Clinidiary

← All guides / Growing as a physiotherapist

How to Raise Your Physiotherapy Fees Without Losing Patients

Rent, insurance, registration and wages go up every year. In many practices the fee for a standard consult does not. After three or four years that gap is the difference between a practice that pays its owner properly and one that does not. Raising fees feels risky, but done well it rarely costs you the patients you want to keep.

By the Clinidiary team · Updated · 3 min read

Know your numbers first

Work out what an hour of your time really costs: rent, software, insurance, consumables and your own wage, divided by the hours you actually treat. Compare that with your fee. Many physios find the standard consult barely covers costs once the gaps in the diary are counted. Your clinic reports show your real number of treated hours.

Small and regular beats large and rare

A modest rise each year is easier for patients than a big jump after five years of nothing. Patients expect prices to move. A large jump reads as a grab; a small yearly change reads as normal.

Tell people properly

  • Give notice: put the new fee on your website and at reception a month before it starts.
  • Say it plainly: "From 1 February our standard consultation will be $X." No long justification is needed.
  • Keep rebate questions easy: patients with private health insurance want to know their gap, so have the answer ready.
  • Train whoever answers the phone so they say the same thing.

Protect people who need protecting

You can keep a concession fee for pensioners, or hold the old price until a patient's current course of treatment ends. These choices are yours to make deliberately, rather than by never changing anything.

Look at the shape of your fees

Price is not only the standard consult. Consider:

Update everything at once

When the day comes, change the service prices in your software so every new invoice is right from the first patient. In Clinidiary that is one change per service in Settings, and existing invoices stay as they were. See invoicing and claims.

Frequently asked questions

How often should a physio raise their fees?

Most practices review fees once a year. A small yearly adjustment is easier for patients than a large one every few years.

Will I lose patients if I raise my prices?

You may lose a few who were choosing you only on price. Patients who value your care and see results usually stay, especially with notice and a clear explanation.

Do I need to explain why fees are going up?

A short, honest line is enough. Long explanations can sound defensive.