote the physical therapy services your practice offers, including using social media, sending an email newsletter to your patients, hosting an open house, joining networking communities, leveraging Google My Business, and offering a referral program for new patients.
Marketing can be overwhelming as a physical therapist when you’re just starting out, so let’s expand on each of these topics one-by-one.
Did you know that the majority of people search for answers to their health and wellness questions on social media before a traditional search engine? While it might be hard to believe at first, social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok can be the most powerful marketing tool for your practice - better yet, they’re free!
In addition to posting helpful tips and tricks, clinician spotlights, and event reminders, social media is a great place to post about your new physical therapy services. Even a short post with an engaging photo and a caption describing your new service can be enough to get new patients and more revenue for your physical therapy clinic.
Your clients and email subscribers won’t know what new services you’re offering unless you tell them, and email newsletters are a great way to highlight those new services. If you’re not sending out a monthly newsletter already, now is a great time to start writing one.
Email newsletters are also a great place to feature new content on your website’s blog, which can boost traffic and give more visibility to the services page of your website. Just remember to always give your readers an easy way to opt out in case they’re not interested!
Although social media is a great way to market your services to a following you’ve already built up, running paid advertising is the fastest way to get your physical therapy services in front of potential clients immediately.
When planning out your paid advertising, think about the unique problems your patients face on a regular basis and tailor your ads to those needs. The more specific your ad targeting, the more likely you are to connect with your viewer and get conversions.
One of the best ways to help current and potential patients envision themselves receiving one of your practice’s services is to actually show them in person. Hosting an open house is a great way to market your physical therapy services because it allows you to show people the value of your services face-to-face, potentially with a demo.
On top of live service walkthroughs, open houses are also a great way to market your services to other healthcare providers who can refer patients to your practice. Remember, it’s not just about what you know, but who you know!
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Building on the idea that who you know can be more important than what you know, networking communities are another great way to build relationships with new providers in your area who can also provide referrals for your physical therapy clinic.
For example, you may have recently started providing Astym therapy to your patients, which is a highly valued treatment for foot conditions like plantar fasciitis. If you happen to be making a new connection with a local podiatrist, they might just become a regular source of referrals for you specifically because you offer that service for their patients.
Knowing how to run your business well online is just about as important as providing great treatment to your patients in the clinic. With helpful tools like Google My Business, you can manage important metrics like website traffic, client reviews, and search engine optimization.
One of the most important uses for Google My Business is responding to client reviews, which can seriously affect the success of your practice. Make sure to keep a pulse on your reviews and respond to every review, good or bad!
Even with all of the helpful technology available to physical therapy practice owners today, word of mouth can still be one of the most powerful marketing tools. By introducing a referral program to your client base, you can give them a chance to evangelize your practice while also incentivizing newcomers to book a service with you.
For example, if you’re offering dry needling sessions as a new service, you might offer your current patients 50% off of their next session for each successful referral, and extend another 50% off for new patients on their first session. In this instance, everybody wins!
Physical therapy software is one of the most important tools to promote your practice’s services and increase revenue. ClinicSense is an all-in-one physical therapy practice management software that allows practice owners to treat patients, manage appointments and finances, and promote services to patients easier than ever before.
Managing a physical therapy practice can be hard, especially when you’re offering new physical therapy services to increase revenue. With the help of ClinicSense’s intuitive design for clinicians, powerful features for business owners, and a SOAP notes free trial to help you get started, the future of your physical therapy practice is bright. Happy treating!
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