ABSTRACT
Money can be an uncomfortable topic, especially if you’re going into private practice from a hospital or other setting where financial transactions were handled by someone else far removed from you. I recently had lunch with a fellow allied health provider, who had come from a hospital setting and said the services she provided were treated as “being for the common good.” Consequently, because she hadn’t had to take payments and because her services had been labeled as more altruistic than profit-generating, she felt very anxious when she started seeing clients. She dreaded the end of sessions, when she had to ask for a credit card or other form of payment. As I mentioned in a previous chapter, I’ve encountered patients who weren’t comfortable with the provider being involved in finances. Unfortunately, being in private practice requires handling money, both collections and what you spend for the business.
