Therapist Survey: Subleased Office Space (Part 3)

This post reports additional results from a survey conducted in July 2010. Previous posts have examined the costs and amenities available when renting office space and the issues therapists consider when selecting a subleasing arrangement.

One issue for contracting therapists is access to referrals, especially in a large practice. Unless the therapist has his or her own clientload -- or can build one independently of calls into the practice, renting space can make it difficult to attract clients.

Forty-one percent of therapists renting space had access to referrals within the office as part of the rental fee. One-third of therapists surveyed did not have access to internal referrals. Another third received referrals on a case-by-case basis.

When asked about referrals, some responses included:

• "Referrals are not part of the rental fee. However, referrals are frequent."
• "They go to partners first and then to contractors."
• "Referrals (are) provided as appropriate for patients, not as part of fee."
• From a therapist who rented space to other therapists: "If referrals were specifically for me, I kept them or referred them; other referrals were divided up by therapist/renter."

Another key issue is emergency coverage. In nearly three-quarters of the situations, no on-call services are provided for any therapists -- each therapist provides his or her own emergency coverage. In 13% of the situations, renter serve as an on-call therapist for clients (all therapists in the office rotate providing emergency coverage). Ten percent of therapists had access to emergency services through special arrangement:

• "My rent is adjusted slightly to include on-call service for my clients."
• "No coverage for purely renting space, but it would be possible if interdependence desired."
• "Phone coverage includes message service to contact each therapist in case of emergency.