My Journey in Private Practice
I have officially been in private practice full-time for five years today! I can’t believe how quickly five years have flown by. I never really saw myself going into private practice until a coworker began taking the steps. It was eye-opening. I had no idea how possible that truly was for me. I could taste the freedom as I started to explore this option.
After graduate school, I found an agency job I didn’t really love, which then led to a different agency job I liked a bit more at first. As the years went by at this job, my confidence crumbled. Our schedules were set up so that we could see up to nine clients a day, and we were encouraged to never refer clients out, even though they were out of scope of practice or just not appropriate for us to work with in general. I was compared to the others on my team and made to feel less than because I never had as many clients on my schedule as my coworkers. I also struggled to get to the office by 8 am every day. This was another thing I often felt bad about myself for.
As I started exploring the idea of opening my own private practice, it seemed like a great option to leave a place where I was not happy working and have the chance for more freedom to practice as I wanted. I began reading multiple articles about others starting their practices and talking with my coworker, who had successfully opened theirs.
I started off in my private practice part-time, seeing clients only on Saturdays as I navigated the transition out of my agency job. I wanted the safety of a steady income while taking this huge leap into self-employment as a single person. Soon after I began seeing clients in January 2020, the pandemic hit. The agency where I worked was not prepared or equipped to offer telehealth as we all transitioned to working from home. I was soon asked to perform random tasks just to fill my time, which motivated me to finally quit my agency job. So, in June 2020, I took the leap into full-time private practice.
I had no idea what I was doing. All I had was my coworker, who had started doing it a few months before I did, and others' stories online. But I don’t regret my leap into private practice one bit! Now, five years into full-time private practice, I want to share my knowledge with others so that they can make informed choices when transitioning into private practice.
3 Things I would have done differently
Not credentialing with every insurance plan. I paneled with every insurance company I could think of because I believed that was what I was supposed to do. I wanted to work with as many clients as possible to ensure a steady income. However, now I wish I had only paneled with one or two insurances and gradually added more if necessary. Un-paneling from an insurance company can be almost as frustrating as the initial process of paneling. I wish I had understood more about what it meant to be paneled with insurance and how that aligned with my values.
Not joining a group supervision right away. Being in private practice can feel lonely if you are not part of a group practice or share office space with others. I didn’t even consider joining a group of peers until I saw an ad for group supervision offered by a colleague. I joined the group six months into my full-time private practice. The group met monthly virtually. I learned a lot from others in the group about running my own business, learned from others billing mistakes, gained clinical support, and developed a sense of community. I looked forward to connecting with my peers. I wish I had joined a peer group right from the start.
Not talking to a biller. I really jumped into private practice not knowing much about billing besides a few CPT codes I used at my agency job. I really threw the spaghetti at the wall and hoped it stuck when it came to billing. I never hired a biller, and I just slowly figured it out, teaching myself how to do it. However, I wish I had either hired a biller for the first few months or consulted with a biller, or someone who managed their own billing, to better understand how it all worked, so I could get it right the first time.
3 Things I LOVE about being in private practice
Making my own schedule! I just don’t enjoy starting my day at 8 am, so I don’t. I have realized that I am not a lazy person because I don’t start my day at 8 am; that is just not when I am most productive. Now, I usually start my workday around 9 am and see my first clients at 10 am. I also love the freedom to change my schedule. My schedule has had many different variations over the last five years.
Referring out! I enjoy the freedom of having consultations with people before we start working together so I can assess their needs and decide if I feel they will be a good fit, and refer them out when they are not. I also find it important to do this after I have established care, realizing partway through treatment that they may need different support than what I offer. I now know that seeing more clients doesn’t make me a better clinician, and how important it is to refer out for both me and the client.
Being my own boss! There is nothing better than being your own boss. There is so much freedom to run my business as I want. If I feel stuck or need support in my business, I can reach out to people I trust for support and constructive feedback. No more following the rules of an agency that I don’t agree with.
If you’re looking for more one-on-one support with billing, schedule a free consultation below.
I’m Kristi Cornforth, a licensed social worker supporting other clinicians to become their own billers and grow their businesses with practical tools and unwavering support to achieve the practice of their dreams.