With the even changing health care landscape many physical therapy clinics are moving towards the trend of cash based therapy. We wanted to take this opportunity to educate our community more on this model of therapy as it is on the forefront of our profession.
Our ultimate goal when opening Advanced Kinetics was to reinvent physical therapy and get away from the dictatorship of insurance. We feel all patients should achieve 100% of their goals and function but that does not always align with insurance goals. We also want to be able to spend quality time with each patient using our hands for treatment and providing each patient with the best experience tailored to their needs.
So what is cashed based physical therapy? And why did Dr. Angela Gordon and Mr. Kwang Han decide to make the switch to mostly cash based?
The cash-based model of physical therapy in a nutshell is the patient pays a flat fee per visit directly to the practice. Once their treatment is complete the provider provides an invoice with the ICD-10 and CPT codes. This invoice can then be submitted, by the patient to their insurance company for a direct reimbursement.
What are the patient benefits of choosing a cash based physical therapist:
- Access to highly skilled Physical Therapists: Within the cashed based model, patients have access to more skilled Physical Therapists who have an increased level of experience or level of education. By eliminating the middle man of insurance the PT’s can focus on bringing such knowledge and specialized care to complex patient issues. However, patients still need to be cautious and properly research their providers and make sure they are well qualified and have the experience to warrant the cash service.
- Achieve faster results: Patients sometimes don’t see the big picture when it comes to their care and it’s not because of education, its because of the hidden insurance regulations. Most practices will want to see the patient 2 to 3 times per week and with a copay average of $30.00 to $40.00 per visit that equals $90.00 -$120.00 per week. However, cashed based practices have the flexibility of scheduling the patient once per week for a longer session, providing high quality care and results in less time. So in reality, the $120.00 in copays is comparable to the price as one session with a PT at $150.00. The flaw with this method is the psychology of – if you see a PT three times a week you get more for your money verses one time. Wrong! Think of it this way, you see a PT three times a week for 8 weeks verses seeing a PT for four times in 4 weeks. Cash based practices focus on getting you healthy faster without having to jump through the nasty insurance hoops.
- Focused Care: When seeing patients under a cash model, we as PT’s are not concerned about reimbursement and whether or not we are meeting the quotas of seeing a certain amount of patients to foot the bills, or filling out the right paperwork to get reimbursed, or patient medical forms to ensure they can have enough appointments to get well, etc. Patients get more one on one time directly with the therapist and we spend quality time, engaged in care, and ultimately getting them healthier faster!
