Some Hopefully Helpful
tips to develop a Holistic
Healing Center

 

The start and development of a holistic healing
center can be both a traumatic and enlightening experience. In an attempt to
minimize the former without detracting too much from the latter, I would like
to share with you some thoughts and ideas that may prove useful to those of you
who have just begun or are planning to put together a center. Much of what I
have learned has been echoed by other holistic physicians to whom I have
talked. They also went through the oft times painful process of birthing a
multi-disciplinary center. The commonalities that follow are what the novice
should be familiar with in order to avoid "re-inventing the wheel",
i.e., gleam these pearls of wisdom from ones who have been there and done that
so that their mistakes are not repeated by yourself.

 

(1)    Start your center or retreat from
a business perspective and make sure it is on solid financial ground before
extending too much into the spiritual realm of operating on faith and good
intentions. Since we live in the real world of bills, mortgages, and
litigation, it is prudent to proceed, at least initially, with a left brain
emphasis on the organizing and operational aspects of your endeavor. Formality
and linear function can be de-emphasized at a later date and the intuitive and
abstract allowed a greater role.

 

(2)    Strongly recommended is the writing
down of everything discussed among the principals so that misunderstandings are
averted. To rely entirely on verbal agreement is an error. Memory is tenuous at
best and what I think I heard you say may be considerably different from what
you thought you had told me. Besides detailing the nuts and bolts of business
arrangements between members of the group, I would encourage that all areas of
importance be precisely spelled out: job descriptions, marketing plans,
office/center policies, mission statement or philosophy of practice, to name
just a few.

 

(3)    One early consideration is the
choice of practitioners who will be part of the center. Although much can be
said favorably for youth and enthusiasm, we found it advantageous to have
individuals who were seasoned veterans in the world of business. Such persons
realize that overhead is more than just rent and utilities. To understand and
appreciate the considerable costs involved in the initial start-up as well as
ongoing expenditures is to avoid fractious and prolonged discussions over
finances.

 

I recall an instance of a
pragmatic/theoretical conflict in our first year together as a center when we
were in the midst of overhead excess and trying to curtail expenses. As cold
weather was approaching, several therapists had requested that we replace the
existing gas heaters with electric ones, citing their concern that the noxious
fumes given off by the old gas heaters would increase pollution and thereby not
be good for the health of patients (many of whom had environmental sensitivity)
or themselves. There ensued a lengthy debate on the pros and cons of purchasing
new electric heaters, much of it centered on the cost of buying and operating
them. Resolution only came about after information was presented that electric
heaters produced electro-magnetic pollution which could be as detrimental to
health as the toxic fumes from gas combustion.

 

(4)    A complete budget is essential.
This should include everything from ": slip & fall" insurance on
the premises to office and cleaning supplies, furnishings, and bookkeeping. And
should there be salaried employees, as is almost unavoidable given how IRS
defines contract labor, the myriad of taxes/withholdings can be quite alarming
to someone not versed in such aspects of administration.

 

(5)    The decision of whether or not to
participate in managed care is one not easily arrived at, especially in this
day and age. There are certainly arguments on both sides although I favor the
"fee for service" route. It has been shown that Americans are very
willing to pay out-of-pocket for alternative health services. This coupled with
the freedom from the bureaucracy and cumbersome paperwork involved with
becoming and being a provider for an HMO, PPO, etc., makes it very attractive
to go outside the system. Your gross revenue may be less but so will your
expenses and headaches!

 

There are endless other intricacies involved in
making a holistic healing center work. The more information and experiential
feedback that can be gathered prior to the creation and development of a
center, the smoother the eventual launch and sailing of it; I would definitely
advise seeking out others who have been down the same path, successful or not,
and pick their brains thoroughly. Believe me; you'll be glad you did!


As Plato said thousands of years ago: "The
cure of many diseases is unknown to physicians. They are ignorant of
the whole which ought to be studied also, for the part can never be
well unless the whole is well. This is the great error of our day in
the treatment of the human body, that the physician separates the soul
from the body." www.freewebs.com/sujokpk




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