Physical Therapy Business Profits – Is Physical Therapy Profitable in 2022?
Yes, absolutely. Physical therapy business profits can still be achieved in 2022, but not in the way it was profitable 30-years ago.
The profession of physical therapy has undergone major changes just like most professions.
Look at how food delivery has changed with the advent of Uber Eats and DoorDash.
Look at how photography hash changed with the introduction of the iPhone and Instagram.
30-years ago physical therapists in private practice was nearly 100% based on insurance coverage. It was rare for a patient to pay out of pocket for a desired service that was not covered by insurance.
Today, cash pay services and digital income should represent a larger share of total revenue and it will likely reflect 80%+ of the profitability.
The screenshot above show income generated from non-patient care sources.
14 Best non-patient care income sources to boost physical therapy business profits:
- Selling home exercise programs
- Selling informational products
- Selling telephone consultations/education
- Paid speaking engagements
- Teaching professional education
- Teaching DPT/PTA students
- Teaching non-therapists
- YouTube ad revenue
- Affiliate income
- Sponsorships
- Display Ads
- Paid Article Writing
- Real Estate
- Lead Generation
- Selling Ancillary Provider Services
- Click here for more income ideas
Selling Home Exercise Programs
Insurance coverage pays for a therapist to teach a home exercise program, but as soon as you offer a digital platform or videos to deliver the home exercise program you are stepping into the world of self pay services.
I like to offer a one time fee of $150 for unlimited access to a video based home exercises program delivered to the patient’s phone for the duration of the patient’s plan of care.
Selling Information Products
Most therapists I know love to teach patients about the condition being treated. Imagine recording yourself teaching a patient about spinal stenosis.
You might be talking about flexion bias and why a patient can push a grocery cart for 30-minutes but cannot stand upsupported for 5-minutes.
You might talk about flexion based exercises and how to identify red flags should they occur.
If you could record yourself doing this, you could package and sell that information as an info-product.
Selling Telephone Consultations/Education
Now that the internet has expanded our ability to communicate, the world is shrinking and people from all over the world can access you knowledge.
While you might not be allowed to treat patients across state linees or oceans, you can always provide educational information to anyone, anywhere.
Platforms like Clarity.fm allows therapists to set a fee and accept paid telephone calls from anyone, anywhere. Clarity handles the scheduling and payments. They take a 15% fee after the call is completed, but it is still my favorite platform for this service.
Paid Speaking Engagements
Companies are flush with cash. They have people on staff tasked with finding great speakers and educators to help improve teamwork, reduce work related injuries, and provide value in many different ways.
If you start reaching out to mid-size companies, you could likely land a couple speaking engagements. Each speaking engagement would command a $1,000 to $5,000 fee on the low end.
Create a webpage dedicated to marketing you for hire as a speaker. Set your rates based on a day rate. Include travel costs, food, and time. If you were treating pateints in a clinic you would likely generate $2,000 or more in a day.
Be sure to have a dedicated email for speaking engagment questions.
Teaching Professional Education
If you have been a therapist for any length of time, you most likely have developed some unique skills of knowledge that other therapists or therapy students would be interested in learning.
I started teaching a virtual class on billing Medicare in 2019. That one class generates nearly 6 figures a year now in 2022 and I truly enjoy helping other therapists improve their financial freedom.
More to come soon… tune back next week.
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.