2012 Private Practice Retreat [Highlights]

Thank you to everyone who attended the 2012 Private Practice Retreat event. It was a weekend to remember, and here are some video highlights.

On Thursday night, April 12th, Las Vegas Airport became the welcoming grounds for the nation’s TOP Private Practice Owners.

Many of the top private practice owners took time AWAY from their practice to learn how they can take their practice to the next level. It was a classic example of working ON your practice rather than IN your practice.

From people with 9 clinics and counting to those who are on the verge of opening up in a few months, the Private Practice Retreat represented the most eclectic mix of private practitioners ever under one roof. The staff did an outstanding job with all the airport pickups, customer support, logistics, the CE workshop on day one and the food and other highlights during the rest of the event.

“It was a chance to step back and work ON your practice rather than IN your practice”
Nitin Chhoda PT, DPT

Then came Saturday morning which kicked off with a large, sumptuous breakfast, featured networking with physical therapists and other practice owners alike. The attendees raved about the food and the room was charged with energy even before the event started. A hot breakfast & lunch was covered (most attendees rated the meals 10 out of 10 – they said it was the best meal they had ever seen at a physical therapy conference), so all the attendees had to do was be prepared to take notes and learn, and boy did they!

Things started off with me setting the stage for all in attendance. I encouraged practice owners to think outside the box, challenging them to open their minds for this weekend. It was amazing to see practice owners relax and unwind as they shared laughs, jokes and insights throughout the day.

Later that day, the first speaker John Garrard shared the value of scripts and systems in your practice in his engaging talk “The Owner Eliminated Practice”.

  • The ability to have tested scripts that eliminate guess work and help your practice run smoothly was the highlight in the first presentation. A truely successful practice is one in which you can pull yourself out of the fabric of your practice. Imagine the possibility of being able to work with the patients you want, when you want and take time off whenever you want it. If this is something you want, then you need to build an “owner eliminated practice”.

Attendees made tons of notes as John revealed some amazing insights about the way he helps run the successful Augusta-based Healing Hands physical therapy clinic. John and Jurgen Cowling PT, the owner of Healing Hands are the coolest guys I know and both are members of my elite, invite-only mastermind coaching program.

Prior to lunch, the New York Times bestselling author, also known as the “Silver Fox”(it wasn’t me, it was the ladies gave him that name), Garrett Gunderson lit up the crowd with his charisma and charm.

Those are not two words you do not normally associate with a financial expert but that’s exactly why Garrett was at the Private Practice Retreat.

  • Garrett shared amazing advice on how to encourage staff with different forms of compensation, how to save thousands of dollars per year on your bottom line, and a whole lot more!

Garrett, the author of the bestselling “Killing Sacred Cows” delivered an electrifying presentation without a single powerpoint, where he challenged the financial “status quo” and encouraged attendees to spend time doing high lifetime value activities like financial planning and legal ways to minimize your tax burden.

That was followed by a gourmet lunch, followed by the “wicked smart” sessions where private practice owners battled to win a brand new iPad. Wicked smart is basically where people from the audience share what has been working in their practice. This was a BIG crowd pleaser to say the least. The tactics and strategies shared were directly from in-the-trenches private practice owners, and the Private Practice Summit and Private Practice Retreat are the two pioneering events that have introduced this concept to physical therapists in private practice.

The nightcap included a social function from 7 pm to 10.00pm where attendees were able to enjoy an unlimited, free, open bar, socialize with one another and create some life long friendships. Some conversations carried on until the wee-hours of the morning and several attendees have been emailing like crazy since they got back from the event.

Then came Sunday, the final day, where I kicked off the day with 20 strategies to add new patients to your practice.

  • These included automatic follow up sequences, how to approach doctors from the “3rd dimension”, to how to automatically become the local expert in your area in as little as 10 days! I think the idea that people liked the best was using the communication trifecta approach to contact physicians and patients. This consists of the physician trifecta (in-person, fax and mail) and the patient tri-fecta (text, email and phone calls). These are the three communication channels you should use to build a relationship with patients and physicians.

Brian Boyle then spoke about how to add an additional revenue stream for your practice with on-site care for corporations and work environments.

  • In 60 minutes, he delivered a high energy, content rich presentation that provided the blueprint to on what to say, how to conduct them and why this is an opportunity most private practice owners need to grab immediately.

One attendee from the audience mentioned that a 2014 mandate would facilitate wellness programs in the corporate arena, which made Brian’s presentation all the more timely.

After lunch, Jerry Durham spoke about how to take your practice to the next level.

  • He was able to open up the world of possibilities that one can have when they decide to get out their comfort zone, and encouraged everyone to challenge the status quo.

The event ended with a bonus session from me about search engine optimization (SEO). We all want to be found online don’t we? After all, that’s where people are going to conduct research whether it’s potential patients or physicians. I revealed exactly how I use tools like Fiverr for my own SEO efforts. It was a blueprint for you to create and manage your own SEO campaigns without having to work with any outside company.

Overall, the Private Practice Retreat was a 9 out of 10 stars event. Why not a 10?

Because perfection is not possible and we are constantly improving. Neither me nor my staff will ever get complacent about the quality of the speakers, the usability of the content and the experience of the attendees. Our goal is to raise the caliber of the event every single time we conduct it. In fact, our next event is already planned for September 27-29 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada – We are going back to Las Vegas!

If you missed the event, then we have some good news because the footage from the event will be made available in the coming days, so stay tuned. In the meantime, here’s some feedback from all the attendees, kicked off by our celebrity guest himself – Garrett Gunderson.

P.S.- If you were at the event and you’re reading this, I’d love to hear your favorite part of the event. Please post your comments below.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.