Transitioning to a group practice
If you're a therapist with a successful solo practice, you may have considered growing your business. Transitioning to a group practice offers several potential benefits. It allows practice owners to expand services, increase client reach, and enhance peer collaboration.
Summary
- Expanding to a group practice allows for greater client reach, service diversification, and peer collaboration.
- Assess readiness by evaluating management skills, leadership ability, and willingness to delegate.
- Create a business plan outlining services, finances, marketing, and legal structure.
- Secure office space and staffing with accessibility, privacy, and future growth in mind.
- Streamline operations with efficient scheduling, billing, and administrative systems through an EHR.
- Develop a strong brand and marketing strategy to attract new clients and communicate changes.
- Ensure financial and legal compliance through budgeting, tax planning, and HIPAA adherence.
- Maintain quality and growth by gathering client feedback, providing supervision, and offering ongoing staff development.
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This guide will outline the step-by-step transition process from a solo therapy to a group practice. You'll find insights into initial considerations, business planning, staffing administrative changes, financial management, and more here. Follow along as we provide practical advice and strategies to facilitate a smooth, successful transition from running a solo practice to a group therapy practice.
Before transitioning to a group therapy practice, evaluate your readiness through a self-assessment.
Ask yourself questions such as:
- Do you have the necessary management skills for running a group practice?
- Are you able to dedicate additional time to transitioning your practice?
- Are you prepared to take on a leadership role, delegating responsibilities and tasks to others?
- Do you prefer working in a more collaborative work environment or individually?
Gain a thorough understanding of the demand and competition for your services by completing market research. You'll want to identify the target client population in your local market. You may be able to pinpoint underserved niches that your group practice can fill. This research is essential in making initial staffing and marketing decisions.
Business planning
Business plan development
A business plan serves as a roadmap for achieving your goals. Create a comprehensive plan that outlines your practice's mission, target market, services offered, marketing strategy, financial projects, and growth plans. This living document can evolve with your practice.
Financial planning
Develop a budget outlining your group therapy practice's projected income and expenses. Consider financial projections for the first couple of years. Explore financing options, including loans, grants, or partnerships, to finance your transition.
Legal structure
Choose the legal structure (e.g., partnership, LLC) that best suits your business goals. Consult with legal professionals to thoroughly understand the associated implications, such as taxes, liability, and partnership agreements.
Location and office space
With the growth of your business, you will need to select a suitable location for the group therapy practice. Consider parking, client accessibility, and proximity to potential referral sources such as schools or hospitals.
Your group therapy practice may have specific office space requirements. Determine the amount of space needed based on the size of your team, the type of therapy provided, and administrative requirements. When looking at the layout of the space, consider needs such as privacy, soundproofing, and a comfortable, professional environment.
Negotiate a lease agreement that fits the needs of your current group therapy practice and growth plans. Consider including provisions for a potential future expansion or modification of your office space as your therapy practice evolves.
Hiring and staffing
Identify the types of therapists and support staff needed in your group practice. Will you offer various types of therapy, such as Occupational, Physical, and Speech Therapy? Will your practice include Psychology or Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)? Support staff such as receptionists, billing specialists, and other administrative personnel may be required to support operations.
Develop a recruitment strategy that targets qualified candidates. Resources such as professional networks, referrals, and online job listings can help you find therapists and staff who align with the values and expertise you envision for your practice.
Create an effective onboarding and training program introducing new hires to your practice's policies, procedures, and culture. Provide ongoing training to staff members to ensure they are continuously prepared to deliver high-quality care.
Administrative and operational changes
Establish a clear organizational structure for your group practice. Defining roles and responsibilities for administrative management, clinicians, and support staff can promote accountability and efficiency.
Develop a comprehensive set of group practice policies and procedures, including scheduling, billing, record-keeping, staff conduct, and client confidentiality.
Implement administrative systems for scheduling, billing, and record-keeping (such as through an electronic health records (EHR) system).
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Marketing and branding
Creating a compelling brand identity for your group practice can reflect its values, unique strengths, and mission. Develop your brand by designing a logo, website, and marketing materials that impact your target audience.
Develop a marketing plan to promote your group therapy practice. This plan may include incorporating online marketing (e.g., social media, website SEO), offline strategies (e.g., networking events and community outreach), and partnerships with referral sources to attract new clients.
Communicate the transition from a solo to group practice to existing clients to ensure a smooth transition, provide continuity of care, and foster trust. Personalized messages, updated communications, and meetings are a few ways to communicate the change.
Financial management
Set up an efficient system for accurately billing clients and managing insurance claims to ensure appropriate and timely reimbursement of services.
Establish a fee structure for services offered by considering current market rates, insurance reimbursement rates, and potential options for accommodating diverse financial situations from clients (e.g., sliding-scale options).
Implement financial tracking and reporting systems that will allow you to monitor the practice's finances, track revenue, and manage expenses. This will allow you to make informed financial decisions that support the growth of your group therapy practice.
Technology and infrastructure
Investing in a secure IT system that includes communication and data management can ensure confidentiality, compliance with healthcare regulations, and accessibility.
Choose and implement an EHR system that is HIPAA compliant and facilitates efficient documentation. Provide training to staff so they can easily navigate through the EHR system.
If your practice offers telehealth services, consider using an IT system that integrates with this option.
Compliance and legal considerations
Ensuring compliance with all relevant local, state, and federal healthcare regulations and licensing requirements is essential. Group practice owners should remain informed about ongoing updates to rules, such as changes in licensure or professional certification requirements and professional codes of ethics.
Develop a risk management plan that addresses potential liabilities, coverage through malpractice insurance, and protocols for handling client disputes or emergencies. This can help protect your practice and staff.
Adherence to confidentiality and privacy standards, such as HIPAA compliance, is of the utmost importance. When transitioning to a group therapy practice, ensure that policies and procedures reinforce this across staff.
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Quality assurance and improvement
Implement quality control measures to maintain high standards of care and enhance the overall experience for therapy clients and their families. This includes providing sufficient clinical supervision, peer review, and collaboration among therapists and leadership.
Establish a system for collecting and responding to client feedback to identify improvement areas and increase satisfaction among clients and families.
Create a plan for continuous improvement and professional development, such as offering ongoing training and continuing education courses (CEUs).
Transitioning from a solo therapy practice to a group therapy practice allows practice owners to expand the services offered, increase client reach, and enhance collaboration with peers. Careful planning and strategic decision-making can help make this transition seamless and successful.
This guide can help therapists navigate selecting a location, determining staffing needs, marketing, and financial management. Consider seeking additional information from professional associations (e.g., ASHA for speech therapists, AOTA for occupational therapists), business consultants, or online tools.
Although there are several areas to consider when transitioning from a solo therapy to a group therapy practice, the rewards can be significant and long-lasting.
Resources
TheraPlatform is an all-in-one EHR, practice management, and teletherapy software built for therapists to help them save time on admin tasks. It offers a 30-day risk-free trial with no credit card required and supports mental and behavioral health, SLPs, OTs, and PTs in group and solo practices.
Streamline your practice with One EHR
- Scheduling
- Flexible notes
- Template library
- Billing & payments
- Insurance claims
- Client portal
- Telehealth
- E-fax
More resources
- Therapy resources and worksheets
- Therapy private practice courses
- Ultimate teletherapy ebook
- The Ultimate Insurance Billing Guide for Therapists
- The Ultimate Guide to Starting a Private Therapy Practice
- Mental health credentialing
- Insurance billing 101
- Practice management tools
- Behavioral Health tools
Free video classes
- Free on-demand insurance billing for therapist course
- Free mini video lessons to enhance your private practice
- 9 Admin tasks to automate in your private practice
References
Berkowitz, E. N. (2021). Essentials of health care marketing. Jones & Bartlett Learning. DOI: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=2_EfEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=marketing+therapy+practice&ots=YelXNQMl2Y&sig=yccHO5gYXjupviP0p0It7PcRjhg#v=onepage&q=marketing%20therapy%20practice&f=false
Mishra, V., Liebovitz, D., Quinn, M., Kang, L., Yackel, T., & Hoyt, R. (2022). Factors that influence clinician experience with electronic health records. Perspectives in health information management, 19(1). DOI: Factors That Influence Clinician Experience with Electronic Health Records - PMC (nih.gov)
Schmidt, A. (2020). Regulatory Challenges in Healthcare IT: Ensuring Compliance with HIPAA and GDPR. Academic Journal of Science and Technology, 3(1), 1-7. DOI: https://academicpinnacle.com/index.php/ajst/article/view/82
