That’s a great point saying that it’s not our responsibility to manage our clients wallets. I think the temptation for many business owners is to make prices based on what they can personally afford. Overcoming that barrier makes room for success.
Well balanced points! A lot of therapists avoid talking about these pros/cons and treat it like some shameful secret, but it's part of having a business
I'm so glad you made this video! Insurance within the Mental Health field is not talked about enough. I'm glad you included how other therapists judge others for private pay. It's great to know ALL of the consequences of our actions in business 👌
I am just starting out in pp and wow, your videos are incredibly helpful! Thank you so much for sharing your experience, helping out new practitioners and doing so in such a friendly and approachable way. You really deliver the goods without any fluff, but in a really digestible manner. I really appreciate it.
I'm one year into pp. I haven't had any private pay clients come my way. I'm sure there are many variables for this. For now, Im accepting insurance which allows me to make the same as I would at a clinic but working less.
MFT student here, just getting some knowledge and wisdom on my lunch break. I enjoy your channel John! I may end up working for state agencies since I'm already a state employee, but the idea of private practice intrigues me. I will be watching all your videos to get learned!
My day time work is at non-profit agency. My private practice is only for private pay. I don't need many clients for private practice either. So, didn't chose to be a panel with any insurance company. The hardest things have been my therapist friends' comment of why? and seeing my client suffering some financial issues.
It seems like cash pay may be more challenging as big corps with EAP models are luring therapists to contract with them, but eventually lowering rates as they grow bigger. They are also dipping foot into collaborating with insurance companies as the middle men. A lot of therapists contract with them due to abundance in referral and adequate pay while they accept private pay clients. However, I don’t know what this means in the future as these companies get bought out…clients may have more access to therapy through them since there are a lot more therapists available, but it seems that they will continue to lower rates for therapists. Then there is the downturn to the economy with all the massive layoffs…I wish there are organizations to protect and stand up for private practice therapists.
I have never heard of a cardiologist who doesn’t take insurance. But I know many of my fellow psychiatrists who wouldn’t panel with insurances. Oddly, those are often the same psychiatrists who complain about the stigma of mental health and how people see it inferior to physical health. Which is a very valid complaint. But maybe by not being in the same “insurance game” and fighting for better contracts like other doctors, maybe they are adding gas to the fire. Anyway, my least favorite patient is the one who says, “I don’t care about your fees I will pay cash!”. Second least favorite patient is the one who has insurance but doesn’t want to use it because “I don’t want it to be on my records”, my answer is usually “are you running for the 2024?”
@@sarahlana5124 We all, collectively have to participate in insurance to show the demand and the power of the "market share". Then we demand higher pay for our service from insurance. Use the political and economic power of the demand for mental health and the shortage of providers to our advantage and our patients' advantage. We have to grow from trying to achieve parity in mental health reimbursement to get what this field demand which is X2 the reimbursement of other specialties. Putting mental health as a luxury service doesn't help anyone.
Can I have two private practices/two separate businesses? I want to have two separate business one that takes insurance and a completely separate business that is cash only.
The example of dentist’ rate vs therapist rate is not appropriate. Dentist is a much harder, expensive cost and longer professional training in school.
