The Cash-Based Practice Podcast

Jarod Carter
  • 4.9 (129)
  • Business
  • Updated Semimonthly

Gathering input from many successful cash-based practice owners, this podcast covers all components of starting or transitioning into the out-of-network/private-pay business model for your private practice. Though the host, Jarod Carter PT, DPT, MTC, and many interviewees are physical therapists, this information is applicable to most healthcare, fitness, and wellness-related businesses looking to decrease reliance on 3rd party payors, and increase cash-based revenue streams. We cover a huge number of topics including: practice transition strategies, 3rd party payor contract legalities, Medicare rules and legalities in the cash-based model, referral source diversification, online marketing, word-of-mouth marketing, optimal website design, blogging, Youtube and video marketing, networking skills and strategies, the vital cash-based mindset, phone conversations and conversions, scheduling, discharge marketing, administrative training, low overhead systems and automation, private-pay wellness/fitness/prevention programs, and everything else that involves the self-pay practice model, how it differs from the traditional insurance-based model, and what you need to do to be successful with this low-stress, rewarding type of private practice.

  1. 1d ago

    CBP 322: How to Convert When They've "Already Tried PT"

    If you've been in practice long enough, you've heard some version of this: "I already tried physical therapy… It didn't work." Sometimes you hear it during a consultation. Sometimes it even comes up on the phone. And it can be especially challenging when that person is contacting you specifically for something else, like Shockwave or Laser therapy, because the last thing you want to do is create friction by immediately trying to sell them on the very thing they believe has already failed them. But as more and more practices are incorporating these types of modalities and advertising directly for them rather than their core service, getting patient to say yes to everything they need (beyond just Shockwave, for example), is becoming a more common and costly challenge…  … Often worsened by the fact that many seeking out new treatment technologies have already tried traditional treatments like physical therapy. In this episode, I share a coaching conversation with one of my longtime Cash-Based Practice Mastermind members about how to handle this situation, how to differentiate your clinic from the treatment they've "already tried", and why the best time to overcome the "I already tried PT" objection may be much earlier than you think. And this conversation is also a great example of why general advice can only take you so far… Every practice has different services, staff, workflows, and challenges that often require very different answers to the same question. If you want coaching based on your specific situation rather than trying to piece everything together from someone else's Q&A, that's exactly what we do inside the Cash-Based Practice Mastermind. What You'll Learn in This Episode How to respond when someone says physical therapy didn't work Why you shouldn't immediately push PT when they're calling for another service How to differentiate your approach without creating resistance Why overcoming this objection starts earlier than you may think How to plant the right seeds throughout the patient journey so they don't drop off, and they ultimately say yes to the physical therapy they need. USEFUL INFORMATION: Check out our Summit: CASH-BASED PRACTICE MASTERMIND

    CBP 322: How to Convert When They've "Already Tried PT"

  2. Aug 29

    CBP 321: How Good Clinicians Accidentally Talk Patients Out of the Care They Need

    Getting a patient to say yes to treatment isn't the end of the sale. Every time they decide whether to book another visit, follow your recommended frequency, finish their plan of care, or continue beyond a package, they're making another decision about the value of their care. That's why one of the themes that came up in a recent Cash-Based Practice Mastermind coaching call was something that can sound a little uncomfortable in healthcare: always be selling. I'm not talking about constantly pitching patients, and I'd never recommend care they don't need… I'm talking about continually connecting what you're recommending to the goals that brought them to you in the first place. In this episode, I share two common ways clinicians stop doing this without realizing it, including 1) making assumptions about what patients can afford, especially as you get further into a plan of care, and 2) relaxing once someone has pre-paid for a package. And if you recognize that your team could get better at conversations around value, cost, and patient commitment, check out the Cash-Pay Conversion Summit on November 13–14, 2026 in Austin, Texas. You'll spend 2 days with me implementing, customizing, and practicing the systems and scripts that help your team confidently convert more prospective patients into committed Cash-Pay patients. What You'll Learn in This Episode Why if you think the "sale" ended when a patient initially said yes, you're in real trouble. How YOUR assumptions about cost can negatively influence your POC recommendations - and how that can be the ultimate disservice to your patients. What changes, for both the provider and the patient,  when someone purchases a package How to keep patients focused on the outcome they're working toward   USEFUL INFORMATION: Check out our Summit: CASH-PAY CONVERSION SUMMIT

    CBP 321: How Good Clinicians Accidentally Talk Patients Out of the Care They Need

  3. Aug 8

    CBP 320: Over 70% of Practice Owners are Dead Wrong about This

    We routinely poll Cash-Based practice owners and ask what they think is holding their business back… what's their "biggest problem/challenge"?.. And in all our surveys over the years, 60-75% of them answer "lead generation" / "I need the phone to ring more." But after more than 15 years of tracking the patient lifecycle across hundreds of practices, and identifying all the profit leaks and missed opportunities (lead gen, phone conversions, clinic conversions, pt retention, reactivation, etc), I've found that the numbers often tell a very different story about the most common and costly problem in cash practices... The data shows that the largest, most common problem is that too many prospective patients never become paying patients… the phone is ringing enough for that practice to be booked out, but too few callers are being converted into customers....  We've found that improving phone conversions by just 10–30% usually fills the remaining gaps in your schedule without spending another dollar on marketing… and that level of improvement is not difficult with a proven phone call framework and scripts.... In this episode, I'll explain why this is one of the biggest profit leaks in Cash-Based practices and the incredibly simple first step you can take to find out if it's happening in yours. And if you discover your phone conversions aren't where they should be, save November 13–14, 2026 on your calendar. I'm hosting the Cash-Pay Conversion Summit live in Austin, Texas, where we'll spend two days implementing, customizing, and practicing the systems and scripts that can dramatically improve your conversions, so you can keep your practice's schedule full without any additional marketing or advertising. More on that below. What You'll Learn in This Episode Why most practice owners misdiagnose their biggest growth problem The first KPI I'd start tracking immediately Why more marketing usually doesn't fix an empty schedule  The conversion rate Cash-Based practices should be targeting How just a small phone conversion improvement could add $100,000+ in annual revenue to your practice How to start tracking conversions without creating another complicated system USEFUL INFORMATION: Check out our course: How to Answer "Do you take my insurance?"

    CBP 320: Over 70% of Practice Owners are Dead Wrong about This

  4. Aug 1

    CBP 319: The Event Marketing Formula That Kills The Competition

    One of my Mastermind members recently attended a local racket-sports tournament with a booth alongside several competing healthcare businesses. The other providers waited behind their tables, hoping people would stop by. Meanwhile, she had a steady crowd at her booth and booked 8 new patients! That difference wasn't luck. She used a clear pain-focused offer, promoted it throughout the venue, created real scarcity, provided treatment people could immediately experience, and booked their next appointment before they walked away. In this episode, you'll hear exactly how she did it. This win came from a Mastermind member implementing the event strategies we had worked through together, then bringing the results back to the group so we could improve the process even further.  That kind of practice-specific coaching and breakthrough results is exactly what happens inside the Cash-Based Practice Mastermind.… And for the next few days, you can join us and get your first month of coaching for just $1. Just click HERE, select GOLD level Mastermind. During checkout, click "Have a promo code?", enter MASTERMIND1, and "apply" to bring the first month price down to just $1. This offer ends Tuesday at midnight. What You'll Learn in This Episode How to attract more people to your booth instead of waiting for them Why pain-focused messaging usually beats injury-prevention offers How to use scarcity without creating fake urgency The offer that converted eight event attendees into booked patients How to reduce cancellations and no-shows after an event Why prepayment and first-visit videos can improve follow-through USEFUL INFORMATION: Check out our course: CASH-BASED PRACTICE MASTERMIND

    CBP 319: The Event Marketing Formula That Kills The Competition

  5. Jul 25

    CBP 318: Do This When You're Asked Casual Injury Questions in Social Settings

    We've all experienced it… You're at a party, attending a networking event, or watching your kid's game, when someone discovers what you do for a living. Before long they ask, "Can I ask you something about my shoulder?" Most providers either start giving free advice or try to politely end the conversation. In this episode, I explain how to quickly and naturally guide these conversations toward a booked evaluation instead. If you're looking for more practical, proven strategies to consistently attract Cash-Pay patients, this is exactly why I created the Cash-Based Practice Marketing Intensive. It teaches my R.O.I. Marketing Method along with simple, AI-powered tools that help keep your phone ringing with qualified prospective patients on autopilot..  Before you leave this page, also make sure to click here for this episode's free resource: Cash-Pay Consultation Closing Scripts. These are the exact scripts I teach to help convert more consultations and evaluations into committed Cash-Pay patients. What You'll Learn in This Episode Why casual injury questions are often buying signals, not just someone looking for free advice. The biggest mistake providers make during these conversations How to guide someone toward an evaluation without sounding salesy Why giving free advice usually hurts more than it helps USEFUL INFORMATION: Check out our course: Cash-Based Practice Freedom e-Course 2.0

    CBP 318: Do This When You're Asked Casual Injury Questions in Social Settings

  6. Jul 11

    CBP 316: A Timing Tactic that Converts More Cash-Pay Patients on the Phone

    After more than 15 years of coaching practice owners, I've seen the same misconception over and over… When schedules aren't full, most owners assume they need more leads. They start trying different marketing or chasing more referral sources.  But when we track the entire patient lifecycle, the real issue is often conversions… dare I say, "sales." Calls aren't converting, evaluations aren't creating enough buy-in, or patients are dropping off before completing care. This episode focuses on one of the most important parts of that process: knowing when to move a phone call forward and when to slow down, listen, and build trust. Before you listen, click the link here for this episode's free resource: Cash-Pay Phone Closing Scripts. They'll give you proven language for handling some of the key questions that often determine whether a prospective patient says yes. P.S. As you'll hear in the beginning of this episode, I'm hosting the "Cash-Pay Conversions Summit" in  Austin, Texas this October 2nd and 3rd... save the date and keep a close eye on your inbox if you're interested in the most heavily discounted early bird seats. We'll be making those available later this month. What You'll Learn in This Episode Why so many practice owners with "lead problems", actually have conversion problems Which types of phone calls provide the best training opportunities for your admin. What specific weakness cancellations and no-shows reveal and a tactic to improve it When to slow down instead of rushing a new patient conversation… and when it's okay to speed it up. How to structure your receptionist team as your practice grows USEFUL INFORMATION: Check out our course: Cash-Based Practice Freedom e-Course 2.0

    CBP 316: A Timing Tactic that Converts More Cash-Pay Patients on the Phone

  7. Jul 5

    CBP 315: How to Set New Clinicians Up for Success in Your Cash-Based Practice

    If you want your patients to get the best possible outcomes, your clinicians to thrive, and your practice to get maximum value from every new hire, your onboarding process matters far more than most owners realize. In the Cash-Based model, clinical skill alone isn't enough. Via your onboarding and ongoing training, yourYour clinicians need to understand your mission, your values, your ideal patient, your patient lifecycle, and how to confidently guide people toward decisions that are genuinely in their best interest. And before you listen to this episode outlining all the above, make sure you scroll down for this episode's free resource. Finding quality clinicians has become dramatically harder over the last few years, and this resource will show you one of the most effective recruiting strategies I've found. What You'll Learn in This Episode Why onboarding matters more in Cash-Based practices The difference between mission and core values Why every clinician should know your ideal patient avatar How to train the proper money mindset from day one How to train new hires on free consultations and evaluations that convert  The Patient retention checklist that needs to happen during clinician How onboarding impacts both patient outcomes and business growth USEFUL INFORMATION: Check out our course: Cash-Based Practice Freedom e-Course 2.0

    CBP 315: How to Set New Clinicians Up for Success in Your Cash-Based Practice

  8. Jun 27

    CBP 314: Do this if you're feeling spread thin as a Practice owner

    If your Cash-Based practice isn't growing as quickly as you'd like, it's natural to assume you may have a marketing, or sales, or retention  problem. Maybe you need more referrals, better Facebook ads, or a stronger sales process. Sometimes that's true. But after coaching hundreds of practice owners over the years, I've found that many growth problems have little to do with those things… Quite often, they come down to bandwidth, focus, and whether your time is actually aligned with the goals you're trying to achieve. This episode came from a coaching conversation with a practice owner who felt like progress had stalled. What emerged wasn't a lead generation issue or a conversion problem. It was a bandwidth and focus problem, and I think it's one that quietly limits far more cash-based practice owners than most people realize. And before you leave this page, make sure you scroll down for this episode's free resource. It contains several ways successful cash practices increase perceived value and justify premium pricing without adding more visits or working longer hours. What You'll Learn in This Episode Why bandwidth problems often look like marketing problems Why many owners stay stuck despite working incredibly hard How to determine what deserves your attention and what doesn't Why niche clarity accelerates growth A simple exercise that can completely change your decision making hat other practice owners experienced after finally going all in USEFUL INFORMATION: Check out our course: CASH-BASED PRACTICE MASTERMIND

    CBP 314: Do this if you're feeling spread thin as a Practice owner
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About

Gathering input from many successful cash-based practice owners, this podcast covers all components of starting or transitioning into the out-of-network/private-pay business model for your private practice. Though the host, Jarod Carter PT, DPT, MTC, and many interviewees are physical therapists, this information is applicable to most healthcare, fitness, and wellness-related businesses looking to decrease reliance on 3rd party payors, and increase cash-based revenue streams. We cover a huge number of topics including: practice transition strategies, 3rd party payor contract legalities, Medicare rules and legalities in the cash-based model, referral source diversification, online marketing, word-of-mouth marketing, optimal website design, blogging, Youtube and video marketing, networking skills and strategies, the vital cash-based mindset, phone conversations and conversions, scheduling, discharge marketing, administrative training, low overhead systems and automation, private-pay wellness/fitness/prevention programs, and everything else that involves the self-pay practice model, how it differs from the traditional insurance-based model, and what you need to do to be successful with this low-stress, rewarding type of private practice.

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