Private physical therapy offices are having a hard time competing. Here are the most common reasons and ways to turn your practice around.

1. TOP FIVE REASONS PHYSICAL THERAPY PRACTICES ARE
GOING OUT OF BUSINESS
AND HOW YOU CAN AVOID THEIR FATE

2. TODAY’S MARKET
 For the average privately owned Physical Therapy practice, life has gotten harder since the ACA has been
established. Medicare has pushed for medical homes and ACO’s to keep their patients in house.
Insurance reimbursements have decreased while co-pays and deductibles have increased. Referrals for
profit physical therapy centers have exploded. Direct access to patients is limited and the list of new
regulations that affect the Physical Therapy profession continue to bury providers.
 However, many private physical therapy practices have thrived. They have seen their revenue grow, their
referrals increase, and their schedules packed in a good way. What are they doing to combat the five
reasons other practices are failing will surprise you.
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3. TOP FIVE REASONS PT PRACTICES ARE FAILING
 Decreased Reimbursements
 Referrals for Profit and the ACO/Medical Home Model
 Excessive Regulations
 Restricted Access to Patients
 Lack of Understanding Practice Financials
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4. DECREASED INSURANCE REIMBURSEMENTS
 Medicare and other insurance companies have decreased
reimbursements and raised co-pays while companies continue to
opt for high deductible plans
 Rates have been lowered by 20%- 40% depending on the service
 Average visit now $55 per patient including co-pay
 Number of visits has been reduced by modality
 The average deductible has risen by 32% since 2010
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5. REFERRALS FOR PROFIT
 Health Systems and Physician owned Physical Therapy centers has exploded
 Patients are steered to stay in network or under the care of the physician they
already know
 Costs explode under this model
 Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that visits per patient were 39% to 45%
higher in physician-owned clinics when compared with therapist-owned clinics
 The Florida Health Care Cost Containment Board found that physician-owned physical
therapy facilities provide 62% more patient visits per full-time physical therapist, when
compared with non-physician-owned clinics. The patients referred have 43% more treatments
when compared with non-physician-owned clinics.
 The independent Physical Therapy practices suffer as the consumer has their choices
restricted
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6. MEDICAL HOMES AND
ACCOUNTABLE CARE
ORGANIZATIONS
 The rise of Medical
Homes and ACO’s has
caused independent
physical therapy practices
to suffer.
 Patients are being
steered to practices
inside of the Medical
Homes and ACO’s
 Home health therapists
being utilized to control
costs
 Health systems are
buying practices to bring
services in house 6

7. EXCESSIVE REGULATIONS
 Unlike other medical professions, the new regulations on
physical therapists put them at a treatment and
competitive disadvantage.
 Scripts from physicians become laborious as only one issue
may be addressed in the script, but many other issues are
found during the initial diagnosis by the PT
 PTA and Volunteer assistant rules are much stricter than
similar other medical professions
 One on One regulations not necessarily conducive to group
therapy settings
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8. RESTRICTED ACCESS TO PATIENTS
 Physical therapists have state laws that prevent them from
having direct access to patients. And in states where access
is direct, many practices are unaware of how to handle
insurance patients.
 These laws restrict the patients ability to choose their treatment
providers
 These laws minimize the PTs’ expertise in important health
issues like concussion management and their ability to send
patients to experts when the situation arises
 The insurance companies make direct access hard to maneuver
for the patient and the practice
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9. LACK OF UNDERSTANDING YOUR PRACTICE
FINANCIALS
 Most practices do not do a good job of understanding the
key financial numbers that make their practice profitable.
 They tend to focus on patients per day or patient revenue
per visit.
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10. WHAT CAN YOU
DO TO SAVE
YOUR PRACTICE?
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11. FOUR STRATEGIES TO SAVE YOUR PRACTICE
 Build Your Referral Network
 Improve Your Understanding of Billing
 Provide Value to Your Patients
 Build Your Brand
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12. BUILD YOUR REFERRAL NETWORK
 Make time to market your practice to:
 Independent Physician Offices
 Complimentary Ancillary Service Providers
 Dentists, Dermatologists, Mental Health Providers, etc.
 Networking Groups
 Partner with ACO and Medical Homes to be one of their
referred sources
 Each office is required to provide three sources for each
service. Be the one “out of house” service.
 Work with Health Systems to be their spill over vendor
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13. UNDERSTAND
BILLING Invest in your practice by
understanding the rules and
regulations surrounding
Medicare and private
insurance billing
 Focus on criteria for length
of visit, services rendered,
number of visits for each
modality
 Learn about balance billing
and other billing techniques
that a provider may or may
not allow
 Understand the maximize
visits allowed by insurance
carrier by modality. 13

14. KNOW YOUR NUMBERS
 To maximize patient revenue, you need to reduce your costs per
visit and maximize your length of stay. The only way to do that is
to show the value of your work efficiently and effectively.
 Focus on theses two main financial indicators:
 Cost per Visit which accounts for all supplies, overhead, and labor
associated with an individual patient visit
 Length of Stay which accounts for the number of visits a patient
actually attends
 Every staff meeting should begin with these two financial
milestones. Negative changes greatly affect your profitability.
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15. PROVIDE VALUE TO YOUR PATIENTS
 Your best referral sources are the patients
you already serve.
 Do your current patients know?
 All of your products and services
 Your specialty
 Your other locations
 Why YOU are right for them
 Do you explain?
 Treatment plans
 Why adherence is key
 Symptoms of relapses
 If not, it is hard for a patient to recommend
you
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16. EDUCATE YOUR PATIENTS TO THE MAX!
 Invest in outstanding patient education
 Tell your patients about you and your
practice during their sessions on video
boards around the office
 Reinforce your treatment plans with follow
up and prep emails
 Make your website the orthopedic resource
for your patients
 You need to be their expert to navigate
the complexities of the healthcare field.
By doing so, they will become your best
disciples. 16

17. BUILD YOUR
BRAND
 Market to Consumers
 Reach them when and
where they are ready to buy
 Physicians’ Offices
 Via Digital Patient Education
 Online
 Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
 Website
 Community Events
 Seminars, Lectures, Health
Fairs
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18. CONTACT
HALO HEALTH
FOR HELP
WWW.HALOHEALS.COM
JIM@HALOHEALS.COM
856-520-8655
@HALOHEALTHINTL
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