Private Practice Summer Checklist: The Top 5 Things You Should Do Before Fall
While to some, it may not quite feel like summer is really here yet – with travel plans and other normal activities getting canceled – to others with kids at home who have been out of school due to recent stay-at-home orders, it might feel like summer has already been going on for months now.
Either way, with Memorial Day traditionally kicking off the start of summer, it’s important for private practices to review the various aspects of what is working, and potentially not working, for their businesses before fall comes back around.
Due to COVID-19, the spring of 2020 has certainly brought a huge uptick in the need for mental health support. And we shouldn’t expect this need to fizzle out anytime soon.
Sure, traditionally, summertime is when private practices tend to see a dip in demand, followed by a huge increase during the fall when school is back in session. However, with many schools not scheduled to reopen this fall – coupled with the possibility of a ‘second wave’ of COVID-19 once the weather begins to cool – the demand for mental health could potentially reach an all-time high.
For that reason, it’s important to have a plan in place so you’re prepared for whatever the fall of 2020 may have in store.
1. Have a Telehealth Strategy in Place
Considering its enormous growth over the past few months, it’s pretty clear at this point that Telehealth is probably here to stay. And as the demand for online therapy continues to grow, so does the number of platforms available for private practices to choose from. So, where do you possibly begin in finding the right one for you?
Ready to move your therapy practice online? Sign up for our free email course to learn the 5 most important steps you should take when transitioning to Telehealth.
As you’re researching Telehealth platforms, here are a few features to look for that will greatly improve the delivery of your therapy services online:
- HIPAA Compliance: Just like any other medical software, the most important feature to look for in a Telehealth platform is HIPAA compliance to ensure your clients’ privacy and avoid heavy fines. Fortunately, many Telehealth providers today are HIPAA compliant. But, before signing up, make sure you understand how the Business Associate Agreement (BAA) will be handled – some platforms will automatically sign this and send it to you upon signup but others only do this by request.
- Scheduling & Appointment Reminders: Scheduling appointments and sending out appointment reminders can take up a lot of time each day. If you can find a Telehealth platform that has these capabilities already built-in, you can free up that time for more important things like seeing even more clients in one day.
- Billing & Payments: Many of today’s Telehealth platforms also come fully equipped to collect payments through a secure online portal. Giving clients the option to pay their bill online or set up recurring payments for ongoing therapy sessions can also free up quite a bit of time. Some options even offer tools to help ensure Telehealth appointments are coded and submitted correctly for insurance or Medicare reimbursements.
Need help marketing your telehealth practice? Sign up for our free email course to learn the top 5 ways to effectively market your telehealth services online.
2. Review Your Private Practice Website
Take a good look through your therapist website – every single page.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself as you’re reviewing your website:
- Does your home page effectively communicate that you provide Telehealth?
- Are your new office policies for in-person sessions readily available?
- Are potential clients able to easily communicate with you through any page on your site (including blog posts)?
- Are there enough CTA’s (calls to action) on every page?
- Have you created a Telehealth specialty service page yet?
- Have you written a blog post about what your clients can expect from online therapy sessions with you or the benefits of Telehealth?
Fix things that can be improved – or that are missing entirely – as you come across them, or create a list to revisit them one-by-one later.
Don’t forget that technical support is included free in every single Brighter Vision website package. So, if you find yourself struggling to make updates yourself, feel free to ask for help! Just shoot us an email at [email protected]
Not sure if your website has everything it needs? Test it yourself with our FREE Website Grader quiz! And you can also check out our portfolio.
3. Build Your Social Media Strategy
If you haven’t created business pages for your practice on social media yet, now’s the time! Here are a few tutorials we’ve created to help walk you through the signup steps on some of the most popular platforms:
- The Therapist’s Easy Guide to Creating an Awesome Facebook Business Page
- How to Set up a Twitter Business Profile for Your Private Practice
- How to Set up a LinkedIn Company Page for Your Private Practice
Once you’ve gotten your business accounts created, start posting consistently to the platforms where your ideal clients are spending their time.
Social media is a great way to share changes in your practice and having these channels set up ahead of time, with a growing follower-base, will make it easy to communicate quick changes in your business when the time comes.
Ready for a Full Schedule? Find out how Social Genie can help you!
4. Start a Newsletter
With so many people taking time off work for vacations, summer is a great time to build up your mailing list and start a newsletter for your practice.
Start out by adding a signup form to your website, like this one:
Next, do some research and find the best email newsletter tool for your specific needs. Here are a few of our favorites:
Then, once you’ve selected a platform and imported your contacts, the fun really begins. It’s time to start designing your email newsletter and curating it with content that your ideal clients will find interesting and useful.
This summer, start out with topics that are relevant to the season such as how to cope with travel or event cancellations, and other closures. Doing so will establish yourself as the expert and let your subscribers know that you are truly there to help them, especially if things get more stressful this fall.
For more help getting started with newsletters, check out our blog posts titled 8 Simple Steps To Starting Your Private Practice Newsletter Today and Using Email Newsletters to Market Telehealth.
5. Grow Your Network
Once you’ve made sure your website is up to par, prepared your practice with a Telehealth strategy, and caught up with your online marketing on social media and through newsletters, it’s time to continue growing your network by reaching out to local organizations.
Open up a new Word document – or grab your handy dandy notebook – and start listing all of the types of businesses you could potentially form a referral partnership with. For example, if you work primarily with children and/or teens, schools would be an excellent addition to your list. Or, if you work primarily with couples, consider adding churches (pre-marital counseling) or family law attorneys (separation and divorce) to your list.
Once you’ve got a good list of business types, go online, and find the contact information for businesses that fall into each of those categories in your area. Add all of this information to sub-lists under each of your main categories.
Then, create an email template – creating a different template for each business type – that you can use to reach out to every single one of those individual businesses on your list. In your email, introduce yourself and your practice, explain why you’re uniquely qualified to provide therapy to people who may visit that business, and ask if they would be interested in a referral partnership.
Studies have shown that people are 4x more likely to buy when referred by a friend or another trusted source.
people are 4x more likely to buy when referred by a friend or another trusted source #brightervision Click To TweetWhile a therapy session isn’t exactly buying in the traditional sense, the principle remains the same. People typically put a lot of stock into personal recommendations. Therefore, building relationships with local referral sources can really pay off in the long-run when that positive relationship yields more and more new clients for your practice.
Want the beautiful therapist website you deserve? Then you’re in the perfect place.
Brighter Vision is the ultimate marketing package for therapists, centered around the best therapist website you’ve ever had. Fill out the form below to learn more about our team of professionals who can’t wait to help your practice grow like never before 🙂