Conducting Your Midyear Checkup: A Guide for Outpatient Therapy Practice Owners

For many outpatient therapy practice owners, the summer months often seem quieter. Clients go on vacations, schedules shift, and your calendar may look a bit lighter than usual. But instead of simply coasting through these slower weeks, this downtime presents a golden opportunity. It is a chance to hit pause, analyze your practice’s performance, and set your strategy to finish the year stronger than ever. A solid midyear checkup now can prepare you for long-term growth and ensure you meet your 2025 goals.

Why Summer Downtime Is Your Growth Catalyst

It’s easy to associate summer with slow business activity in therapy practices, but that slower pace is precisely why it’s the best time to recalibrate. Think of it as a halftime break in a game, where you assess what’s working, adjust your playbook, and prepare to dominate the second half.

Most importantly, this midyear reflection time allows you to:

• Evaluate the practice’s financial health.

• Spot emerging trends that could shape your industry or demand for services.

• Refine your hiring and team growth strategies.

• Develop clear objectives for the second half of the year.

When fall and winter pick up, you'll be focused on client demands and operational tasks. Planning in the summer gives you the breathing room to make thoughtful, data-driven decisions without the daily hustle.

Step 1: Take Financial Inventory

A clear picture of your financials is the foundation for any successful business strategy. Start your midyear checkup by reviewing this critical data to assess how well your practice is performing financially.

Key Metrics to Review

1. Revenue: Compare revenue figures for the first half of the year to the same period last year. Are you on track to hit your annual targets? If not, identify the gaps and what factors may have contributed to them.

2. Expenses: Break down your spending categories to ensure no unnecessary expenses have crept into your budget. Track your fixed and variable expenses to identify areas for cost-savings.

3. Profit Margins: Calculate your margins to determine if your profitability has improved or declined. Even if revenue grows, stagnant or narrow margins could signal inefficiencies that need addressing.

Action Items

• Pinpoint any revenue shortfalls and brainstorm new strategies for increasing it, such as launching supplemental programs or adjusting pricing.

• Reduce discretionary expenses where possible to safeguard profitability in uncertain periods.

Step 2: Track and Analyze KPIs

Your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the pulse of your practice, giving you a real-time gauge of success and areas needing improvement. Use this summer to measure the KPIs that matter most to your operations and goals.

Common Therapy Practice KPIs

• New Patient Referrals and Evaluations: How well are you attracting new clients? Are your marketing efforts paying off? Are you building a network of sources or relying on only a few?

• Length of Stay: Are current clients continuing their care, or are they discharging to early - why?

• Cancellation/No Show Rate: Track how many clients are attending scheduled sessions versus cancellations or no-shows. This should be done daily and weekly, and evaluated by therapist.

• Units billed and Unit Mix: Evaluate not only the average number of units billed per encounter, but also the mix of units being billed.

Action Items

• If length of stay is low, consider implementing client feedback surveys to understand why and where improvements are needed.

• Evaluate the cost versus return of recent marketing campaigns to decide where to focus your marketing dollars in the second half.

PART 2:

Conducting Your Midyear Checkup: A Guide for Outpatient Therapy Practice Owners

For many outpatient therapy practice owners, the summer months often seem quieter. Clients go on vacations, schedules shift, and your calendar may look a bit lighter than usual. But instead of simply coasting through these slower weeks, this downtime presents a golden opportunity. It is a chance to hit pause, analyze your practice’s performance, and set your strategy to finish the year stronger than ever. A solid midyear checkup now can prepare you for long-term growth and ensure you meet your 2025 goals.

Why Summer Downtime Is Your Growth Catalyst

It’s easy to associate summer with slow business activity in therapy practices, but that slower pace is precisely why it’s the best time to recalibrate. Think of it as a halftime break in a game, where you assess what’s working, adjust your playbook, and prepare to dominate the second half.

Most importantly, this midyear reflection time allows you to:

• Evaluate the practice’s financial health.

• Spot emerging trends that could shape your industry or demand for services.

• Refine your hiring and team growth strategies.

• Develop clear objectives for the second half of the year.

When fall and winter pick up, you'll be focused on client demands and operational tasks. Planning in the summer gives you the breathing room to make thoughtful, data-driven decisions without the daily hustle.

Step 3: Identify Trends Impacting Your Practice

The first half of the year often reveals patterns that can signal either opportunities or risks for your practice. Identifying these trends will set the stage for strategic adjustments and innovation.

Trend Areas to Watch

1. Seasonal Shifts in Client Demand: Does summer downtime indicate a seasonal lull for your services? If so, what new programs or incentives could bridge the gap during slower periods?

2. Emerging Needs: Are clients increasingly requesting specific treatments, specialties, or supports? Consider if your team requires additional training or certifications to meet evolving demands.

Action Items

• Set up tracking systems to monitor trends year-over-year for better forecasting and adjustment.

• Address the need to increase the number of PRN Therapists vs. obligating the practice to full time year round staff.

• Plan for technology investments or shifts that align with client needs and industry changes.

Step 4: Assess Team Needs and Growth Potential

Your practice is only as strong as the team behind it. Midyear is the perfect time to evaluate staffing levels, assess morale, and identify hiring needs to support growth in the months ahead.

Questions to Ask

• Does your current staff have the bandwidth to handle anticipated client volume for Q3 and Q4?

• Are your employees engaged and satisfied in their roles? Would training opportunities or other incentives improve retention?

• Are there any gaps in specialties or services that future hires could fill?

Action Items

• If hiring is needed, start defining job descriptions and prepping recruitment efforts now to avoid rushing later in the year.

• Schedule one-on-one meetings with staff to gather input on what would improve their work experience and enhance their contribution to the practice.

Step 5: Refine Your Growth Strategy

Finally, tie everything together by creating or refining your growth strategy for the second half of the year. Combine insights from your financial review, KPI analysis, trend tracking, and team assessments to develop clear action steps.

Setting the Right Goals

The key to a successful growth strategy is focused, actionable goals. For example:

• If revenue growth is your target, commit to specific tactics like launching a new service or increasing appointment availability.

• If client retention is a concern, aim to implement retention strategies, such as follow-up call reminders or loyalty discounts.

Roadmap to Execution

Break your annual goals into smaller quarterly objectives and action plans. Build in regular check-ins to assess progress and stay accountable.

Action Items

• Write out a detailed growth roadmap for both client acquisition and retention efforts.

• Prioritize investments that will provide the highest ROI, like targeted marketing or advanced software systems to improve operations.

Wrapping It All Up

By investing time into a midyear checkup during the quiet summer months, you’re laying the groundwork for an exceptional end-of-year performance. Thoughtfully evaluating your practice’s financials, KPIs, and team readiness ensures you’re not only meeting immediate goals but also building a sustainable foundation for your 2025 long-term plans.

Start now. Use this summer as your strategic advantage and set your practice up to not just finish strong, but to thrive.