Do This First If You Want To Open A Cash Based Practice
*blog post updated 6/25/25
If you want to open a cash based practice, there are a lot of skills that you need to know and I’m not just talking about your physical therapy skills you use to treat patients.
In PT school, we are taught a lot of things, but if you are like me your business class in PT school looked like this: do a group project on finding a niche, realize that reimbursement is terrible and you will never break even based on rent and equipment purchases…write off entrepreneurship as a pipe dream.
Until, being an employee sucks the life out of you and you start looking at alternative options.
Thankfully, these days there are options like cash based PT businesses renting rooms with other clinicians, doing mobile based care, and owning their own clinics.
The biggest problem that I hear people mention when they start talking about opening their own cash based clinic, is that they aren’t sure how to make the jump.
In my professional opinion there are a few options:
Have a super amazing spouse who is willing to fund your life so you can take a risk and start your own business
Save 6 months + of living expenses and jump off the deep end to go all in, all at once
Work part-time in a non-conflicting job to fund your minimum monthly revenue number (what you need to hit the bare minimum of your bills + food + minor expenses) and use the open days to work on your business — Academia or SNF/hospital prn are good ways to do this
Have online revenue to either act as your part-time job or to decrease the amount of pull from your savings (this might mean you could have 3 months of savings if you were also pulling in 1-2k/month online, etc).
My favorite options include #4 + any of the others (truthfully, I have done a combo of all of them myself).
Having online income, specifically in the area of your cash based practice (or as an income stream to help pay off student loans, etc) has a ton of different benefits, here are some of my favorites:
Learn marketing, sales, and content creation skills while still having an income (your full time job)
Takes the pressure off learning all skills at once (getting clients + business details like LLCs + sales/marketing)
Increases your variability in income streams, if you have a slow client month you can pivot to increase sales/revenue in the online space
Builds trust and credibility with potential new clients
Increase demand to work with you specifically, after clients watch youtube or online content they will want to work with YOU based on how you teach and your personality: most of my in person clients find me on the internet first and don’t really care how much I am charging because they want ME to see their kid based on the trust we’ve already created (might have even helped them get a few wins or notice a few problems they aren’t sure how to fix themselves).
Create scaleable income with online products like courses, books, blogging, or affiliate income
There are infinite reasons to add #4 and online business as a part of your cash based physical therapy (or SLP/OT/Chiro, etc) strategy. The best reason, though, is because it ends up compounding both your income and your impact. You can only treat so many humans, but you can impact so many more if you have an online presence.
Okay — great — so how does one add online income into the mix?
By getting the right platform in which to SELL digital products.
Unfortunately, all online platforms cost $30-$50/month indefinitely and that is a lot of money to spend just for the product to exist before you even go through the trouble of selling it.
Thankfully, my online business coaches from Wandering Aimfully (which sadly no longer offer their coaching program) have the perfect software solution for you — their online course/membership/digital product hosting platform called teachery.co AND they have a limited time lifetime access pass so that you can pay once and never again to host your products (seriously, one time payments are my favorite!).
For full disclosure, Caroline & Jason are not physical therapists — they are online business owners with backgrounds in multi-million dollar creative entrepreneur businesses, graphic design, and creative digital art businesses. I chose them to be my mentors and am obsessed with the software they created because of their business values, their personalities, and the value they bring to everything they touch/create.
Here is why I love them and their products:
Caroline is honest about emotional impacts of business & Jason is action focused, together they create a sustainable business dynamic, which I felt could be a type of business that I would enjoy creating. Push-Push-Push mentality of online business does not fit who I want to be or what I want to create, so I chose differently.
They have tons of resources, not just how to’s on creating your first digital product — yes you get access to Teachery.co with a one time super reasonable payment for life but they also have tons of business skills and how to’s for that on the internet. I don’t know about you, but I like actually LIKING the people who create the things I use. It’s why I switched email providers to kit and why I will always use teachery.co (because I also paid once and get access to it for life).
I save $50+/month every month for infinity on hosting my four online courses, which pays for your lifetime membership in 3-5 years.
They speak in ways that are fun, interesting, and connect with me. If you are curious about how Jason & Caroline, the owners of teachery.co explain business check out their youtube (their calm business encyclopedia is my favorite!) or podcast (it feels like they are real humans who talk about business in a fun way).
Teachery is not just a course platform, it is a living breathing entity that will help you create digital products that create impact for others, while not draining your bottom line.
Teachery.co is an online course platform that can also be utilized for selling digital products, as a membership site, selling online courses, or many other creative ways. Teachery.co prides itself on being customizable and is owned by Caroline and Jason Zook. Without a lifetime teachery membership, teachery.co is currently priced at $49/mo. Please note this deal cannot be added on later and is only for first time customers.
Curious about how Teachery stacks up across online learning platforms?
If you’re curious about more ways to learn from Caroline & Jason Zook, the owners of Teachery.co, here is some bonus content that you might find interesting:
How I use Teachery.co in my cash based pediatric physical therapy business
I have been listening to the Wandering Aimfully (the coaching portion of Jason and Caroline Zook’s business that is no longer open for enrollment, but their content is all still live including their podcast, youtube, and blog posts) coaching sessions/podcasts/content and implementing their strategies from email marketing, offer creation, sales strategy all known as their marketing bridge to increase my online income streams, in a way that feels sustainable and well thought out.
I use their philosophies to help create youtube content in a sustainable way, slowing down if I need to, but continuing with the intention that slow, consistent content creation is more valuable than burning out. I chose youtube based on its SEO (search engine) model vs social media (low lifespan of content, non-searchable).
My strategy is to create long-form content available in a library that is evergreen (lives for a long time and is solution focused). My customers find my content when they have a problem to solve: baby isn’t crawling — now what? They often binge all my videos on a topic and often find me through searching youtube or google.
I created four free online courses through Teachery.co as bonuses for my books: Tummy Time and Learning to Roll and Learning to Sit for a way to share more organized youtube videos, to convert individuals onto an email list for email marketing, and as a way to promote proactive strategies for families in Boise who are looking for pediatric physical therapy services or have developmental concerns on tummy time, rolling, sitting, crawling, and walking.
I use a QR code on my business card to link directly to my online course page (which you can view here) giving families and providers an easy way to share information as well as build trust and promote my expertise in pediatric physical therapy. All online courses were created using made for you templates and graphics via picmonkey and canva (happy to share how to do this via the online business consult bonus!).
My future business plans for Teachery.co include:
Build out paid webinars for Infant Educators including recorded in services birth-5 years old
Nurture the email list that is built from my learning to roll, learning to sit, learning to crawl, and learning to walk free courses
Use the courses to sell the Proactive Play Book Series: Tummy Time + Learning to Roll, Learning to Sit, Learning to Crawl, and Learning to Walk
Continue to learn through their podcast.
Take some of the art courses that Caroline has made including ipad lettering for beginners.
Use the free courses to promote my cash based PT business via my business card + QR code
TLDR; Teachery is an online course platform that has a one time payment and lifetime access which allows for unlimited courses, clients, memberships, and digital products. It is design based which allows you to customize and brand everything so that it is a fun experience for both you and the customer. It is one of the best online course platform deals on the internet and I highly recommend both using Teachery to host your digital products and learning from Jason and Caroline Zook on their podcast, youtube channel, or website.
10+ Pediatric Physical Therapy Intake Form Examples and Templates
10+ Pediatric Physical Therapy Intake Forms and Examples including: Online Parent Consultation Consent Form, Online Parent Consultation Intake Form Template, Online Parent Consultation Documentation Template, Pediatric PT Covid-19 Waiver Example, Good Faith Estimate Example, Informed Consent for Pediatric PT Example, Example Medicaid Release Form, Pediatric PT Intake Form Template, Pediatric PT Practice Policies Example, Pediatric PT Privacy Policies (HIPPA) Example, Release of Information Form Template, Youtube Video Release Template, Pediatric PT Evaluation Template, Pediatric PT Progress Report Template, and SOAP Note Template
Hi, I’m Dr. Lauren Baker, PT, DPT, ATC, MTC, and I run a cash based mobile pediatric physical therapy business. I’m literally obsessed with this style of therapy, having a flexible schedule, and all the things that come along with not having the barriers that a traditional insurance based clinic has.
That being said, starting out was kind of hard at first, mostly because I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing — but also because there was SO MUCH to create: intake forms, consent forms, and documentation templates.
After a year+ in business, I feel like I have it mostly under control from an administration standpoint and thought I would share my intake, consent, and documentation forms with other Pediatric PTs who want to move into the cash based mobile peds PT business too.
You see, some people might think that by sharing these forms I’d be creating more competition for myself — but I see the opposite. I see a world where babes are treated in the comfort of their own home with therapists who are able to treat them compassionately and with a high level of energy and support because they’re not burnt out.
So to me, that means we’ve got to convince more peds PTs to take the plunge (& the risk) — which results in making the whole process less scary.
This is my goal in sharing these forms. I hope they help.
Disclaimer: I created these forms myself as well as from some standard language provided by Simple Practice. As of 2022 they have not been reviewed by a lawyer. Use them at your own risk and I highly recommend consulting with a lawyer prior to using them.
Here are all of the forms you can download and use for free:
Online Parent Consultation Consent Form
Online Parent Consultation Intake Form
Online Parent Consultation Documentation Template
Covid-19 Waiver
Good Faith Estimate
Informed Consent for Pediatric PT
Medicaid Release Form
Pediatric PT Intake Form
Pediatric PT Practice Policies
Pediatric PT Privacy Policies (HIPPA)
Release of Information
Youtube Video Release
Pediatric PT Evaluation Template
Pediatric PT Progress Report Template
SOAP Note Template
Using Pediatric PT Intake and Documentation Forms
For full disclosure, these pdf forms are in the format directly downloaded from my all in one system (EMR + online scheduler + credit card payment). I use Simple Practice, which I absolutely love because it is an all in one system that makes sending, e-signing, scheduling, and getting paid something I honestly barely even spend brainpower on.
You can use these forms to create your own in Simple Practice and if you are looking for an all in one system you can sign up for Simple Practice here. You’ll receive $100 off & I will also receive $100 if you sign up using that link.
I currently utilize the $99/month option but you could get started using the $69/month option. The one thing I do dislike about Simple Practice is that they included the google calendar sync in their 99$/mo pricing tier, which I absolutely need. Otherwise, I would still be in the 69/mo category. I would recommend others start with 69/month unless they absolutely need google sync.
Simple Practice does have its own app so if you have fewer patients or are okay with carrying over your appointments to your google calendar manually, it might be worth it to save $30/mo. You can do everything I do with the $69/mo plan.
are you a pediatric PT with a mobile peds business?
If you are a pediatric PT who operates a cash based or mobile business and are interested in being interviewed on my youtube channel, please reach out here. I love sharing mobile and cash based peds PT businesses.
How To Fill Out A Claims Form For Out of Network Reimbursement
This tutorial explains how to submit for reimbursement when receiving cash based pediatric physical therapy services from an out of network provider using a humana claims form as an example.
Your provider may have different information so please refer to your specific form (superbill) for the values you need for your own reimbursement. Not all insurance plans have out of network benefits so please consult your specific insurance prior to receiving any out of network care.
This post contains affiliate links, please see my disclaimer for more information.
Lauren is the owner of Dr. Lauren Baker In Home Pediatric Physical Therapy and provides paid 60-minute online parent consultations for individuals with additional questions internationally. For scheduling please click here.
This video will teach you:
How to fill out an out of network claims form generally
How to fill out an out of network claims form for pediatric physical therapy services
What each section of a claims form means and where to put each code
What a superbill looks like and what each part means
Tips to help you receive your out of network reimbursement quicker and easier
find what you’re looking for
0:45 example superbill and explanation of parts of the form
2:21 medical vs rehab (PT) diagnosis ICD-10 codes
3:16 evaluation codes for physical therapy
3:39 place of service code explanations 11 (clinic) vs 12 (home based)
4:22 CPT code / service codes
5:12 treatment code / service code / CPT code examples for physical therapy
5:40 GP modifier on CPT codes
6:14 multiple code examples
6:52 differences in reimbursement per code
7:32 make payments to section of superbly
7:55 fill out claims form with me Humana claims form example
9:55 fill out the PT section (CPT codes, service description, POS, date of service, etc)
10:18 further explanation difference between POS 11 and 12 (clinic / home)
10:55 CPT code / service description
11:34 multiple codes per date of service example
12:24 provider information
13:44 do not miss adding this specific piece of info for provider section
15:44 tips on being organized to make sure you get payment from insurance company
LINKS IN VIDEO:
Simple Practice which autogenerates my super bills (for therapists) - https://www.simplepractice.com/?p=b2f...
Link to Humana claims form - https://docushare-web.apps.cf.humana....
Get a gorgeous NC landscape print like the one behind me - https://rachelcarterimages.com/buy-pr...
transcription coming soon
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I have a firm philosophy that everyone deserves a physical therapist best friend & if you don’t have one yet — we can be online besties!
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DISCLAIMERS: The information provided on this site is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified healthcare provider. Please consult your healthcare provider with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your condition. By watching this video you release Dr. Lauren Baker, PT, DPT, ATC, MTC and all related parties from any and all liability. *As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The links listed above are 99% affiliate links (amazon or other programs), which means I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
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