While conducting the cash practice secrets interviews I always asked the cash-paid physical therapists what special equipment or supplies they used. While I found a FEW cash paid PT’s using affordable to expensive lasers and adjustable tables I found no other extremely expensive equipment being used at all. At one clinic, Scott Musgrave, who practices in Colorado, had a colorful therapy band collection looped through caribiner clips and anchored above head to a column via a very strong hook. Not only were the bands useful, they were attractive! While I was visiting with Scott he used them with a patient who paid him $150 for the session (including other manual therapy and exercise) in green cash money the minute he was done with PT. Other equipment in Scott’s office included a treadmill and a Pilates reformer the latter of which he said he rarely uses.
When considering how much to spend on equipment for opening your cash physical therapy clinic be conservative. Use attractive colors of paint to get a clean warm comfortable look. Most PT’s in the home study course started on just a minimal investment and are earning plenty of money with little more invested besides in their ongoing education. Before you buy a piece of equipment ask yourself “Would someone pay me to use this equipment?” You might be surprised how simple items like nice sheets can increase perceived value.
How It Has Worked for Me
I could hardly believe it a little while back when one of my patients said she thought she had lost the gains she had made in the in-patient rehab unit. I do a lot of objective tests (and therefore know she’s progressing) but for cash physical therapy the patients their impression is what matters. Because she wasn’t using therapy band as she did in the rehab unit, she thought she must be regressing. When I pulled out the single therapy band I had in my rolling (scrapbooking style bought at Costco for about $25) cart-bag and had her use it she really appreciated it.
Equipment is one of the “Big E’s” mentioned by Pat Croce in his introduction to the cash practice secrets home study course cash practice secrets course. My patient was a testimonial to the fact that equipment does matter. It doesn’t have to be expensive though. So why hadn’t I had a therapy band in my bag before? It’s too expensive by the piece and I didn’t want to warehouse a whole bunch of rolls of it. I also asked my patient how much she would pay for it if I got her some. She replied, “About five dollars” for the 3-foot section I used with her. I have since bought myself some therapy band sold by Stretchwell, Inc.. I also have bought and appreciated the “over-the-door” / hand / wrist / foot / ankle / doorknob / chair / door jam stopper straps they sell so the therapy band doesn’t have to be sacrificed to slamming the door on it. The strap is shaped like a figure-eight and comes in various colors. It can also be used as a handle if you have a client with rare latex allergies.
The company advertises “99.998% free of latex allergens”. The resistances I chose, colored R.O.Y.G.B, were the the most popular resistances I found when I polled therapists across the country. In this case the lightest resistance is red with progressively stronger resistances including orange, yellow, green and blue. I got my first orange sample piece of this brand at the physical therapy Combined Sections Meeting (CSM) in New Orleans in 2004 and it just snapped a week ago when I over stressed it. It had outlived it’s life expectancy. I am pretty sure that using therapy band or some visible equipment will increase your perceived value in your patients’ minds and thereby increase your effectiveness as PT’s.