Telepractice is an Emerging Solution
During 2020 - 2021, the pandemic forced therapists to transition to telepractice service delivery. It didn't take long for the global community to realize that telepractice was an emerging solution for people who are looking for services and for professionals wanting to build a viable practice.
Three Types of Telepractice
The American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) is recommending the term telepractice over other terms such as telehealth, telemedicine, telespeech, and speech teletherapy to avoid the misperception that these services are used only in health care settings.
Common terms describing types of telepractice are as follows:
Synchronous (client interactive): Services are conducted with an interactive audio and video connection in real time to create an in-person experience similar to that achieved in a traditional encounter. Synchronous services may connect a client or group of clients with a clinician, or they may include consultation between a clinician and a specialist.
Asynchronous (store-and-forward): Images or data are captured and transmitted (i.e., stored and forwarded) for viewing or interpretation by a professional. Examples include transmission of voice clips, audiologic testing results, or outcomes of independent client practice.
Hybrid: Applications of telepractice that include combinations of synchronous, asynchronous, and/or in-person services.
Common Fears for Online Therapists
The barriers to telepractice in Canada were reduced during the pandemic because of the urgency of taking care of caseloads. Funders were forced to accept telepractice as a service delivery method. Clients downloaded apps and showed up for sessions.
All therapists had to take risks and learn new skills. Private practice therapists were faced with becoming online entrepreneurs. Here are some common fears expressed by therapists.
- First of all, how do you stay legal? What are your obligations regarding compliance with privacy protection laws and professional conduct? Currently, Canada has vastly different privacy protection laws from province to province. Within provinces, there are variations depending on the place of employment and even the source of the caseload data.
- Secondly, how do you convey competence when the technology keeps changing and the learning curve is so steep?
- Thirdly, how do you compete online to attract your ideal caseload?
- Fourthly, how do you keep your clients committed, paying you well and staying long enough to get clinical outcomes?
Telepractice Service Delivery Solves Problems
In Canada, we have a long history of inequitable access to therapy services for rehab and intervention. During the pandemic, we saw that telepractice service delivery solved some of our intractable problems.
Risk of Spreading Disease
Speech language therapy became a dangerous profession during the pandemic. SLPs could no longer sit close to clients and use the mouth to teach concepts. Some SLPs tried to work behind plexiglass. The acceptance of webcam sessions was rapid because it eliminated the spread of the virus.
Vacancies
Therapy positions in rural communities sometimes stay vacant for a long time while employers try to recruit someone. Experienced therapists tend to be well-established in their careers. They are not interested in moving or even taking short term assignments away from home. Long waiting lists create desperation for people living in those rural communities. They waste their precious funding on fads, unproven therapies and unqualified service providers.
In contrast, telepractice services can be used to address vacancies. Employers can either develop their own telepractice outreach programs or hire private contractors to provide online services.
Demands on Therapists
Even people living in urban centers struggle with finding a therapist who is available at the right time. Many families want a therapist who will come to their home evenings or weekends. Children are in daycare or school all week. Adults can't take time off work.
Private practice therapists can't sustain a caseload that involves giving up evenings and weekends and travelling to homes without being reimbursed.
In contrast, telepractice services allow private practice therapists to build a business that is efficient and profitable. It gives them work-life balance.
Telepractice Service Delivery Offers Benefits
Telepractice gives people access to expert help, so they can make progress on their rehab and intervention. There are benefits for the public, for individual therapists and for the professions.
- The time and expense of travel for clients and therapists is eliminated. Therapists can extend the reach of their practice.
- Telepractice can increase the frequency of contact.
- It is a future-proof way to provide assessment and intervention. The reliance on pen and paper and physical therapy materials is greatly reduced.
- Monitoring can be done asynchronously by viewing data on a server
- Telepractice can turn therapists into leaders in their professional field because therapists can develop a clinical niche.
- Clients with rare and difficult diagnoses can get access to highly effective treatments.
- It can provide new grads with mentoring from confident leaders.
- A more affordable tiered service model is possible because a highly specialized expert can create goals and direct a local team in following a robust therapy protocol.
- Software can be used as curriculum, greatly reducing the need to train paraprofessionals to fidelity.
- The risk of spreading diseases is eliminated.
- Telepractice increases the efficiency and profitability of a therapy practice.
Free 30-Minute Workshop for Private Practice Therapists!
- Discover the three biggest website mistakes made by private practice therapists
- Walk away with an understanding of the changes you need to make to your website
- Feel confident about being an entrepreneur, finally having a vision for a strategic website that will help you build your therapy practice
"After this workshop, I finally started thinking about the FUNCTION of my website, not just the look."
More of...
- Referrals
- Confidence
- Ease & Balance
Less of...
- Inefficiency
- Frustration
- Low Income
Qualifying leads helps therapists find the right clients.
If a visitor to your website provides their contact information, that person becomes a lead. Qualifying leads is a marketing phrase that refers to using a screening procedure to eliminate all the wrong leads and only keep the right ones. If you want clients who are interested in asynchronous therapy, it's important to explain your service model on your website. Don't confuse the public. Use common language to explain your services. Try using online service delivery.
Q: What if my prospects are not aware of the benefits of asynchronous therapy? What if they want face to face services?
In your marketing, explain the benefits of your approach:
Safety: During a health crisis, online service delivery is a safe option.
Flexible scheduling: People with busy or complicated schedules can still get therapy.
Expertise: Clients can get expert help which is not available locally. Less experienced members of the intervention team can be mentored.
Access: People in remote locations can be well supported. People who don’t drive can access therapy.
Efficiency: Sessions will take place consistently. None of the funding is wasted on travel costs.
I teach private practice therapists how to manage their own website, marketing and curriculum using the AttractWell platform. You can create a page on your website with frequently asked questions about your service model. You could write a short blog post for each of the benefits of your online services. If you create this type of content for your website, people searching for asynchronous therapy will find your website. In other words, you can use inbound marketing to pull ideal leads toward your business.
Q: Is asynchronous therapy a good option in all cases?
No. Some people don’t meet the three basic requirements for asynchronous therapy:
- A strong high-speed Internet connection.
- A computer or tablet with a webcam.
- Computer skills or a reliable helper with the necessary skills
Offer a screening consult by webcam to probe for these three prerequisites. If people experience problems during the initial consult, they immediately become aware of the limitations and they make some decisions.
If you are wasting a lot of time trying to find clients who are a good fit for asynchronous therapy, consider changing your marketing. You should have some way to direct people to other services so that you don’t collect inappropriate referrals.
All your communication with leads, referral sources and prospects should be consistent and clear so that you don’t collect inappropriate referrals.
Free 30-Minute Workshop for Private Practice Therapists!
- Discover the three biggest website mistakes made by private practice therapists
- Walk away with an understanding of the changes you need to make to your website
- Feel confident about being an entrepreneur, finally having a vision for a strategic website that will help you build your therapy practice
"After this workshop, I finally started thinking about the FUNCTION of my website, not just the look."
More of...
- Referrals
- Confidence
- Ease & Balance
Less of...
- Inefficiency
- Frustration
- Low Income
Marketing a Therapy Practice Requires 3 Powerful Words
You will have the most success in marketing your therapy practice if you inform the public of your services using three powerful words. The words are problem, solution and method. Why are these three words so powerful? It is because they take your referrals from good, to better, to best.
If you focus on these words in your marketing messages, you will attract the right leads to your practice. The old marketing methods no longer work. You can't expect to get referrals by word of mouth or by building your reputation in a local community. People with a problem use search engines and social media to find help for their problem.
Here is the formula. This is the best way to present your marketing messages:
If you have problem X,
you need solution Y,
which we provide using method Z.
Marketing your Therapy Practice to People who have a Problem
Good referrals are problem-aware.
These people know that they have a problem and they know what it is called. They are concerned and want information. They are worried about the future. For example, the parents of a preschooler who has unclear speech might be wondering if this is normal. The grandparents and daycare can't understand the four-year-old, so they are asking the parents to get the child assessed.
The family might see a doctor first and ask if the unclear speech is typical for a four-year-old. Depending on what the doctor says, they might try to get on a public waitlist for a speech language pathologist (SLP), they might look for private services, or they might wait to see if the problem will go away on its own.
In marketing your therapy private practice, create content that shows your integrity and professionalism. This is what separates you from the charlatans. People who have a problem are vulnerable consumers because they are attracted to services and products that promise amazing results. As a qualified professional, build trust with consumers by providing accurate advice online. Don't be afraid to state your opinion.
Marketing your Therapy Private Practice to People who are Looking for a Qualified Professional
Better referrals are solution-aware.
Let's continue with the example of the unintelligible four-year old. Let's imagine that the doctor states that the child's speech is not within age expectations and suggests that the parents get on the public waitlist for an SLP. Now the parents know that an SLP can help. They are hoping for quick access to this professional. Perhaps they have excellent medical benefits, so they decide to bypass the long public waitlist.
They start searching online for a private SLP. The qualified professional is the solution. This person has the expertise to help them with their problem. The professional can explain possible causes and provide recommendations about the right treatment. The doctor might not have told the parents that a hearing assessment is necessary when a child's speech is unintelligible.
Marketing your private practice is not just about creating messages that sell your therapy services. It is also about educating your website visitors. Imagine how grateful young parents would be if an SLP's website alerted them to the possibility of a hearing loss when a child's speech is unintelligible! What if this information helped them get hearing aids for their child immediately, instead of waiting in vain?
Marketing your Therapy Practice to People who are Looking for a Specific Treatment Method
The best referrals are method-aware.
They know what the problem is and they know that it is possible to overcome their problem. They want to know how much time and money it will take to get the result they are looking for.
Their research is probably taking them to websites that mention specific treatments.This happens when a method is well-established, or well-promoted in the media. The effectiveness of the method is highly compelling. People with a problem need hope. In marketing your private practice, you want to feature treatments that work.
If your private practice is aligned with a proven treatment method, you will get the best type of referrals. People searching for a therapist who offers this specific method will find your website.
Let's pretend that Speak and Read is a well-respected therapy method for young children. Indeed, the preschooler from our example was diagnosed with a hearing loss and now has hearing aids, but the speech problems have not fully resolved. Kindergarten is looming. The parents are searching for a private SLP who offers the Speak and Read method.
If an SLP was marketing her therapy private practice using the formula, it would look like this:
If your child has unclear speech [problem X],
your child needs speech language therapy [solution Y],
which we provide using the Speak and Read method [method Z].
Those parents would find her website. They would be eager to hire her because they are method-aware consumers.
Free 30-Minute Workshop for Private Practice Therapists!
- Discover the three biggest website mistakes made by private practice therapists
- Walk away with an understanding of the changes you need to make to your website
- Feel confident about being an entrepreneur, finally having a vision for a strategic website that will help you build your therapy practice
"After this workshop, I finally started thinking about the FUNCTION of my website, not just the look."
More of...
- Referrals
- Confidence
- Ease & Balance
Less of...
- Inefficiency
- Frustration
- Low Income
