Everything you need to know about building a Cash Based Laser Practice

As a whole, physicians are a dedicated group of professionals, yet face many unique financial and clinical challenges. Addressing the issues of declining insurance reimbursements and finding better outcomes for patient’s has become a main concern in these challenging economic times.


Properly integrating a laser medicine program into your practice using Class IV Therapy Laser on a cash basis can not only help to deliver better medical outcomes, it may dramatically enhance your bottom line. The emerging field of high power laser medicine now offers physicians the ability to transform their facility into a specialty practice that treats medical failures. Class IV offers your profession the ability to treat medical conditions that have failed all forms of medicine, such as peripheral neuropathy, failed surgical back, disc pathology, spinal stenosis, severe degenerative joint disease and even non-healing wounds just to name a few. In order to reap the benefits of a cash practice and prosper for years to come, you need to deliver results commensurate with the remuneration you are seeking.

 Unlike all other treatments available to physicians, HPLT is the only “actinotherapy” outside of ultraviolet light that results in both chemical and metabolic changes at the cellular level. This unique modality enables the physicians to actually accelerate the healing of human tissue¹. Best of all, HPLT can be virtually side effect free as long as the laser beam is delivered in a safe and precise manner. The majority of high power output lasers be they surgical or therapeutic have collimated beams. Collimated beams have the potential to burn tissue because of the high concentration of the energy they put out at the skin surface. In order to prevent this phenomena, that type of laser is typically pulsed.

Economic Factors of a Cash Laser Medicine Practice
Revenues generated by laser patients can be substantial and typically exceed those which are generated by traditional insurance practices. The national per minute average for laser specialty practices ranges between $25 to $125 per session. This fee range appears to be more heavily influenced by the level of confidence the doctor has, their geographic location, and, of course, demand. Treatment times range from 3-12 minutes for the majority of conditions, but can be as high as 15 minutes for peripheral neuropathy. Typical treatment plans range from 6 visits for acute injuries and 8-10 for chronic conditions. Complicated cases of failed surgical back syndrome or peripheral diabetic neuropathy will usually require maintenence programs after initial treatment set.  Maintenance doses range from 1 visit/month to 4 visits/year. Remember, in order to keep them coming back and continuing to pay, you must be able to deliver the best outcomes.


A laser capable of delivering these types of financial outcomes will cost around $12 to 50 per working day on a lease basis. Many leasing companies offer deferred lease payment programs which allow the lessee to generate cash flow before having to make their first payment. Doing the math, one can see how you can be cash flow positive in a matter of minutes. Because of Class IV's effectiveness with both acute and chronic pathologies, it’s safety, and the fact that it can be used to treat a wide array of conditions from head to toe, most physicians are discovering success in treating and marketing solely to medical failures. This is truly an untapped market where there will always be an abundance of patients desperately needing help. These conditions include post op pain syndromes, peripheral neuropathy, disc pathologies, stenosis, chronic foot and ankle pain, and degenerative joint disease. Another positive feature of a cash only practice is your patient referrals will already know beforehand that they must pay out of pocket.

Effectively marketing your laser medicine specialty practice requires strategic planning including a high return on investment advertising campaign. Also, as good as Class IV is - it’s only as good as the knowledge base of the operator using it. That is why it’s highly recommended that the practitioner and his/her staff attend continuing laser medicine educational seminars, and seek out a total laser practice management solution to move forward successfully.

Because cash practices are not at the mercy of the insurance companies and declining reimbursement 100% of services billed will be collected. Your time will now be better spent in practicing medicine and getting the results you and your patients expect and not those controlled by third party reimbursement.

In closing, if you’re looking for a program which will definitely change the way you practice medicine, the outcomes which you can achieve, as well as your financial freedom and success, then you should definitely consider implementing an Class IVtherapy laser medicine into your practice today.