Reduced Fees, Sliding Scales, And Lessons Learned – Part 1

Mar
29
2010
by Tamara Suttle

This is the 1st  post in the series
Reduced Fees, Sliding Scales, and Lessons Learned

When I first went into private practice, I tripped over several issues when offering my services for a reduced fee.  Before you begin advertising that you reduce your fees for clients, there’s a few things you may want to take into consideration to avoid the same mistakes that I made.  Here’s the first one . . . .

Are You Meeting Your Own Financial Needs?

Generosity is certainly admirable  . . . if you can afford it.   Airlines tell you to put your oxygen mask on before you try to help someone else with Image of Money Puzzletheirs.  And, you cannot afford to give your services away if you cannot afford the rent and electricity for your home and your office.

There are other ways to do good in this world and hopefully you are doing them.  But make sure that you are financially sound before you go trying to meet your clients’  financial needs.

And, if you are out there already doing good in this world without or in addition to reducing your fees, why don’t you take a moment to let us know about your good works!

[The next post in this series can be found here]

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That Little Something Extra For Your Practice

Mar
25
2010
by Tamara Suttle

I have a colleague in the world of media by the name of Melanie Mulhall.  Actually, I’ve never met her except by way of emails and through my on line networking / support group, Boulder Media Women.  How I met her isn’t really relevant to this post . . . except to remind you again that networking on line can prove valuable to you as you build your private practice.

What is relevant to you is that Melanie is a businesswoman – an author, a blogger, a copywriter, and an editor – and she also offers a very special marketing perk to her clients . . . . In November 2008, Melanie extended an invitation to each of her clients as a one-time “thank-you” gift.  She sent the invitations, prepared a meal, and facilitated a meet-and-greet type evening.  The event turned out to be such a huge success that her clients asked her to continue hosting similar events! Melanie says that since 2008, every other month, she has continued to host this free marketing meeting to discuss “what is and is not working for them in marketing their books and speaking engagements.”Image of Little Gift

What do you have in common with a bunch of wanna-be-published authors?

  • You / they typically work alone.
  • You / they tend to work with lots of ideas.
  • You / they want to meet key players in your respective profession.
  • You / they want to market services and grow your business.

So how can you make this idea work for you and your private practice? No, you can’t extend an invitation to 10 of your favorite counseling clients to join you for dinner.  But, think about it . . . . What can you offer them? Do you work with divorce?  How about a free 6-week seminar on Co-Parenting with Your Ex?  Do you work with educators?  How about a free summer group focusing on Self-Care for Educators?  Working with children?  How about a free monthly Art Group for the kids?

Whatever your niche is, there’s an attractive offer that you can make to provide a perk – that little something extra - to your clients.  Are you already offering an add-on to your clients?  Got a great idea for something you or another professional could be offering in addition to their standard service?  If so, drop us a note below and share you thoughts with us as we continue to build our online community!




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Filed under: Advertising | Publicity, Networking, To-Do's Tagged with ,
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Setting Different Fees For Different Clients

Mar
22
2010
by Tamara Suttle

One of the choices every practitioner in private practice has to make is how to set your fees.

Karlaye from Arizona writes . . .

. . . I set my base fee at $ 125 per hour . . . but the insurance companies that I work for set it at $85-95. If I have a private patient, its fine, but when I have a client that wants to use their insurance, I can only set it at that price. Is that correct?”

And, Jason from Colorado asks . . .

Is it OK to charge my cash-paying clients $85 / hour and charge my insurance- paying clients $100 / hour?  It’s the only way I can see surviving in this economy.”

When setting your fees, you need to be careful.  Health care providers are the most common perpetrators of insurance fraud.  Sometimes such fraud occurs out of greed; however, it is much more likely that you may be engaging in fee-related practices that are illegal and not even know it.

If you have chosen to work with insurance companies, make sure that you are not charging you cash-paying clients a different rate than those who are filing on their insurance. Regardless of your intent, charging different clients different fees for the same service  (based only on whether or not your client pays cash / uses insurance) is not OK.

Look for a future post when I discuss reduced fees and sliding scale fees.

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Filed under: Insurance | Managed Care, Money Matters, Risk Management Tagged with , ,
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Getting Your Money Back From Insurance Companies

Mar
18
2010
by Tamara Suttle

If you are a regular member of our community here, you already know that my practice is a

"Money Fight" by HikingArtist.com

"Money Fight" by HikingArtist.com

fee-for-service-only practice.  However, if you are a provider who bills insurance companies for your services and you are having difficulty recouping your fees, check out this post about a doctor in Florida who got his money back by taking an insurance company to small claims court.

And, if you have had success in working with insurance / managed care companies and recouping your fees, I hope you’ll drop in here to share your insights / experiences.

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Counseling Clients Feel Better – For Your Supporting Data File

Mar
15
2010
by Tamara Suttle

In the midst of your strategizing for your 2010 marketing plan, you need to gather what I call supporting  data. This is a file that contains information that might help a potential referral source or client choose to work with me.  One type of data that goes into my file are articles and research related to the niche, domaine, and services that I offer.

Here is an article by Raymond A. Levy and J. Stuart Ablon in theImage of Supporting Data XSmall Scientific American that cites research concluding that clients feel better, function better, and are more flexible in managing life challenges as long as three years post-termination of psychodynamic  psychotherapy.

This is an article that is going into my Supporting Data file.  Perhaps it should also go into yours.

Do you have other articles / items that might be useful to the rest of us?  If so, share them with us right here.

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