Two real paths. Different tradeoffs. Here's how to think about which one fits your situation.
When pediatric therapists decide to leave EI, schools, or a clinic, they generally face a fork in the road: build a fully independent solo practice, or join a platform like Coral Care. Both paths lead to in-home, family-centered, flexible practice. The differences are in how you get there, how long it takes, and what you give up along the way.
This post is an honest comparison. Not a pitch for Coral Care — solo practice is genuinely the right answer for some therapists. Understanding the real tradeoffs is how you make the right call for your situation.
What solo private practice actually involves
In fully independent solo practice, you are the business. You credential with each insurer individually (60-120 days per payer), build your own patient pipeline through referral relationships you generate, handle your own claim submission and billing follow-up (3-5 hours per week at full caseload), manage your own scheduling and intake, and keep the full reimbursement after your own overhead.
The real advantages of solo practice:
- Maximum earning potential at scale. At full caseload with established payer relationships, solo therapists typically net more per session than platform-based providers.
- Full ownership of your patient relationships and your brand. You're building an asset — a practice with reputation and referral equity that belongs to you.
- Complete flexibility. No platform requirements around scheduling, documentation format, or case types.
- No revenue share. Every dollar collected after overhead is yours.
The real costs of solo practice:
- The path to first insured patient takes 60-120 days minimum from when you start credentialing.
- Billing is 3-5 hours per week at steady state, more in the first year. Either you spend that time or you pay a biller 6-10% of collections to spend it for you.
- Referral generation is ongoing and requires consistent relationship-building. There is no pipeline feeding you patients — you create it.
- The administrative learning curve is real. Most therapists who haven't run their own practice spend 6-12 months getting efficient at the operational side.
Solo practice is the right choice for therapists who want maximum long-term earning potential, are genuinely interested in the business side of practice, and are comfortable with higher variance and a longer ramp-up period.
What the Coral Care model actually involves
At Coral Care, you join an established provider network. Credentialing is handled through our existing payer relationships — you're operational in weeks, not months. Billing runs through our infrastructure — you document, we submit claims and handle denials. Patient matching brings families to you through our demand channels rather than requiring you to generate referrals. Documentation happens in CoralPro, our provider-facing platform, which includes our goal bank and streamlined note templates.
The real advantages of Coral Care:
- Speed to first patient. Most providers are seeing insured patients within 2-4 weeks of completing onboarding.
- Dramatically lower administrative burden. Most Coral Care providers spend 30-60 minutes per week on non-clinical work at full caseload.
- No referral generation required. Patient demand in every Coral Care market exceeds our current provider supply.
- Access to CoralPro infrastructure — goal bank, documentation templates, billing system — without building it yourself.
The real costs of Coral Care:
- Revenue share. Coral Care takes a percentage of each session's reimbursement in exchange for the services we provide. Your effective per-session net is lower than fully independent practice at the same gross reimbursement rate.
- You're not building equity in your own independent practice. The patient relationships are facilitated through Coral Care's platform.
- Some operational parameters are set by the platform — documentation format, insurance accepted, and certain scheduling norms.
Coral Care is the right choice for therapists who want to start seeing patients quickly, minimize administrative overhead, and focus almost entirely on clinical work rather than practice operations.
The hybrid path most therapists don't consider
The most common version of this decision isn't actually binary. Many therapists use Coral Care as a launchpad — they start with our platform, build a stable caseload and financial foundation, learn what independent in-home practice actually feels like, and eventually build their own credentialing and referral infrastructure alongside or after their Coral Care caseload.
This is a rational and common path. It reduces the income risk of the transition, lets you test independent practice before fully committing, and gives you operational experience before you try to run a practice entirely on your own.
The questions that actually determine which path is right
- How quickly do you need income? If the answer is "within the next few weeks," solo credentialing timelines create a real barrier. Coral Care solves it.
- Do you enjoy the business side of practice? Some therapists genuinely like building referral networks and learning insurance billing. Others find it draining. Honest self-assessment here matters more than the financial math.
- Are you building toward owning a practice as an asset? If yes, solo practice builds equity that Coral Care doesn't. If your goal is excellent clinical work with minimal administration, that distinction matters less.
- What's your local demand environment? In markets where independent therapists have strong existing referral relationships, the solo path is more accessible. In markets where Coral Care has established patient demand, the platform value is higher.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I do both — some patients through Coral Care and some independently?
Yes. Many providers maintain a mixed caseload. The key is that you're not actively redirecting Coral Care patient relationships to your independent practice.
Can I eventually go fully independent after starting with Coral Care?
Yes. Many of our providers have done this. We don't have geographic non-compete clauses that prevent you from eventually practicing independently in the same market.
What does Coral Care actually take per session?
We discuss specifics during the application process. Reimbursement and revenue share vary by state, discipline, and payer. Start your application to get the specifics for your market.
Compare both paths for your situation
If you're weighing the two, the most useful next step is talking through your specific market, timeline, and financial situation. Start your Coral Care application for a 30-minute intro conversation that gives you the details for your market. Or read our post on how to start a pediatric therapy private practice for the full solo practice path.
