6 Strategies to Grow Your Private Practice (Without Taking on New Patients)
For practitioners already at capacity, finding ways to grow your practice without adding more patients can be challenging without an obvious solution.
One important reason to consider new strategies is income diversification. By developing evergreen programs that can be sold, for example, practitioners can generate additional revenue streams that can help to underwrite practice costs. Not only is there the potential to increase financial stability for the practice, but it also increases its value. If you decide to sell the practice in the future, demonstrating revenue streams independent of practitioners can be a valuable asset.
Of course, different strategies work for different people. In this article, we share several options to help you determine if there’s an income diversification approach that’s right for you.
Traditional Private Practice Models & Their Challenges
The traditional model of private practice is time-based. However, because time is limited, this makes it harder to scale a practice. There are often constraints on how many face-to-face consultations you can have within a given period due to limitations with the physical space where appointments occur.
And, when clients don’t show up for appointments, clinical time is wasted. In addition, many practices have staff on a per-session contract. So when there’s a no-show, the affected practitioner isn’t paid. From a practitioner’s perspective, this is frustrating because it affects their income and overall work satisfaction.
But, when you’ve got projects lined up that you can work on in the event of a no-show, you can provide value for the practice regardless. And, if you’re also collecting no-show fees, you’re well ahead of the game.
Ways to Expand Your Practice’s Revenue Streams
1. Create an Online Course
Creating an online course is one strategy for growing your private practice without taking on new patients. Online courses allow you to share your expertise and knowledge with a broader audience and generate passive income. You can opt to create a program focused on either patients or other practitioners.
Start by identifying a topic that aligns with your expertise and that you’re passionate about. Then, create an outline and break it down into modules or lessons. Use multimedia tools such as videos, slideshows, and interactive quizzes to generate material that will keep your audience engaged.
Once your course is complete, promote it! Consider offering a free trial or a special early bird sign-up rate to attract more students. With a well-crafted online course, you can establish yourself as an authority in your field and generate a new revenue stream for your practice.
You have skills and experiences that others can benefit from, and there are multiple online platforms to help take the technical stress out of creating an online course, such as Udemy, Kajabi, or Trainer Central.
2. Write a Book or Create a Therapeutic Game
Writing a book or creating a therapeutic game is another way to generate alternative revenue streams without taking on new patients. Consider writing a book based on your professional knowledge or developing a therapeutic game that helps people navigate their physical or mental well-being.
As with online courses, writing a book or creating a game can help position you as an authority in your field, increasing your credibility and visibility. By creating such valuable resources, you can expand your reach, help more people, and grow your practice in a unique way.
If you’re interested in writing a book but getting an agent sounds overwhelming, you can start small and self-publish. Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing is one way to get a feel for what steps you need to take with support and resources for first-time publishers.
3. Offer Group Sessions
You can increase your revenue by offering therapy or coaching group sessions. However, with a focus on your existing patients, gaining momentum can take a while. Sessions may start with only a few participants and grow over time. Identify a topic or theme that aligns with the most common issues you’re encountering among your patients.
This could be a great time to get creative if you have varied interests. For example, if you’re a physiotherapist and a qualified pilates or yoga instructor, you could start your day with a group session and schedule individual physiotherapy sessions afterwards. In this case, you’re offering a value-add you could cross-sell to your existing patients. Consider offering a discounted rate for group sessions to encourage participation.
4. Become an In-Person or Online Speaker
Speaking at in-person or online events can be a great way of generating an alternative income stream. Start by identifying paid conferences, events, or webinar opportunities that align with your area of expertise and that attract your target audience. Then, submit proposals to speak at these events and create a presentation highlighting your knowledge and experience.
Alternatively, you can create such paid events yourself and even invite other professionals to speak alongside you or work with an agent who will book engagements on your behalf. Ensure you market your event via your website, social media channels, newsletters, and SMS messages to your existing patients (provided that your patients have opted in to receive marketing communications from you).
5. Offer Telehealth Sessions
If your practice doesn’t offer telehealth yet, this can be a great way to re-engage existing clients who’ve dropped off due to scheduling difficulties. It allows them to meet with you in any location convenient to them.
Start by choosing a reliable telehealth platform that meets your needs and offers secure, HIPAA-compliant communication channels. Then, educate your patients on how to use the platform and what to expect during their telehealth sessions. Ensure you have a stable internet connection and a quiet, private space for your telehealth appointments. Zanda’s practice management software features telehealth to help you expand your reach, provide flexible scheduling, and increase your revenue while offering your patients quality care.
6. Check Your Local SEO
Even when you’re stretched to capacity and can’t take on new patients, you still need to monitor your local SEO efforts – because your existing patients’ treatment will end sooner or later. This means you can never bring marketing efforts that attract new patients to a complete halt, and it’s also useful for existing clients who may need to check open times or find your contact number.
So, when there’s a no-show, why don’t you get your SEO in order to keep adding value to your practice? Even an hour on this once a month can make a huge difference – try our top 5 local SEO tips for allied health practices.
Other helpful resources we have on the topic are: creating a Google My Business Listing for your practice, responding to Google reviews and even a handy checklist you can use to make sure your business listing on Google delivers a stellar performance.
Grow Your Practice With Zanda
With all these avenues for practice growth at your disposal, we’re sure you can’t wait to start building some new income streams. Choosing Zanda as your practice management software lets you spread the word about new offerings at your practice hassle-free and in a flash. Communicate with patients via email or SMS using templates prepared in advance, and use the integration with MailChimp to supercharge your marketing efforts.
Zanda can also generate reports showing patients who have become inactive, so you can identify whom to re-engage with by offering new products and services.
In fact… without Zanda, finding time to grow your practice without attracting new patients could be a lot harder. So, if you haven’t experienced it yet, sign up for a free trial today to see exactly what we’re talking about!
Bonus Tip for Zanda Customers!
Are you an existing Zanda customer? Zanda offers a Refer a Friend program exclusively for our loyal clients who have been with us for over 3 months. You will earn gift vouchers whenever someone signs up by your referral link and then converts their trial!
Get your unique Zanda URL and start referring today!