Adding Non-Clinical Services in your Private Practice
As employees our income is typically directly tied to the time we give to the job; we don’t usually get bonuses or tips that supplement our income. If we are the only provider in our practice we are still trading our time for money. This is fine if that’s what you want, but if you desire to grow and have income that is not directly related to your time then you need to find other ways to produce income in your practice.
The most common place to start is hire more therapists. There are pros and cons to this and you can find those in this blog post.
You can also add services not related to client care, services in which you can charge more for your time (especially if you are an insurance-based practice), or those that can be run by non-clinical staff.
If you have a space in your clinic you may be able to lease the space to other providers in the hours you aren’t using it. I closed my office when I decided to downsize my practice, but only wanted to work on Saturdays running the groups I loved to do. I rented from another therapy practice and it worked out really well.
Health-related services that you can offer
There are some services that you can provide in your practice that are related to the therapy you provide, but don’t need a therapist to run. Some of these require that you have a physical location, but not all of them.
Wellness services. If it fits with your practice, maybe you want to add health coaching or parent coaching.
Play group if you’re in pediatrics
Exercise groups
Support group
Provide respite services or self-care assistance
Services not related to healthcare that you can offer
If you have a clinic space you may be able to use that space for services not directly related to what you do in your practice.
Run events like birthday parties
Offer crafting clubs
Have an indoor play space for children
Make it a gym space for seniors
Services you can offer online
Provide education. You can run webinars or have content that you charge for. Record it for people to purchase at any time.
Sell digital documents such as educational materials/e-books, journals, worksheets, etc.
Safe and Sound Protocol. If you are trained and your practice act allows it, you can offer this service to people who are not clients. The company who created it provides guidance for what to charge.
There are several things to keep in mind if you are providing services that aren’t typical direct therapy.
Is what you’re doing considered skilled? Just because it does not fit the mold of what you may do traditionally in your practice does not mean it’s not skilled therapy. (For example, I see school-based therapists want to provide handwriting “tutoring” as a business, but it can be hard to distinguish tutoring from skilled therapy when you are trained to work on this as a therapist.) For OTs, a good way to help you determine whether it is therapeutic is to review the OT Practice Framework document from AOTA and consider whether you could train a high school student or college student to provide the services. If it’s in the Framework then use caution…your services are likely skilled. If it can be provided by someone who isn’t a therapist in the way that you plan to offer it, then it may be okay. Just remember that you are held to your highest license. I have a lot more to say on this subject, but will save it for a separate post.
You may also need a separate marketing effort and channel for the services, particularly because they may benefit people who do not need therapy. You may need to expand your reach so people other than your clients know what you are offering. This can take a lot more effort.
Some of these ideas may require additional insurance.
You may need to pay for a platform if you are providing an online service.
It may make sense to have a separate business related to some of these options as well. For instance, if you are going to provide a space for birthday parties, then you would not necessarily want that tied to your therapy license, and if you have a PLLC (Professional Limited Liability Company) it may not be allowed.
You need to do a lot of research and number crunching to make sure that any service you choose to add will be cost effective and be prepared to put in the effort to market it beyond your current clients to help you earn the most from it.
What you ultimately decide will be dependent on your goals for your practice and long-term vision, the amount of time and effort you have to devote to it, and the space available.
