May 21, 2024 • 20 mins
Looking to turn your passion for animals, aquatics, and nature-based therapy into a thriving side hustle? Join us on "Animals and Aquatics" as we delve into the essential steps for occupational therapy providers (OTPs) looking to incorporate these elements into their practice. From gaining experience and obtaining certifications to finding the perfect practice location and leveraging technology, this episode covers everything you need to know to kickstart your OT side hustle. Tune in for valuable insights, practical tips, and expert advice to help you realize the potential of animals, aquatics, and nature therapy in your occupational therapy journey.
If you are interested in the FREE Nail your OT Niche course from this episode:
https://eponaacademy.xperiencify.io/otniche/
If you would like to join us this year in Business Barn Raising, join here:
https://eponaacademy.xperiencify.io/business-barn-raising-starting-your-ot-practice-with-horses/learn-more/
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Episode Transcript
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Microphone (3- Logitech (00:00):
Welcome to animals and aquatics today.
If you've been wondering abouthow to get started incorporating
animals or aquatics, or evennature based occupational
therapy into your practice,you've come to the right episode
today.
(00:31):
Hi, welcome to animals andaquatics.
I'm Gina, your host.
And today we're going to talkabout some of the key factors
that you need to have whenyou're thinking about getting
started in your own practice, oreven as a side hustle, getting
animals or aquatics ornature-based therapy started in
your occupational therapypractice.
(00:52):
Now this doesn't mean that youneed to start your own private
practice.
That's a whole differentconversation.
We're not talking about startinga private practice.
We're talking about how you canstart incorporating some of
these elements, whether that'shippotherapy aquatic,
occupational therapy ornature-based therapy, either
into how you're alreadypracticing.
That could be at a pediatricclinic.
(01:14):
Or how you can get started doingit on the side.
So you can get some experiencein practice before you decide if
you're ready to jump all the wayin.
I hope this will be helpful foryou.
And I hope to hear from you ifthis made a difference.
We are getting ready to open upa business barn raising for this
year for 2024.
We will be running a summerprogram, only helping
(01:35):
occupational therapy providers,OTs, and OTAs.
Get started incorporatinghippotherapy, into their
practice.
So this is something that you'vebeen interested in.
Be sure to check our link at thebottom of the show notes so you
can see how to join us thesummer.
Now, one of the things that wefound that a lot of clinicians
seem to struggle with when theywant to incorporate either
(01:58):
animals or aquatics into theirpractice.
Is do they need a certification?
What kind of training do theyneed?
And this is a really key pointto start with.
And I think as therapists, we'realways very concerned about
doing the right thing, doing thething that our state practice
act or license requires.
(02:18):
And it's really good to be awareof those things.
When we're starting to thinkabout branching out, maybe from
an area that we've beencomfortable or working in for
awhile and now we want toincorporate something new and.
When we start to think about howwe would get started with this,
again, there are a number ofways, depending on what your
(02:41):
immediate goal is as well aswhat your long-term goal is.
So if your immediate goal isjust to get experience.
The easiest way to do that is tointern or volunteer with someone
who is already doing it.
Even if it's one day a month,you're going to gain really
valuable experience doing thatwithout incurring any of the
(03:02):
expenses.
With starting to work in thatarea.
So if.
Right now you are just lookingat getting some experience.
I think that's a really nice wayto do it.
And if you're not really sure.
Which area.
You want to include or getstarted with, because if you
(03:24):
listened to our last podcastepisode, you'll hear me talk
about the mistake that we madeof doing all the things and
that's certainly something thatcan be a challenge.
So.
I do have a free short courseonline about picking your
perfect practice niche.
And that could be, if you wereconsidering between
(03:47):
incorporating animal assistedtherapy into your practice
versus hippotherapy,, you couldlook at those two and compare
them, or you could look at howthat would compare to
nature-based practice.
And that can be a helpful placeto start.
If you know that you want towork outside the box, you don't
want to work in a traditionalclinical setting.
All the time you want to bringsomething else into your
(04:08):
practice, but you might not beready to go full-time so that's
one way to get started that.
You don't really need to focuson the certification and the
training because you are workingunder someone else who has the
certifications and the trainingsneeded.
Now.
If you were eventual, long-termgoal is that you do want to
(04:31):
start a private practice or youwant to start a nonprofit and
you want to move into theseareas of practice full-time
eventually, maybe not now, buteventually, or maybe right now,
then the training piece becomesmuch more important.
Whether that's with aquatics andyou need to get a lifeguard
certification.
You need to have the appropriateCPR and lifesaving
(04:54):
certifications, and you reallyneed to take some background in
aquatics.
That's a good place to start.
There is the ATRI certification,which isn't required, but can
definitely be helpful.
So thinking about where are yourskill set strong already and
where do you need to supplementthem so that your practice is
(05:14):
ethical?
So with hippotherapy, that isincluded within our scope of
practice.
But if we think about it from aliability perspective, if you
were to start incorporatinghippotherapy, or animal assisted
therapy into your practice, andyou have no background in that
area, you're certainly openingyourself up from a liability
perspective.
So looking at the training pieceis important and often hand in
(05:39):
hand with that is the liabilityinsurance that goes along with
that.
And those are really importantthings to understand at a pretty
deep level, because that is whatis going to cover you and
provide protection in the eventthat someone does have an
incident, whether that's duringa treatment session.
And so it's more on yourprofessional liability or at the
(06:02):
facility that you're working at,and it's more of a general
liability concern.
So those are some areas that youwould need to look into more.
Now the next thing that comes upfor most people is practice
location.
Now we do have an episode calledfinding your perfect practice
location.
(06:22):
And we'll admit there is noperfect practice location.
I think it, even if it is yourown facility, there's always
things that you would change asyour business grows and evolves.
But there is a lot that goesinto finding a practice
location.
So some of the OTs.
I work with they have thetraining they've already gone
(06:43):
through the Americanhippotherapy, association
training.
And they're really ready to getstarted, but they'll say I don't
own a horse.
Or I do own a horse, but it's inmy backyard.
And I'm not sure it's the righthorse to incorporate
hippotherapy, with anyway.
So this perfect practicelocation piece is really
important.
(07:04):
We need to consider whatpopulation that we're most
likely to be working with.
What is the accessibility, bothfor the client to get to us as
well as emergency services.
So particularly when we'reincorporating hippotherapy,,
we're looking at the distance toemergency services as well.
(07:25):
We want to look at what are thesafety standards for that
particular facility?
And that can be really importantin the aquatic environment as
well.
What are the safety standardsfor monitoring the pool?
What are the safety standards incase of a bodily fluid incident?
Right.
We want to know.
(07:46):
What those standards are, whatthe protocols are put in place,
because often we will not bethere full time, especially if
we're starting this as a sidehustle and doing it mostly to
get experience and see if it's aviable business model in our
area.
And with that we wantflexibility from our facilities
(08:07):
that we're working withavailability.
Right.
And so those two things can bereally challenging because often
if the facility is reallyflexible with scheduling, they
may not have the availabilitythat you need.
And certainly working inpediatrics, we all know the
biggest challenge is schedulingthose afterschool hours and
feeling daytime hours.
(08:28):
So we could probably work amillion hours between four
o'clock and six o'clock or onthe weekends.
But it can be really hard to dothat long-term.
If you were a mom, like I am,and you work those hours, then
you're missing a lot of dinnerand bedtime.
And it can be a challenge tofigure out, how do I feel more
(08:49):
programming?
And or if I'm doing this after afull-time job, how do I find a
facility that has thatavailability for me?
And that can be true with poolsas well.
If they have a swim club That isthere or in the summer, if
they're running summer campsduring the day, that can make
that accessibility for the pool,more challenging.
(09:10):
This is one of the real assetsof nature based therapy.
There are a lot more practicelocation opportunities often
there's permitting involved ifwe're using a public place.
So we may need to get permitsfor conducting our business in
that location.
But there's a lot moreavailability typically of
(09:31):
outdoor spaces.
They're not necessarily bookedor full at certain hours during
the day.
And so that it does create amuch greater ability for us to
schedule our clients when weneed to be there to have
flexibility.
Now with a nature-basedpractice, you have the challenge
of the weather.
(09:51):
And if you're at a public parkoften, there's a pavilion space.
And so if you have the abilityto use that during inclement
weather, that can be a reallynice backup plan.
So when you're looking at thosefacility options, Those are
things to consider now oftenpeople may have a friend who has
(10:12):
a farm or a facility, or itmight be a family member, and
those can be good options too.
We just want to make sure thatwe're still putting the business
pieces in place that we reallyneed to have to ensure that we
can be successful.
And everyone feels like they'rebeing treated fairly.
Because.
It would be very sad to set upyour business, get all your
(10:32):
clients there, work there forsix or nine months, and then
have your friend or familymember say, this really isn't
working out for me.
And then you're pretty much backto starting at square one and
finding that perfect practicelocation.
And if you have worked at afacility for a while and
something changes within thatfacility, it could be the
administration, it could be theschedule or the horses, if
(10:57):
you're incorporatinghippotherapy,.
Or you take a break, right?
You're at your full-time job.
You need to take a break, youhave a health issue, you have a
baby, any of those things.
And then you feel like you can'tgo back to that facility or they
changed their focus.
That shouldn't be the thing thatstops you.
And as I've talked to more andmore therapists, they said, oh
yeah, I did it for six or ninemonths.
(11:20):
I loved it.
I loved incorporating theanimals into my practice.
But now I don't have a facilityto work out.
That's something that really isfixable.
It's doable.
And it shouldn't be the barrierthat it can be to so many
people.
And that's something that I'vehelped a lot of therapists walk
through.
(11:40):
In finding practice locations intheir area.
Assessing that location todetermine.
What the benefits are, what someof the challenges are, and then
come up with a plan in how tohandle some of those challenges.
If they want to move forward.
With that particular practicelocation.
Now as we come to the next areathat we would really focus on.
(12:05):
When we're deciding.
Yeah.
I want to try this.
I want to see what it's like tobe a nature based therapist.
And the summer is such a greattime to do that.
It really lends itself well,because families have more
availability.
Often school-based therapistshave more availability.
And the days are longer.
(12:26):
So if you're working a typicalnine to five therapy job, you
still have a little bit of timeafter work one afternoon.
And you have that opportunity totry something new.
And so when we look at that.
It's looking at.
Okay.
What systems would I need inplace to handle a client from
(12:46):
intake?
To assessment or evaluationthrough treatment and discharge
and really looking at.
A lot of people get hung up onthe tech side and thinking I
need to have an EMR.
And if I'm getting an EMR, howmuch is that going to cost?
And I'm only seeing threeclients.
And I don't know if I want tohave any EMR.
If I'm only seeing threeclients.
And thinking about.
(13:08):
That tech side of things.
What technology is there thatcan support you?
Particularly if you're doingthis as a short-term endeavor,
if you're doing this as a testpilot run to see if it's
something that you enjoy, or ifthere is a need in your
community.
Then figuring out what is theminimum viable project level
(13:34):
that you can work at?
Is really important.
And a lot of people get hung uphere because there are so many
options out there.
There are so many great EMRprograms.
There are so many programsaround how do we have a HIPAA
compliant fax or how do we havea HIPAA compliant way of
communicating with our clients?
(13:55):
And there are lots and lots ofoptions out there for solving
those challenges for every sizepractice from seeing one client,
to starting a full-time practiceand.
It's important to think aboutscaling or having steps as you
go along, because you're notgoing to jump right in and get
(14:15):
that EMR that has all the thingson it because often that's going
to eat up pretty much your wholeprofit.
To start with and looking atwhat that break even point is a
really great way to say okay.
When I know when I get to eightclients, Then I'm at a breakeven
point where the time that'sgoing to be saved by getting
this EMR and having it handleall of these tasks is actually
(14:39):
going to be more beneficial thanjust the cost.
But I know that while I'mgetting my first seven clients,
I have an opportunity to tweakand refine how I want to do my
documentation, how I'm going totrack intakes, how my system is
going to work.
And so I really liked that stepor tier method for looking at
(15:02):
different technology solutionsfor people who want to start
this one day a week with oneclient.
And feel really nervous aboutwhether it's worth it.
How's it gonna work out?
What the plan is going to bewith all those systems.
That are normally surrounding uswhen we're in that therapy
(15:22):
environment.
When we walk into a job toprovide therapy services all of
those systems are already set upfor us.
And it can be really daunting tothink about, especially for one
client.
Right.
I mean really daunting to thinkabout like, how am I going to
set up all that?
Where to like, what am I evengoing to do for intake
paperwork?
I don't even know where to beginwith evaluation materials, and
(15:44):
I'm not going to go out and buyan$800 eval kit for one client.
And those are all things thatare solvable.
And there are ways to reallymake it cost effective and
provide very high qualityservices to the clients that
need us that want to work withus that are looking for
(16:05):
something that fits the needs oftheir child or their family
member.
And thinking about just howyou're going to organize those
things are, is usually the nextarea of concern for a lot of
therapists who are, again, we'recoming towards the end of the
school year, the middle ofspring and thinking about summer
(16:25):
and this is often a great timeto think about that side hustle.
If you're really been interestedin one of these areas of
practice.
If you have been incorporatinganimals or aquatics into your
practice for a while now.
I often find that during thesummer months we get more client
(16:46):
inquiries.
And so it's a good time to goback through your business
processes.
And just take a look ateverything again and say, is
this really functioning the wayI want it to function?
Where are the areas that aresticking points for clients with
us?
And I've been looking at one ofthose lately of how many people
(17:07):
are forming a profile.
In our electronic record system,how many people are completing
the intake paperwork?
And is there something in thatprocess that might be slowing
people down?
And that's one of those thingsthat we can really find ways to
make it.
So families are completing thepaperwork, they're getting it
done, they're getting it back tous.
(17:27):
So we get them in our scheduleand get them started, which is
ultimately why they reached outto us in the first place.
So if you are in that stagewhere maybe you've been doing
this a little while and you havethat feeling.
That things could be running alittle bit smoother.
This discussion that we're justhaving here is a good way to
(17:48):
think back through and thinkthrough the training aspect.
Is there any area now thatyou've been doing it a while you
would like to get more trainingin and certainly that's our
running joke, right?
Is that we always have more roomfor continuing education.
And with that.
You can look and say like, yeah,I feel like I would like a
(18:09):
little bit more training inKinesio tape because I want to
incorporate it in what we'redoing in hippotherapy, or in
aquatics, cause I want to seehow that's going to work with my
clients.
Or I would like a little moretraining in mental health
because I'm seeing a lot ofclients out in a nature based
setting and I'm seeing more andmore clients that have mental
(18:32):
health challenges.
Then you can look and see what'sgoing on at my practice
location.
Where are the ways that it'sreally serving me?
How am I working and fitting inat that particular facility?
And.
What could we maybe tweak, whatdo I need to ask for?
What do I need to question?
Where are things going reallywell?
Do I need to revisit thecontract?
(18:54):
Those are all areas that can bereally helpful if it's your own
facility, the great time to dothat springtime assessment and
see what needs a little sprucingup.
See if you can have a Workday.
At your facility to spruce thosethings up, really make it warm,
inviting, welcoming, easilyaccessible for the clients that
you serve.
(19:15):
And then the systems reviewingyour systems again and looking
to see is everything functioningthe way I want it to function
our clients, having a goodexperience from their initial
outreach to us, the first timethey call us, text us, email us.
All the way through todischarge.
And are we providing any supportpast discharge as well?
So I hope this was helpful toyou today to think about if
(19:39):
you're interested inincorporating animals or
aquatics as a side hustle orstarting to take this long-term
steps to getting started, thatyou now have a couple areas in
your mind to start checking out.
You want to look at training andcertification.
Practice location and thesystems that you're going to
need to get started.
(20:00):
If you have any questions asalways feel free to reach out to
us or follow us on social mediaand send us a DM.
Thanks for listening.
Welcome to animals and aquatics today.
If you've been wondering abouthow to get started incorporating
animals or aquatics, or evennature based occupational
therapy into your practice,you've come to the right episode
today.
(00:31):
Hi, welcome to animals andaquatics.
I'm Gina, your host.
And today we're going to talkabout some of the key factors
that you need to have whenyou're thinking about getting
started in your own practice, oreven as a side hustle, getting
animals or aquatics ornature-based therapy started in
your occupational therapypractice.
(00:52):
Now this doesn't mean that youneed to start your own private
practice.
That's a whole differentconversation.
We're not talking about startinga private practice.
We're talking about how you canstart incorporating some of
these elements, whether that'shippotherapy aquatic,
occupational therapy ornature-based therapy, either
into how you're alreadypracticing.
That could be at a pediatricclinic.
(01:14):
Or how you can get started doingit on the side.
So you can get some experiencein practice before you decide if
you're ready to jump all the wayin.
I hope this will be helpful foryou.
And I hope to hear from you ifthis made a difference.
We are getting ready to open upa business barn raising for this
year for 2024.
We will be running a summerprogram, only helping
(01:35):
occupational therapy providers,OTs, and OTAs.
Get started incorporatinghippotherapy, into their
practice.
So this is something that you'vebeen interested in.
Be sure to check our link at thebottom of the show notes so you
can see how to join us thesummer.
Now, one of the things that wefound that a lot of clinicians
seem to struggle with when theywant to incorporate either
(01:58):
animals or aquatics into theirpractice.
Is do they need a certification?
What kind of training do theyneed?
And this is a really key pointto start with.
And I think as therapists, we'realways very concerned about
doing the right thing, doing thething that our state practice
act or license requires.
(02:18):
And it's really good to be awareof those things.
When we're starting to thinkabout branching out, maybe from
an area that we've beencomfortable or working in for
awhile and now we want toincorporate something new and.
When we start to think about howwe would get started with this,
again, there are a number ofways, depending on what your
(02:41):
immediate goal is as well aswhat your long-term goal is.
So if your immediate goal isjust to get experience.
The easiest way to do that is tointern or volunteer with someone
who is already doing it.
Even if it's one day a month,you're going to gain really
valuable experience doing thatwithout incurring any of the
(03:02):
expenses.
With starting to work in thatarea.
So if.
Right now you are just lookingat getting some experience.
I think that's a really nice wayto do it.
And if you're not really sure.
Which area.
You want to include or getstarted with, because if you
(03:24):
listened to our last podcastepisode, you'll hear me talk
about the mistake that we madeof doing all the things and
that's certainly something thatcan be a challenge.
So.
I do have a free short courseonline about picking your
perfect practice niche.
And that could be, if you wereconsidering between
(03:47):
incorporating animal assistedtherapy into your practice
versus hippotherapy,, you couldlook at those two and compare
them, or you could look at howthat would compare to
nature-based practice.
And that can be a helpful placeto start.
If you know that you want towork outside the box, you don't
want to work in a traditionalclinical setting.
All the time you want to bringsomething else into your
(04:08):
practice, but you might not beready to go full-time so that's
one way to get started that.
You don't really need to focuson the certification and the
training because you are workingunder someone else who has the
certifications and the trainingsneeded.
Now.
If you were eventual, long-termgoal is that you do want to
(04:31):
start a private practice or youwant to start a nonprofit and
you want to move into theseareas of practice full-time
eventually, maybe not now, buteventually, or maybe right now,
then the training piece becomesmuch more important.
Whether that's with aquatics andyou need to get a lifeguard
certification.
You need to have the appropriateCPR and lifesaving
(04:54):
certifications, and you reallyneed to take some background in
aquatics.
That's a good place to start.
There is the ATRI certification,which isn't required, but can
definitely be helpful.
So thinking about where are yourskill set strong already and
where do you need to supplementthem so that your practice is
(05:14):
ethical?
So with hippotherapy, that isincluded within our scope of
practice.
But if we think about it from aliability perspective, if you
were to start incorporatinghippotherapy, or animal assisted
therapy into your practice, andyou have no background in that
area, you're certainly openingyourself up from a liability
perspective.
So looking at the training pieceis important and often hand in
(05:39):
hand with that is the liabilityinsurance that goes along with
that.
And those are really importantthings to understand at a pretty
deep level, because that is whatis going to cover you and
provide protection in the eventthat someone does have an
incident, whether that's duringa treatment session.
And so it's more on yourprofessional liability or at the
(06:02):
facility that you're working at,and it's more of a general
liability concern.
So those are some areas that youwould need to look into more.
Now the next thing that comes upfor most people is practice
location.
Now we do have an episode calledfinding your perfect practice
location.
(06:22):
And we'll admit there is noperfect practice location.
I think it, even if it is yourown facility, there's always
things that you would change asyour business grows and evolves.
But there is a lot that goesinto finding a practice
location.
So some of the OTs.
I work with they have thetraining they've already gone
(06:43):
through the Americanhippotherapy, association
training.
And they're really ready to getstarted, but they'll say I don't
own a horse.
Or I do own a horse, but it's inmy backyard.
And I'm not sure it's the righthorse to incorporate
hippotherapy, with anyway.
So this perfect practicelocation piece is really
important.
(07:04):
We need to consider whatpopulation that we're most
likely to be working with.
What is the accessibility, bothfor the client to get to us as
well as emergency services.
So particularly when we'reincorporating hippotherapy,,
we're looking at the distance toemergency services as well.
(07:25):
We want to look at what are thesafety standards for that
particular facility?
And that can be really importantin the aquatic environment as
well.
What are the safety standardsfor monitoring the pool?
What are the safety standards incase of a bodily fluid incident?
Right.
We want to know.
(07:46):
What those standards are, whatthe protocols are put in place,
because often we will not bethere full time, especially if
we're starting this as a sidehustle and doing it mostly to
get experience and see if it's aviable business model in our
area.
And with that we wantflexibility from our facilities
(08:07):
that we're working withavailability.
Right.
And so those two things can bereally challenging because often
if the facility is reallyflexible with scheduling, they
may not have the availabilitythat you need.
And certainly working inpediatrics, we all know the
biggest challenge is schedulingthose afterschool hours and
feeling daytime hours.
(08:28):
So we could probably work amillion hours between four
o'clock and six o'clock or onthe weekends.
But it can be really hard to dothat long-term.
If you were a mom, like I am,and you work those hours, then
you're missing a lot of dinnerand bedtime.
And it can be a challenge tofigure out, how do I feel more
(08:49):
programming?
And or if I'm doing this after afull-time job, how do I find a
facility that has thatavailability for me?
And that can be true with poolsas well.
If they have a swim club That isthere or in the summer, if
they're running summer campsduring the day, that can make
that accessibility for the pool,more challenging.
(09:10):
This is one of the real assetsof nature based therapy.
There are a lot more practicelocation opportunities often
there's permitting involved ifwe're using a public place.
So we may need to get permitsfor conducting our business in
that location.
But there's a lot moreavailability typically of
(09:31):
outdoor spaces.
They're not necessarily bookedor full at certain hours during
the day.
And so that it does create amuch greater ability for us to
schedule our clients when weneed to be there to have
flexibility.
Now with a nature-basedpractice, you have the challenge
of the weather.
(09:51):
And if you're at a public parkoften, there's a pavilion space.
And so if you have the abilityto use that during inclement
weather, that can be a reallynice backup plan.
So when you're looking at thosefacility options, Those are
things to consider now oftenpeople may have a friend who has
(10:12):
a farm or a facility, or itmight be a family member, and
those can be good options too.
We just want to make sure thatwe're still putting the business
pieces in place that we reallyneed to have to ensure that we
can be successful.
And everyone feels like they'rebeing treated fairly.
Because.
It would be very sad to set upyour business, get all your
(10:32):
clients there, work there forsix or nine months, and then
have your friend or familymember say, this really isn't
working out for me.
And then you're pretty much backto starting at square one and
finding that perfect practicelocation.
And if you have worked at afacility for a while and
something changes within thatfacility, it could be the
administration, it could be theschedule or the horses, if
(10:57):
you're incorporatinghippotherapy,.
Or you take a break, right?
You're at your full-time job.
You need to take a break, youhave a health issue, you have a
baby, any of those things.
And then you feel like you can'tgo back to that facility or they
changed their focus.
That shouldn't be the thing thatstops you.
And as I've talked to more andmore therapists, they said, oh
yeah, I did it for six or ninemonths.
(11:20):
I loved it.
I loved incorporating theanimals into my practice.
But now I don't have a facilityto work out.
That's something that really isfixable.
It's doable.
And it shouldn't be the barrierthat it can be to so many
people.
And that's something that I'vehelped a lot of therapists walk
through.
(11:40):
In finding practice locations intheir area.
Assessing that location todetermine.
What the benefits are, what someof the challenges are, and then
come up with a plan in how tohandle some of those challenges.
If they want to move forward.
With that particular practicelocation.
Now as we come to the next areathat we would really focus on.
(12:05):
When we're deciding.
Yeah.
I want to try this.
I want to see what it's like tobe a nature based therapist.
And the summer is such a greattime to do that.
It really lends itself well,because families have more
availability.
Often school-based therapistshave more availability.
And the days are longer.
(12:26):
So if you're working a typicalnine to five therapy job, you
still have a little bit of timeafter work one afternoon.
And you have that opportunity totry something new.
And so when we look at that.
It's looking at.
Okay.
What systems would I need inplace to handle a client from
(12:46):
intake?
To assessment or evaluationthrough treatment and discharge
and really looking at.
A lot of people get hung up onthe tech side and thinking I
need to have an EMR.
And if I'm getting an EMR, howmuch is that going to cost?
And I'm only seeing threeclients.
And I don't know if I want tohave any EMR.
If I'm only seeing threeclients.
And thinking about.
(13:08):
That tech side of things.
What technology is there thatcan support you?
Particularly if you're doingthis as a short-term endeavor,
if you're doing this as a testpilot run to see if it's
something that you enjoy, or ifthere is a need in your
community.
Then figuring out what is theminimum viable project level
(13:34):
that you can work at?
Is really important.
And a lot of people get hung uphere because there are so many
options out there.
There are so many great EMRprograms.
There are so many programsaround how do we have a HIPAA
compliant fax or how do we havea HIPAA compliant way of
communicating with our clients?
(13:55):
And there are lots and lots ofoptions out there for solving
those challenges for every sizepractice from seeing one client,
to starting a full-time practiceand.
It's important to think aboutscaling or having steps as you
go along, because you're notgoing to jump right in and get
(14:15):
that EMR that has all the thingson it because often that's going
to eat up pretty much your wholeprofit.
To start with and looking atwhat that break even point is a
really great way to say okay.
When I know when I get to eightclients, Then I'm at a breakeven
point where the time that'sgoing to be saved by getting
this EMR and having it handleall of these tasks is actually
(14:39):
going to be more beneficial thanjust the cost.
But I know that while I'mgetting my first seven clients,
I have an opportunity to tweakand refine how I want to do my
documentation, how I'm going totrack intakes, how my system is
going to work.
And so I really liked that stepor tier method for looking at
(15:02):
different technology solutionsfor people who want to start
this one day a week with oneclient.
And feel really nervous aboutwhether it's worth it.
How's it gonna work out?
What the plan is going to bewith all those systems.
That are normally surrounding uswhen we're in that therapy
(15:22):
environment.
When we walk into a job toprovide therapy services all of
those systems are already set upfor us.
And it can be really daunting tothink about, especially for one
client.
Right.
I mean really daunting to thinkabout like, how am I going to
set up all that?
Where to like, what am I evengoing to do for intake
paperwork?
I don't even know where to beginwith evaluation materials, and
(15:44):
I'm not going to go out and buyan$800 eval kit for one client.
And those are all things thatare solvable.
And there are ways to reallymake it cost effective and
provide very high qualityservices to the clients that
need us that want to work withus that are looking for
(16:05):
something that fits the needs oftheir child or their family
member.
And thinking about just howyou're going to organize those
things are, is usually the nextarea of concern for a lot of
therapists who are, again, we'recoming towards the end of the
school year, the middle ofspring and thinking about summer
(16:25):
and this is often a great timeto think about that side hustle.
If you're really been interestedin one of these areas of
practice.
If you have been incorporatinganimals or aquatics into your
practice for a while now.
I often find that during thesummer months we get more client
(16:46):
inquiries.
And so it's a good time to goback through your business
processes.
And just take a look ateverything again and say, is
this really functioning the wayI want it to function?
Where are the areas that aresticking points for clients with
us?
And I've been looking at one ofthose lately of how many people
(17:07):
are forming a profile.
In our electronic record system,how many people are completing
the intake paperwork?
And is there something in thatprocess that might be slowing
people down?
And that's one of those thingsthat we can really find ways to
make it.
So families are completing thepaperwork, they're getting it
done, they're getting it back tous.
(17:27):
So we get them in our scheduleand get them started, which is
ultimately why they reached outto us in the first place.
So if you are in that stagewhere maybe you've been doing
this a little while and you havethat feeling.
That things could be running alittle bit smoother.
This discussion that we're justhaving here is a good way to
(17:48):
think back through and thinkthrough the training aspect.
Is there any area now thatyou've been doing it a while you
would like to get more trainingin and certainly that's our
running joke, right?
Is that we always have more roomfor continuing education.
And with that.
You can look and say like, yeah,I feel like I would like a
(18:09):
little bit more training inKinesio tape because I want to
incorporate it in what we'redoing in hippotherapy, or in
aquatics, cause I want to seehow that's going to work with my
clients.
Or I would like a little moretraining in mental health
because I'm seeing a lot ofclients out in a nature based
setting and I'm seeing more andmore clients that have mental
(18:32):
health challenges.
Then you can look and see what'sgoing on at my practice
location.
Where are the ways that it'sreally serving me?
How am I working and fitting inat that particular facility?
And.
What could we maybe tweak, whatdo I need to ask for?
What do I need to question?
Where are things going reallywell?
Do I need to revisit thecontract?
(18:54):
Those are all areas that can bereally helpful if it's your own
facility, the great time to dothat springtime assessment and
see what needs a little sprucingup.
See if you can have a Workday.
At your facility to spruce thosethings up, really make it warm,
inviting, welcoming, easilyaccessible for the clients that
you serve.
(19:15):
And then the systems reviewingyour systems again and looking
to see is everything functioningthe way I want it to function
our clients, having a goodexperience from their initial
outreach to us, the first timethey call us, text us, email us.
All the way through todischarge.
And are we providing any supportpast discharge as well?
So I hope this was helpful toyou today to think about if
(19:39):
you're interested inincorporating animals or
aquatics as a side hustle orstarting to take this long-term
steps to getting started, thatyou now have a couple areas in
your mind to start checking out.
You want to look at training andcertification.
Practice location and thesystems that you're going to
need to get started.
(20:00):
If you have any questions asalways feel free to reach out to
us or follow us on social mediaand send us a DM.
Thanks for listening.
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