Where Making Money and Making a Difference Come Together

Today is the day Blue Cross Blue Shield cuts my reimbursement rates by 11%. Yesterday I got another “FYI” (yes, that is the official name *smirk*) from Blue Cross telling me that they will no longer reimburse out of network providers directly and “are working to encourage our members to use in-network providers to contain [...]

I just spend an hour reading a professional association list serve and now I feel like I need a stiff drink (or a large ice cream sundae–pick your poison). I’ve talked about the reimbursement cuts we are facing here in Massachusetts. For some psychologists they are a  massive income slash. We’re looking at 12-28% cuts. [...]

Psychotherapists often feel the “holy grail” of practice success is a caseload full of people who are willing to pay their full fee out of pocket. This would be ideal, since we wouldn’t need to hassle with insurance companies and could make more money, getting paid at time of service, rather than waiting for reimbursement, [...]

Health care professionals are starting to feel the sting of health care reform and the weak economy.   I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, more people will be insured and you will get paid less.  Yesterday, I read an interview with the CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield who said, we are [...]

Many years ago I was dating a guy who was 6′ 4″ and could look intimidating (this photo is not of him).  However, he was a sweetheart and would go out of his way to help anyone in need.  To help him look more approachable I bought him a shirt that said, “Plays Well with [...]

In the US our Congress just passed health care reform.  What will this mean for therapists and other health care professionals? What will change? Not much. From what I understand the benefit of this reform plan is that more people will have access to health insurance, and people can’t be denied care for pre-existing conditions.  [...]

If you are a physician, therapist or any other helping professional whose business model relies on third party manged care reimbursement you are engaged in the World’s WORST business model (and that’s not hyperbole…keep reading to see what I mean.) Let me start with a story to set the stage: Imagine you are a bright, [...]

I’ve been having a lively debate with my blog designer James about my tag line on this blog. “Practice-building tips and success strategies for mental health professionals” isn’t doing it for me anymore. It’s not inclusive enough, for one thing. Many of my readers are not mental health professionals. And we’re here to change the [...]

I know it is a new idea to develop a specialty niche. It feels uncomfortable and “wrong” if you have the ability to help all sorts of people with a variety of presenting concerns. But trust me, you will have a much more successful practice with people lining up to work with you if you [...]

2009 was a rough year for many in health care.   Like almost all industries we were hard hit by the poor economy. Many people put off non-urgent care.  Health care costs increased for those who are lucky enough to have insurance, and many lost insurance benefits as they lost jobs. Health care reform is [...]