How to Open an Outpatient Therapy Practice in Georgia: PT, OT and Speech
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Ready to stop building someone else's practice and start your own?
Owning an outpatient PT, OT or speech therapy practice means treating patients your way and keeping what you earn. But enrollment delays and Medicare documentation mistakes can sink a new practice before it finds its feet.
I'm Prachi, a Healthcare Compliance Officer and Healthcare Facility Owner with more than 20 years in healthcare. Here's the roadmap I'd give any therapist going out on their own.
⏱ Short on time? Start here.
Browse every Georgia toolkit, including the outpatient therapy startup kit and bundles.
The 6 steps to opening your practice
1. Pick your practice model
Solo, group, mobile or clinic-based? Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance or cash only? These choices shape your enrollment and paperwork.
2. Set up your business
Form your entity, get an EIN, register locally and get professional and general liability insurance. Keep your Georgia license current.
3. Get your NPI and enroll with payers
Get an individual NPI, plus an organizational NPI for a group. Enroll in Medicare through PECOS, Georgia Medicaid if you'll serve those patients, and your chosen insurers. Credentialing can take months, so start early.
4. Build audit-proof documentation
Medicare requires a certified plan of care, regular progress reports and accurate timed-code billing under the 8-minute rule. Set up templates from day one.
5. Plan assistant supervision
If you hire PTAs, OTAs or SLP assistants, follow both Georgia's and Medicare's supervision rules, which can differ.
6. Put your compliance program in place
Cover HIPAA, documentation, billing, infection control and training, and build a compliance program around OIG's seven elements.
4 costly mistakes new owners make
- Seeing patients before payer enrollment is approved
- Billing timed codes without documenting minutes
- Missing plan of care certifications
- Never checking staff against the OIG exclusion list
Open your doors with your paperwork already done
The Georgia Outpatient Therapy Startup & Documentation Toolkit covers enrollment, Medicare documentation rules, about 100 policies and fillable evaluation, progress and discharge templates. Instant download.
This article is for education only and isn't legal advice. Always confirm current requirements with your licensing board and payers.