The familiar question raised by all private therapists when deciding what to charge, updating their terms and conditions or taking on their first case management client.
The usual answer is to find out what the market will bear. Chatting with other therapists who provide their services to case managers is a good start. Remember different areas will charge differently; London and the South East will charge more than those based in the north of the UK.
You can carry out mystery shopping to find out what other therapists are charging to gain a broader view, at the same time as finding out how many therapists in your sector provide their services to the case management industry.
Growth in case management companies over the last 10 years has paved the way for therapists to offer their specialist services to acquired/traumatic brain injury cases, allowing the cost of travel and mileage to be included in the costings for the initial assessment and further treatment.
Sometimes the biggest decision is what to charge for travel time. Understandably, travel time can be seen as “wasted time” – time which could be used to treat a patient in the clinic or more locally – hence the reason for charging.
As long as the independent therapist is prepared to explain their reasons behind their charges and are happy to come up against the very odd few who will query their terms and conditions in relation to their costs, it’s important as a confident professional providing specialist therapy services to know you’re worth your salt.
Remember the importance of those terms and conditions!