Start your private OT practice. Without the headache.

Thinking about leaving a larger clinic to start your own practice? We won't sugar coat it: it's scary, hard, and risky. But it's also the way to shape your work to your lifestyle, earn more for the work you do, and build up wealth. It might be hard, but you can do it!

We've put together a guide that helps independent OTs figure out how to start, run and grow their private practices. You can download for FREE it right here!

Why should you go independent?

Working for someone else is a great way to start your OT career, but after a several years of gaining experience and building a reputation, many OTs decide to take the plunge and start their own practices.

There are some challenges with setting up your own practice:

• You are responsible for bringing in new patients. You’ll have to set up relationships with physicians and build up your reputation in the community.
• You will have to manage your patients’ treatments without the mentorship and support you would have at a larger clinic
• You need to handle the administrative side of the business. This includes billing, scheduling, and ensuring compliance with healthcare regulations.

We provide support in all of these areas, but the work you’ll do to manage your own practice is fundamentally different from the work you do when someone else is

But there are also many rewards:

• Match your work schedule to your lifestyle. If you want to work fewer hours to spend more time with your children, great — just take on fewer patients. If you want to start the next big clinic in your city, that’s great too. You’ll have to work hard, but the sky’s the limit.
• Higher income. Working in another clinic, you only take home a fraction of what the patient and their insurance are billed. Running your own practice, you bring in 100%.
• Build wealth. When you retire from a clinic, you don’t take anything with you except for your 401k. If you spend years building your own practice, you have created a valuable asset that you can sell to the next generation of OT entrepreneurs.

When should you go independent?

You should start your own private practice when you feel confident you’ll be able to handle the challenges listed above. For most OTs this is after spending several years at a larger clinic. Here are some things OTs who have launched their own practices tend to have in common:

• At least 10 patients that you’ve worked with for a long time who love you and will support you on a new adventure.
• A support system of other practitioners you can go to for business advice
• Eagerness to learn the business side. You can get support on accounting, billing, etc. but you have to be willing to learn how things work at a high level
• Willingness to build up a caseload large enough to meet your financial and personal goals

Every story is different though!

How to get started

1. Set up your branding. Think up a name, create a logo, print business cards, design your website.
2. Set up your legal stuff. Register/incorporate your business, get an EIN, buy insurance for your business
3. Set up insurance billing. Apply for your NPIs and medicaid number, register with CAQH, credential with insurance providers
4. Set up your technology. Set up your ERP, HIPAA-compliant email, phone system, telehealth system (if needed)
5. Set up your space (if needed). Find a space, furnish it, decorate it, and get your supplies.
6. Start practicing!

How we help private OT practices

OrbitOT has put together a 100% free guide to starting your private practice that you can download at any time. The guide contains all the information you need to know about when, why and how to go independent.

If you want more help, we can do that too. We can handle all of the backend administrative tasks needed for OTs to start, run, and grow a private OT practice

Getting started

• We’ll provide you with a branding kit (business cards, website)
• We’ll register your business and get an EIN for you.
• We’ll help you get insurance for your business
• We’ll help you set up your ERP, email, phone, and telehealth systems.
• We’ll help you furnish your office with group buying discounts on furniture, evaluation kits, and other OT supplies

Running the business

• Weekly sessions with a business coach who can answer any questions
• Access to “support groups” of other OTs starting private practices
• Back-office support. If you don’t want to handle submitting claims, reviewing EOBs, etc, you can use our back-office team

Growing the business

• Referral kits — these help build relationships with physicians so they will refer business to you
• Evaluation kits — everything you need to start doing evaluations at preschools, adult daycares, etc.
• Online marketing - we’ll help you run ads on Facebook, Instagram, and Google to bring in new business