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This episode is part 2 of my interview of Jerry Durham, co-owner of San Francisco Sport and Spine Physical Therapy who transitioned his 3-clinic practice completely out of network with all 3rd-party payors except Medicare. This part of our interview dives into the details of the initial phone conversation with a prospective patient when your clinic is not in network with any insurances. He goes into so many important details, I actually recommend listening to this one twice and taking notes if you are serious about transitioning your practice out-of-network. If you haven’t already listened to part 1 and would like to, click here.
(please excuse the audio quality issues between minutes 10-12… it improves!)
In this episode, you’ll learn about:
- The “three points of conversion” for any new patient
- Everything he has learned about optimizing the initial call from a prospective patient; especially given his clinics are out-of-network with all insurance
- The interview process they went through to find the best people to answer the phones, and the qualities to look for in applicants for this position.
- Three books he highly recommends for anyone in private practice.
- Key concepts about how to handle (and train employees to handle) the initial call from prospective patients when your clinic is out-of-network
- The concept of “Unique Value Proposition” and it’s importance to your clinic’s ability to survive, and your staff to sell your out-of-network services to prospective patients.
- “Needs vs Wants” in your prospective patients, and their importance in how you speak with them on the phone and how you guide that conversation.
- How to define your own “brand promises” and “unique value proposition”
- Why we are NOT selling Physical Therapy
- As an out-of-network provider, how do you respond to the “do you take my insurance?” question.
Resources and Links mentioned in this episode:
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[Click to Tweet] Thank you @Jerry_DurhamPT for being an awesome guest on the Cash-Based Practice Podcast w/ @DrJarodCarter
Was taking my own notes from this interview and focusing on the specific wording the Jerry has found most effective with prospective patients on the phone, and here was one of my favorites:
Me: “When a prospective patient calls and the first thing they ask is whether or not you are network with Blue Cross, how do you respond to that and continue the conversation?”
Jerry: I say something along the lines of “I’ll tell you what, we see a lot of Blue Cross patients, and what I’m gonna do for you is I’m gonna get your insurance information and check your benefits, and you’re gonna have all those benefits before you arrive for your first visit. How does that sound to you?”
Awesome podcast, with a wealth of great information. Thanks guys.
You are very welcome, Moishe! Thanks for the kind words
Great podcast with a wealth of information, thanks so much! I’m in the position of trying to figure out how to build my cash-based practice beyond my sole proprietorship. I’d like to eventually be able to hire PTs,etc. but I’m not sure how to go about doing this. So far, I’ve not done any billing for patients but now I’m starting to think I might need to from a customer service standpoint (I’d still be out of network). How did you find your billing company and how did you establish relationships with MDs (before you went out of network)?
Outstanding and motivating. A concise and clear conversation about defining and creating service that’s about value rather than price.
Thanks
Thanks Kirk!!