I attended a webinar on Sunday that had some speakers on alternative business models for massage therapists. The first one was called Direct Primary Care which is a type of conceirge medicine where patients/clients pay a monthly or yearly fee to have last minute access to their physician and more personalized care since it does not involve the insurance company. For doctors, it would mean having to have enough members to make it worthwhile and also have a schedule that could accomodate last minute health issues. For massage therapists, it might work for chronic pain clients who need to get in right away or for people with vary active lives that may need more immediate care. People with depression and anxiety may benefit from such a model. It could also be good for people who need end of life care. For a massage therapist who has limited number of appointment hours in a day, it is not really feasible. Under the Direct Primary Care option, you most likely cannot accept health insurance for those paying the fee to be in the program.
Another possible model is the membership model that has been seen to work for franchises. The key to pricing these membership programs is to price your regular fees higher than the membership program so you can get paid top dollar for the membership program and not feel resentful for giving discounts. You will have to track payments and sessions and set up rules for memberships. You will have to keep enough money in the bank for people who want refunds.
Neither of these is quite what I am looking for as I work on starting my business after my COVID break. I am planning on raising my rates significantly and I have also opted out of health insurance which I have been a provider with for over 21 years. There is just not enough support and advocacy in the profession to help with the many issues of billing health insurance.