Best Physical Therapy Niche in 2022
Why is choosing a niche for your business so important?
You have likely heard saying “The riches are in the niches!”
Choosing a niche for your physical therapy private practice is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make in business.
A niche that has high urgency, high reimbursement or perceived value, and personal passion for you as the physical therapist can make your life 1000% easier.
I will share an example of what I mean by high urgency below.
If you are locked out of your car on Christmas Eve at 11:59 p.m. and the store you just exited is closing at midnight you would pay nearly any price to have a locksmith help you get back into your car quickly.
You probably would not be price shopping and the difference between paying $75 or $375 would mean little to you if it meant the difference between missing Christmas Eve with your family or paying a little extra money.
What are the best PT private practice niches in 2022?
- Telehealth
- In-home post surgical care (Not Home Health)
- Education
- Digital products
- Hybrid In-Person and Online Programs
- Integrated Services
- Therapy On The Go
3 Most Profitable PT Niches in 2022
#1 Worker’s Compensation
Worker’s compensation continues to be near the top of the leaderboard for most profitable niches in physical therapy practice for next year because of the historically high reimbursement, low compliance burdon, high urgency and high compliance.
High Compliance: Injured workers are compelled to comply with the prescribed plan of care or they risk losing the worker’s compensation coverage.
High Reimbursement: Here in Ohio, worker’s compensation reimburses double the rate of many private commercial insurance plans and triple the rate of many Medicaid plans.
High Urgency: An injured worker wants to get back to work as quickly as possible. This brings high urgency and improved compliance.
Low Compliance Burdon: Once a worker’s compensation plan of care has been approved it is nearly set in stone. With Medicare for example, the therapist may develop a plan of care, but at any point after the service has been delivered Medicare could review the date of service and determine it was not medically necessary. The decisions are all made before the care is delivered under a workman’s compensation plan of care.
#2 Cash Based Services
A close runner up is Cash PT or Cash Based Physical Therapy Services.
This is a highly profitable niche for many of the same reasons as above. Client’s paying out of pocket for their servics are usually seeking specialized services not covered by conventional health insurance.
These clients are often highly motivated and personally invested in achieving their desired outcome.
Eliminating the need to comply with third party payer guidelines reduces the compliance burden and allows therapists to operate a more lean business with less administrative waste.
Prices are often higher in a cash based model because the business is selling the expertise and specialization of the therapist.
#3 Digital Informational Products
The final niche on our most profitable list is digital informational products.
This is so appealing because it eliminates the challenges associated with selling time for money. It turns a 1 to 1 model into a 1 to many model.
Some key advantages of this niche include the therapists ability to scale access to a nearly infinite number of clients.
This model also decrease the cost and therefore price of each unit sold because at scale the production cost is near zero.
Digital products have exceptionally high profit margins which creates room in a budge to scale marketing as well.
How to choose the best niche for a physical therapy private practice
Choosing your niche can be easy. Ask yourself the following 3 questions:
1.) What conditions do I love treating?
2.) Are there 100 people today who would pay nearly any price I ask to receive this service?
3.) Will I be able to remove myself from being the person delivering this service?
If you find the answer to all three you have a possible niche.
How I chose my niche.
I created a YouTube channel in 2009. Then in 2019 I noticed that one of my videos suddenly received over 80K views in less than a year. It was a video about sleep positions after a total knee replacement.
That was the fuse that ignited my passion for treating patients after a total knee replacement surgery.
I realized that my approach to TKR recovery was different. Patients were responding well to my gentler and kinder approach.
My YouTube channel was gaining traction, my blog posts were gaining traffic, and my closed Facebook group was growing quickly.
Why I chose my niche.
High Urgency & Compliance – I realized that patients who underwent a total knee replacement were terrified to miss a therapy appointment. They were so scared that their knee ROM wouldn’t improve that they would do anything to get to therapy.
Low Equipment Use – Besides a comfortable site on a recumbent bike and an Arc Trainer, my clients didn’t require much equipment. I could open a dedicated total knee replacement rehab center today for under $10,000. Plus, as an added bonus the equipment I did purchase sustained very little wear and tear.
Upsells and Value Adds – Patients who received a total knee replacement often wanted to buy services and products not covered by insurance. For example, I was able to rent exercise bikes for home use on a monthly basis. I could sell a TENS unit, and ice packs for high profits or use affiliate links within home exercise programs. I could have a patient buy the knee pad and rent the ice machine from me.
Then of course I could sell weighloss programs, massage therapy sessions with local massage therapists, and a host of other items that made the recovery process more enjoyable.
Did this limit my other referrals?
Not one bit. Total knee replacement referrals make up less than 10% of my overall practice yet they account for 100% of my public facing marketing.
I still get post surgical rotator cuff repair and other general orthopedic referrals.
Niches for Mobile Physical Therapy
Mobile physical therapists need to understand their unique competative advantage and legerage it to achieve success.
Small group sessions for a mobile therapist is where the greatest leverage is. Imagine this. You have a group of ladies who all live within a block or two of each other. They are all Medicare age and love to laugh, joke, and spend time together.
In a small group session, you would be actually treating the person who lives in the house, but the other 3 ladies could buy a 6 week pass to be part of the workouts. You are generally supervising them (which is not a covered Medicare service) while you are delivering a Medicare covered one on one treatment to your patient.
A small group session of 4 could generate an extra $37.50 per visit ($12.50 x 3). Not to mention having 3 more therapy patients when the original patient is transitioned to self pay.
Adding upsells – when your Medicare referral is starting a new plan of care, there are a host of products and services that could improve the effectiveness of your treatment as well as improving the enjoyment of the experience.
Upsells including equipment rentals, weightloss programs, massage therapy services from other providers, etc. Even something as simple as buying a new pair of shoes or investing in some workout clothes may help improve compliance, reward good behavior, and help achieve the desired outcome.
Including Telehealth Services – This could be group sessions or individualized therapy. Medicare has extended coverage of telehealth services for physical therapists in private practice through calendar year 2022.
I will be creating an in-depth article on telehealth soon, but for now just know that providing telehealth services can be an amazing way to increase the profitability of your mobile physical therapy business.
Marketing your Physical Therapy Business Niche
Coming Soon.
Anthony Maritato, PT
Private Practice Owner / Physical Therapist
After starting a private practice physical therapy clinic in 2022 with his wife Kathy Maritato, PT, Tony and Kathy grew their practice to five locations across two states.
Now, Tony and Kathy enjoy spending time treating patients in the morning, coaching therapists in the evening, and being home to play with their dog Tucker and 4 boys.
