For cash-based physical therapy practices, the patient evaluation process is critical. It’s not just about assessing the injury—it’s about creating a world-class experience that convinces your patients to invest in your services. In this blog, we’ll uncover the one major mistake most cash physical therapists make in their evaluations that is preventing them from building strong emotional connections with prospects and securing long-term commitments to cash pay visits.
Why Your Evaluation Process is Holding You Back
The Common Pitfall: A Standard Evaluation Experience
When cash-based physical therapists first start their practices, they often carry over the evaluation processes they used in their previous in-network clinics. While this approach may have worked before, it doesn’t account for the unique needs and expectations of patients paying out-of-pocket for their care.
For many patients, choosing a cash-based practice is an emotional decision—one that is justified with logic later. If your evaluation feels the same as an in-network clinic’s, there’s no clear reason why they should choose to pay a premium for your services. If your experience doesn’t wow them, they might as well stick with their insurance-based options.
The most common objection you’ll hear when patients are hesitant to sign up for ongoing visits is: “It’s too expensive.” The root of this objection often lies in the experience you’re providing during the evaluation. Without delivering an exceptional, personalized experience that stands out, patients won’t see the value in committing to your services.
The Secret to a High Conversion Rate: Pre-Frame Your Evaluation
Set Expectations Before the Evaluation Begins
The key to overcoming objections and ensuring a high conversion rate lies in setting proper expectations before the patient even walks through your door. This is where the “Objection Pre-Hybrid Protocol” comes into play.
By communicating important details—like rates, number of visits, and insurance policies—before the evaluation, you set the stage for a more comfortable and informed visit. This pre-framing ensures that the patient isn’t blindsided by any details during the evaluation and can arrive feeling prepared and confident in their decision.
For example, during the discovery call, it’s vital to clearly explain:
- That you don’t accept insurance and what their investment will be.
- The number of visits required to reach their desired outcome.
- How they can get reimbursed by their insurance with a super bill.
By addressing these details early, you allow the patient the time and space to process this information, which means when they show up for their evaluation, they’re already mentally prepared to commit.
The Power of a Personalized Welcome
Building Trust Before the First Visit
Once the patient has committed to their evaluation, the next step is ensuring they don’t start to doubt their decision. You can prevent this “buyer’s remorse” by sending a personalized video from the treating physical therapist before they even walk in the door. This simple gesture helps solidify their trust and gives them a glimpse of the positive experience they can expect.
The video should highlight:
- A warm welcome.
- Reaffirming that you are confident in achieving their goals.
- Walking them through what to expect during the evaluation.
This pre-evaluation touchpoint creates momentum, showing the patient that they’ve made the right decision and further strengthens the emotional connection.
Three Phases of a World-Class Evaluation
1. The Emotional Win
The first phase of the evaluation is to create a strong emotional connection with the patient. This is about building trust and proving to them that you understand their pain points. Spend time during the subjective assessment asking deeper questions—don’t settle for surface-level answers.
Ask questions like:
- “How is this affecting your daily life?”
- “Why is this goal important to you?”
- “What have you tried before, and why didn’t it work?”
The more you can help the patient articulate their pain and goals, the more they will trust that you are the right provider to help them.
2. The Action-Based Win
Once you’ve established emotional trust, it’s time to demonstrate tangible progress. Have the patient perform the activity they’ve been avoiding or trying to get back to. Measure their limitations and track progress as you treat them. This “action-based win” creates momentum and shows them that change is possible, even within the first visit.
3. The Outcome-Based Win
Finally, it’s essential to prove that you can achieve the results they’re hoping for. After treatment, retest them on the activity you previously assessed to show clear progress. This not only builds their confidence in your abilities, but it also sets the stage for them to commit to ongoing treatment without hesitation.
Overcoming Objections: The Key to High Conversions
Addressing Financial Objections Early
It’s crucial that by the end of the evaluation, the patient is already sold on the value of the treatment. If you’ve done the right work in pre-framing the investment and showing immediate progress, the patient is ready to commit. This is where you can introduce the cash packages confidently.
If you’ve successfully guided the patient through the emotional, action-based, and outcome-based wins, objections like “it’s too expensive” or “I need to talk to my spouse” will naturally fade away.
Conclusion: Delivering an Unmatched Patient Experience
To succeed in cash-based physical therapy, your evaluations must go above and beyond what patients have experienced at insurance-based clinics. By pre-framing expectations, building an emotional connection, delivering quick wins, and confidently addressing objections, you’ll create a patient experience that makes it a no-brainer for them to commit to ongoing visits.
If you want to increase your cash package conversion rates and start delivering a world-class patient experience, make sure your evaluation process includes these crucial steps. Take your patient experience to the next level, and watch your business thrive.
Watch and Listen to the Full Video
For a deeper dive into a cash physical therapists’ journeys, make sure to listen to the full video. Click here to listen to the video: Unlocking Client Commitment: Transforming the Cash Physical Therapy Evaluation for Higher Conversions
About Author:
Although the company eventually failed, it provided Jordan with invaluable learning experiences. He became passionate about designing world-class patient experiences and building efficient marketing & sales funnels for cash physical therapists. Utilizing this expertise, Jordan became the CMO of a well-known physical therapy media company, and consulted for and built marketing funnels for some of the top physical therapy business coaches.
Eventually growing tired of the typical agency and consulting grind, Jordan, alongside Max Zirbel, founded Clinical Marketer. They infused it with the hands-on support and mentorship that they benefited from in their initial venture. The company was a success from the start, aiding clinics in scaling to 6 and 7 figures in revenue. During its first launch, Jordan and his team met Dr. Ben Bagge, whom they later partnered with after helping him grow his business from $200K/year to over $1M/year in three years.
