Are you a Naturopathic Doctor & unsure of how to price your visits? You’re not alone.
Should you do packages? Require a minimum commitment fee to work with you? Should you accept insurance?
At Rupa Health we’re passionate about empowering practitioners to bring this kind of care to more people. After helping hundreds of Naturopathic Doctors grow their practices and running a virtual clinic of our own at Rupa Health, here's what we've learned about pricing.
Unsurprisingly, one of top questions we get from providers is “How much should I charge my patients?”. Pricing is a tricky art in any industry and functional medicine is no exception.
Most naturopaths don’t just charge per hour or per service.
They have different pricing structures- which can come in the form of programs and packages. The goal of these is to maximize benefit to the patient and guarantee that there will be follow-up to what is discussed in the first (lengthy) appointment.
What is the minimum price for working with a Naturopathic Doctor?
We looked at the pricing structures of 41 ND’s in the Bay Area, and calculated what the minimum cost is to work with them.
Average Cost: $363
Lowest: $150
Highest: $750
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So…what does this come out to, per hour of a Naturopath’s time?
Taking into consideration the way each ND structured their program, we determined their per-hour rate & normalized across our sample. Here's what we discovered.
Average Cost: $294
Lowest: $100
Highest: $750
Do practitioners share their pricing info right off the bat with patients on their website?
We've heard practitioners weigh the pros and cons of having pricing info on their websites. When we were doing this research, we found that only around 20% of naturopathic doctors in the Bay Area list their prices on their site. That said, many patients do appreciate price transparency.
A note on insurance - most providers do not accept insurance.
We found most functional medicine providers do not accept insurance and require cash pay at time of service. If you are an MD, DO, or ND, it will help you in getting patients - if you can provide a superbill for patients to send to their insurance companies.
You can't go wrong - it's different for everyone. Stay true to what you believe is a fair price for your market - and one that allows you to support yourself.
Your pricing depends on many factors - your location, training, and quite frankly - demand for your services. We've seen it takes, on average, 3-5 years of committed work to really develop an established and bustling practice. At this point, many providers decide to raise their prices, take on fewer clients, or be more selective in clients they bring on. The main factor in pricing is by far location. San Francisco, LA, and New York are the most expensive markets with the highest demand for functional medicine. If you are in these areas, you are likely to be able to charge more than other areas. However, telemedicine is changing the game. It can bring down the cost of running your business and enable you to see patients in areas where the ability to pay might be higher than your normal rates.
One final note - please don't forget, the work and services you are providing are invaluable. Regaining health - for many patients - is priceless. Don't undervalue yourself or your work. 🙏 Good luck!
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