WHAT IS BRICK BY BRICK?
A Physical Therapy Practice Management Course
This 8-week, online course is designed for clinicians to learn and begin the necessary steps to found their own clinical practice. The aim of this course is to teach clinicians that beginning their own practice is not as daunting as they may believe, with many tasks being relatively cheap (or free!), electronic, and fast in a manner that does not require paid services such as LegalZoom to accomplish. Students will learn the fundamental, legal steps necessary to begin a business such as drafting articles of incorporation, obtaining a federal employer identification number, and applying for national provider identification numbers.The class will also provide a broad overview of payment models in the profession of physical therapy, including the various types of insurance, cash-based physical therapy, and the emerging business model of hybrid practice. Sessions will be provided specifically on national, state, and regional level payors in order to help students make informed decisions to enroll/credential with those insurances (or not). An extremely detailed lesson on Medicare will be provided, including details on Medicare reimbursement, credentialing/enrollment, and “Do’s & Don’t’s” regarding accepting cash from patients who utilize federally provided insurances like Medicare, Medicaid, TriCare, etc. End-stage sessions of the course will focus on helping students who may be ready to consider beginning independent practice, including discussing necessary clinic “front-end” and “back-end” items needed to officially open for business. The ultimate goal of this course is to prepare clinicians to begin their own practice in an approachable manner that keeps them accountable to stay on track to complete the tasks necessary to begin their business in a time-sensitive manner, while also being able to earn CEUs towards relicensure.
FORMAT
Learn How to Start Your Own Physical Therapy Practice
All content (videos, resources, etc.) is delivered through our online learning platform with discussion facilitated through a private Facebook page. Live video conference calls take place Tuesday evenings at 8 PM EST to discuss each week’s content and dive deeper into the material. Attendance at the Tuesday sessions is certainly encouraged however all sessions are recorded and made available to be viewed whenever is convenient for the learner. At no point throughout the class is it mandatory that you are available at a set time, so there should be minimal interruption to your work and life schedule. For those that cannot attend live, a Google Doc is available for Q&A to be answered at the online meetings. Students can expect to need to dedicate 2 hours per week to class between lecture & homework.
SCHEDULE
- Week 1 – Incorporation
- Incorporation & different corporation classifications
- Corporate taxation differences
- Applying for incorporation
- Week 2 – Federal employer identification numbers (FEIN)
- FEIN vs. SSN for business identification
- Applying for a FEIN through the IRS
- Employee payment models: W2 vs. 1099
- Week 3 – National provider identifiers (NPI)
- National provider identification number types
- Obtaining a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Identity & Access (I&A) Management account
- Obtaining a National Plan & Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) account
- Applying for Type 1 & Type 2 NPI number identifiers
- Week 4 – Physical therapy payment models
- PPO insurance
- HMO insurance
- Worker’s Compensation insurance
- Automobile insurance
- Federal insurance
- In-network vs. cash-based vs. hybrid practice
- Mid-term exam
- Week 5 – Insurance credentialing
- CAQH
- Insurance enrollment/provider credentialing
- Superbills (cash-based practice)
- Week 6 – Medicare & Medicare enrollment
- Medicare billing requirements
- Medicare facility requirements
- Medicare enrollment
- Week 7 – Clinic necessities
- Commercial real estate
- Clinic front-end
- Clinic back-end
- Financing a renovation
- Week 8 – Putting it all together
- Budgeting
- Bookkeeping/Accounting
- Taxes
- Final course checklist
- Final exam
COURSE OBJECTIVES
- Students will learn & understand the different types of incorporation, draft articles of incorporation relevant to their future practice goals, and submit to their state for approval
- Students will learn & understand the importance of using federal employer identification numbers in business, applying for and obtaining a FEIN from the Internal Revenue Service
- Students will learn and understand the different types of national provider identification numbers, applying for and obtaining both Type 1 & Type 2 NPI numbers
- Students will learn and understand the differences between PPO & HMO insurance, fee-for-service & flat rate reimbursement, commercial & federal insurers, and the differences between in-network practice, cash-based practice, and hybrid practice
- Students will learn & understand the process for both commercial & federal insurance credentialing/enrollment, including Medicare
- Students will learn and understand the differences between commercial real estate classes and necessary physical & digital needs for clinic practice
- Students will learn and understand the basics of practice management including budgeting, bookkeeping/accounting, and taxes
PLEASE NOTE
Our online courses require active participation to be awarded credit which may include reading, homework assignments, and quizzes. We do not allow students to “drop back” to preceding cohorts due to inability to complete work assigned except under extraordinary circumstances. ICE faculty have the final decision in allowing a “drop back” but students are only allowed one “drop back” per course. Failure to complete the course on your 2nd attempt will not yield CEU credit.