- Joined
- May 16, 2007
- Messages
- 489
- Reaction score
- 373
I'm a full time government podiatrist, and decided to experiment with starting a part time cash pay, house call practice, will share my experiences here on SDN for anyone who is interested. A plastic surgeon did a similar thread on sdn several years ago, so wanted to do something similar. His was more entertaining...
A little background, my practice has been active for just over 5 weeks. I've seen 7 patients so far.
It all started with an idea soon after I started working for the government. My first goal was to get permission from my employer. I started a form that had to be signed off by everyone from my department head to the head person of the hospital, and about 4 people in between. Once this was done I applied for my state license. I happen to be stationed in the state that is known as one of the most cumbersome in the country to obtain a license. I sent the application in, then finally got the license about 10 months, lots of paperwork, multiple tests, and over $1,000 later. This is just another example of podiatrists making life more difficult for each other.
Then I picked a free EMR, researched the feasibility of a podiatry practice that doesn't participate in insurance (not very feasible according to most), built my own website, and printed business cards from Staples. I knew it was going to be a gamble, but my investment was minimal, and I had a stable job.
I called the local paper, convinced them to write a free article about me, then got reprimanded from my employer for not having permission for off duty employment (which I had already obtained, 10 months ago). So I re-processed the form and obtained all the signatures again. Then I saw my first patient, who ironically was referred by a local podiatrist who had seen my article in the paper.
Since then I have been strategizing on how to make a cash pay practice work, believing that by bypassing insurance, the patient who has a high deductible can pay much lower fees. I applied and got accepted on the SERMO thread for doctors, so I could research more. They required copies of my hospital badges to prove I am a physician. I got approved. Then I posted, stating I was a podiatrist, and promptly got kicked off the forum because I wasn't a physician.
I printed color flyers and hand delivered them to local medical practices, pretty much to be told that they wouldn't be able to send me patients if I didn't take insurance.
I saw one patient for candied apples, these things cost $8 each and I promise are the best candied apples anywhere. One day when buying some apples I told her that if her feet hurt I'd treat her for apples. The next week she called and I ended up with two bags of candied apples for evaluating her heel pain.
Another patient was uninsured, had an ingrown nail. I did his ingrown for $100 cash. I asked him how he heard about me, and he said my online reviews were good, he had found me on google. He said no other podiatrist would see him for under $400, hard for me to believe but that's what he said.
I dropped a card off at a vascular surgeon's office, and they told me that you aren't considered legitimate in this part of the country if you don't take insurance. I wondered how you aren't legitimate if you regularly perform surgeries at two local hospitals, but I smiled and said let me know if I can help.
I mailed some postcards recently to home health agencies, and printed the wrong phone number on them. I wondered how I could fix this, and the best I came up with was to remail them with phrase "new easy to remember phone number" above the corrected number. So far no calls from them though.
I started google adwords yesterday, and my ad got denied. The explanation was very vague so I logged a support ticket.
I've reached out to some local papers to see what their advertising fees are...
A little background, my practice has been active for just over 5 weeks. I've seen 7 patients so far.
It all started with an idea soon after I started working for the government. My first goal was to get permission from my employer. I started a form that had to be signed off by everyone from my department head to the head person of the hospital, and about 4 people in between. Once this was done I applied for my state license. I happen to be stationed in the state that is known as one of the most cumbersome in the country to obtain a license. I sent the application in, then finally got the license about 10 months, lots of paperwork, multiple tests, and over $1,000 later. This is just another example of podiatrists making life more difficult for each other.
Then I picked a free EMR, researched the feasibility of a podiatry practice that doesn't participate in insurance (not very feasible according to most), built my own website, and printed business cards from Staples. I knew it was going to be a gamble, but my investment was minimal, and I had a stable job.
I called the local paper, convinced them to write a free article about me, then got reprimanded from my employer for not having permission for off duty employment (which I had already obtained, 10 months ago). So I re-processed the form and obtained all the signatures again. Then I saw my first patient, who ironically was referred by a local podiatrist who had seen my article in the paper.
Since then I have been strategizing on how to make a cash pay practice work, believing that by bypassing insurance, the patient who has a high deductible can pay much lower fees. I applied and got accepted on the SERMO thread for doctors, so I could research more. They required copies of my hospital badges to prove I am a physician. I got approved. Then I posted, stating I was a podiatrist, and promptly got kicked off the forum because I wasn't a physician.
I printed color flyers and hand delivered them to local medical practices, pretty much to be told that they wouldn't be able to send me patients if I didn't take insurance.
I saw one patient for candied apples, these things cost $8 each and I promise are the best candied apples anywhere. One day when buying some apples I told her that if her feet hurt I'd treat her for apples. The next week she called and I ended up with two bags of candied apples for evaluating her heel pain.
Another patient was uninsured, had an ingrown nail. I did his ingrown for $100 cash. I asked him how he heard about me, and he said my online reviews were good, he had found me on google. He said no other podiatrist would see him for under $400, hard for me to believe but that's what he said.
I dropped a card off at a vascular surgeon's office, and they told me that you aren't considered legitimate in this part of the country if you don't take insurance. I wondered how you aren't legitimate if you regularly perform surgeries at two local hospitals, but I smiled and said let me know if I can help.
I mailed some postcards recently to home health agencies, and printed the wrong phone number on them. I wondered how I could fix this, and the best I came up with was to remail them with phrase "new easy to remember phone number" above the corrected number. So far no calls from them though.
I started google adwords yesterday, and my ad got denied. The explanation was very vague so I logged a support ticket.
I've reached out to some local papers to see what their advertising fees are...
Last edited:
