Is accepting insurance as a dietitian hard? This is perhaps one of the most asked questions I receive as a reimbursement coach for dietitians.
And before I fully answer this question I want to chat a little about mindset.
I am a firm believer your success in your insurance-based private practice is pretty much 10000000 percent related to your mindset.
And to be crystal clear, success in private practice means SUPER different things to different dietitians.
For some RDs success in their private practice looks like one or more of these …
… working when they want to work
… working with who they want to work
… not having to answer to anyone but themselves
… leading a rockstar team
… traveling frequently to cool places on their bucket list
… contributing financially to their family in a way that feels good to them
… making $50,0000 per year
… making $50,000 per month
… spending holidays at home with their family (not at their clinical job)
… having sufficient time for self-care
… having time to engage in their hobbies
… being able to give back time (and/or) money to the organizations that matter most to them
Being successful is NOT always about making x amount of dollars. If that is important to you. Awesome! If not. Also awesome. Because when you work for yourself YOU get to decide ultimately what success looks like for you.
However, in order for you to get to the next level (whatever that looks like for YOU!) you need to THINK and ACT wildly differently than you previously have. Your thoughts and action are the EXACT reason why you are where you are right now. And only you can change that.
So I think this would be a great segway into the question I get asked oh-so-frequently is accepting insurance in private practice hard?
So Amy P. is accepting insurance as a dietitian hard?
Hard is a relative term.
And just like success the term hard means different things to different people.
As an RD, you have already done some wicked hard shit. So I am always perplexed when RDs ask me this question.
Like as if you are a stranger to hard work, hustle, grit, discipline, and tenacity. Said no dietitian ever.
So Amy P. get back to the question is accepting insurance as a dietitian hard?
My personal opinion is it all falls back on the mindset.
When I first started accepting insurance in 2008, I knew it was going to be hard for lots of reasons. But I did it anyway.
I really wanted to help the people who needed my services most. Not just the ones who could afford them. And while self-pay has its place, for me personally, it was just not a sustainable plan. Especially when people pay a lot of money for their insurance benefits.
So I dove in HARD.
For good or for bad at the time there was no one running an insurance-based model I could even ask for help. However, to be honest with you it was this ‘can-do attitude’ that has gotten me through time and time again.
Trust me, I am no different than you.
But I believe in myself more than I fear failure.
Every single challenge I faced (and there were TONS!) I approach them as an opportunity to win. And while I know we tend to give trophies to everyone these days, I am not going to deny the fact that REALLY winning in life and in your practice is vital.
It is not enough to open up shop as an insurance-based dietitian. Anyone can do that. But what is vital is that you learn to win at it.
And guess what?
You are probably going to fall down a bunch of times before you hit that grand slam.
Treating success in your practice as an option is one of the many reasons why there are a lot of insurance-based dietitians but few who are killing it.
I have a canvas in my office that says, “I have to be successful because I like expensive things.’ And that ain’t no lie. Being successful is my duty, obligation, and responsibility I have to myself.
I am capable of it and you are too.
But you need to embrace the suck. Do the hard things. Stop making excuses. And start living up to your potential.
Quit lying to yourself that success is not important. Stop telling yourself your insurance-based practice is just a side hustle.
Because if you keep telling yourself that bullshit.
Guess what? It will continue to be just that.
So your homework for today is this: define what your definition of success looks like for you and don’t stop working towards that until you have achieved it.
Success is not like playing the lottery, bingo, or cards. There can be many winners. There is no shortage of success.
Your insurance-based practice can be wildly successful. But it will only be if you believe in yourself and put in the work.
So stop whining and being a crybaby shedding tears and lamenting insurance sucks. Because whatever going on in your insurance-based practice good, bad, or nothing is caused by you.
It’s time to assume responsibility, take massive action, change your mindset to ‘I got this shit,’ and let’s do this.
Need help?!? I got you boo. Check out my EPIC reimbursement coaching program that helps you start, manage and scale your insurance-based practice.
Cool?
Thanks for listening to my Ted Talk.
Let’s go!
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