Practice Building 2.0 for Mental Health Professionals: Strategies for Success in the Electronic Age

by Tracy Todd PhD

Overview

How to use technology to effectively market your private practice.

Building and maintaining a private practice today requires initiative, creativity, and a willingness to adapt new tools, technologies, and techniques to your business. As a therapist, and a small business owner of a private practice, you face the challenges of fluctuating market trends, infrastructure inefficiencies, seismic changes in demographic populations, complex reimbursement systems, and technological advances which alter practice patterns. Your “therapist side” may be reluctant to think of yourself as a businessperson; however, if you are to keep offering your valuable services, you owe it to yourself and your clients to build the most effective and efficient practice possible. To do so, you need to take advantage of the latest technology. Tracy Todd presents a number of technologies that will help you build, maintain, and expand your practice. He clearly walks you through the (surprisingly easy) process of creating your own Web site, highlighting the usefulness of features such as online scheduling and payment systems. He also provides overviews of podcasting, videocasting, blogs, and electronic file management, pointing out the benefits of each, and how you can go about applying these tools to your practice. The result is a book that will help you streamline your administrative duties, while expanding your clinical reach—thus helping your practice thrive.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393705621
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	10/26/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Tracy Todd, PhD, is a licensed marriage and family therapist and consults on business planning for therapists. He lives in Westminster, Colorado.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Disclosures viii

The History Behind This Book ix

Part I Conceptual Shifts In Practice-Building 2.0 xi

Introduction 1

Personal Reflections 1

Converging Processes 3

Myths and Antiquated Practice-Building Strategies 9

Final Note 20

Chapter 1 Self-Assessment 21

Barriers to Practice Building 22

Technological Tools 27

Data Preparation 28

Setting Goals 40

Summary 43

Chapter 2 Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Lifelong Customers 45

Clinical Service Is Not Equal to Customer Service 46

Customer Satisfaction 49

Customer Loyalty 53

Lifelong Customers 55

Summary 58

Chapter 3 Rings of Referrals 60

Ring 1 Treatment Stakeholders 61

Ring 2 Clients and Former Clients 68

Logistical Considerations 69

Ring 3 Unknowns and Cold Calling 73

Summary 75

Part II New Technologies For Practice-Building 2.0 79

Chapter 4 Web Site Technology 81

Web Site Essentials 81

Web Site Options 113

Summary 124

Chapter 5 Technology Beyond Your Web Site 128

Essential Infrastructure Technologies 129

Security 147

Infrastructure Technology Options 151

Summary 158

Chapter 6 Purposefully Building Loyalty and Lifelong Customers 160

Flagship Services 161

Satisfaction- and Loyalty-Building Points 164

Paying Attention to Treatment Stakeholders 178

Chapter 7 Accessing and Building Referrals from Ring 3 184

Web Presence 186

Human Presence 194

Summary 198

Chapter 8 Hard Realities of Maintaining Your Business 199

Emotional 199

Business Processes 204

Third-Party Payer Changes 207

Summary 209

Chapter 9 Concluding Our Business Profile 211

Unrealized Revenue 211

Business Profile 213

Final Thoughts 216

Appendix A: Starting YourBusiness 219

Appendix B: Biased Resources 223

References 225

Index 229

Editorial Reviews

"This book is such a valuable resource, I would like to keep it away from any mental health professional practicing within 100 miles of my clinics! Tracy provides the reader with proven strategies designed to improve clinical care and ensure financial success. Few mental health training programs teach the beginning therapist how to become financially successful in the real world, and they often imply that this is a profession of poverty. Whether starting a new practice or improving an existing one, these strategies will improve client care and increase the bottom line."

Peter D. Bradley

"A must-read for anyone in private practice, thinking of starting a private practice, or wanting to take their practice to the next level. Practice Building 2.0 is chock-full of creative, practical, and sage advice, offered from one of the most talented minds in the field today. In the ever-changing health-care jungle, this book is the compass to guide our way."

Catherine Hastings