You know that mental health is just as important as physical health. That’s exactly why you decided to commit your life to studying and practicing healthcare—mental healthcare, to be exact. You want to help each patient live their best life, complete with a tailored care plan including ongoing therapy, prescription medication or a combination.
You also want to do it on your own terms. It’s natural to get to the point in your career where you consider starting your own practice. But before you leap, think about whether you can handle the extra costs and responsibility. From managing a full staff to enrolling in business insurance for mental health, being the boss means making informed decisions.
One estimate puts the cost for launching a small private medical practice between $70,000 and over $100,000, depending on a number of factors. You’ll have your one-time startup costs (like incorporation fees, furniture, electronic systems, etc.) as well as recurring operational costs (rent and utilities, replenishing supplies, business insurance, salaries) to keep the business afloat after it launches. Are you ready to make this large financial commitment?
If the answer is no, consider working for an already-established practice or group so you can gain experience and save.
The American Psychological Association quotes one practitioner as saying, “You need to get over the idea that your clinical competence alone will sell your practice.” In other words, you can’t just start a practice and expect your books to fill up on their own. You must sell yourself to potential patients.
How? There are a number of ways: Giving talks to varied audiences, volunteering in the community, building a website that’s easy to find and navigate and producing relevant content, to name a few. Running a blog and linking relevant articles on your social media is a great way to connect to current and potential patients. Just remember to follow the 80/20 rule: 80 percent of your content should entertain, educate or inspire your audience by relating to their lifestyle while just 20 percent should promote your practice.
A great healthcare team won’t build itself. You have to create job postings, screen resumes, host interviews and make competitive offers. Once you have assembled your administrative and healthcare staff, you have to work hard to keep them productive and satisfied with their jobs. Otherwise, you face running an understaffed practice with high turnover and weakened patient relationships. From the moment you hire your first employee, you must keep up-to-date on employer regulations and shape your practice’s policies around protecting and empowering your team.
For everything you can’t anticipate, there’s business insurance for mental health practices. Your growing practice will need the right mix of liability coverage, workers’ compensation and property insurance to help it avoid any financial pitfalls in its first few critical years (and beyond).
Want to budget better for business insurance for mental health? You’re in luck. Get a quote that fits your medical practice from CoverHound today!
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