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You Put in the Time
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You really did it. It wasn’t easy, but you knuckled down and got through it. You studied hard and mastered the skills required to be an excellent healthcare provider. Good Job!

Now What?

Did they teach you what to do next?

Do you try to find a group practice or go it on your own? If so, where does the money come from to start a business? And how do you find patients anyway? What is an LLC? Do you need to be one?

There isn’t just one way to be successful. You can build your practice any way that you like. That could mean working by yourself or in a group. You may choose to accept insurance, operate a strictly cash practice, or decide to accept both. You might work out of the trunk of your car, in an integrated medical facility, or anything in between.

You can literally practice however you like. You just need to learn how start a business and get it off the ground.

Who is Practice Startup Academy For?

Practice Startup Academy is for any practitioner, new or seasoned, who wants to start a practice but doesn’t know how to go about it. You may have recently graduated or be ready to break away from a group practice setting. We will teach you what you need to know to start your individual practice.

Dr. Smith created this course with the goal of teaching Alternative Healthcare Practitioners the skills they need to be successful in business. Regardless of your field (Chiropractic, Massage, Acupuncture, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Reiki, etc.) the skills required to be successful in business are universal. 

That being said, you don’t have to be an Alternative Practitioner to benefit from this course. The skills are just as applicable for Osteopaths, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, and other more traditional practitioners. We just geared the class towards Alternative Providers because their needs have been historically overlooked.

Didn't I Learn This in School?

No.

Unfortunately, these were not the skills that you learned in school. You learned how to provide care. Some schools do try to incorporate a ‘practice management’ module into the curriculum, but it barely skims the surface of what you need to know.

Business savvy is something entirely different from being good at diagnosing and treating patients. These skills you either learn in an MBA program or over time through trial and error assuming that you stay in business long enough.  That is, unless you have a mentor who is willing to take the time to share what they have learned with you.

Once you’ve learned how to successfully start and run a business, those skills are yours.

What Will You Teach Me?

In short, we will teach you how to start and market an individual practice.

We cover everything from deciding what type of practice is right for your current situation, negotiating a lease, building a website, picking EHR software, getting all the necessary legal paperwork in order, how to fund the whole thing, and the nuts and bolts of marketing. 

To keep it from being overwhelming we have broken the information down into three learning tracks: Physical Presence, Online Presence, and Systems. More detail on each learning track is available below.

Learning Tracks

  • Entrepreneurial Mindset: Learn valuable lessons from over 20 years of practice experience. Begin by getting your head on straight and setting realistic expectations.
  • Equipment & Location: Consider the essentials when it comes to choosing a successful location and keeping your equipment costs down. Don’t overextend yourself.
  • Legal Framework: Stay on top of all the necessary legal filings to get your practice up and running and choose your entity type. Start out on solid footing.
  • Peripherals: Everything else from signage to business cards that you need to successfully launch your physical office space.
  • Branding: Learn how to identify your target audience and structure your brand to attract them. Find your niche.
  • Market Analysis: Understand who your competition is and craft a plan to overcome them online. What are they doing that you can learn from?
  • Site Construction: Build a stellar website that will pay dividends for years to come. Own your local market with properly structured SEO.
  • Marketing: Get your site in front of the people who are looking for your services. Let’s get clients in the door to fill your schedule and pay your bills.
  • Online Infrastructure: Pick service providers to help you succeed online.
  • Business Communications: Get all of your essential communication systems in place from phone to email while taking HIPAA into consideration.
  • Bookkeeping: Get on top of tracking your income, expenses, and write-offs. Learn to budget both personal and business finances.
  • Client Management: Payment systems, scheduling systems, & EHRs. Automate your practice to slash human costs. Make scheduling easier on everyone involved.

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