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The Independence Brief

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building what's theirs.

Guides, data, and clinical intelligence for licensed practitioners who are done working for someone else's ceiling.

Latest Articles

12 articles
Credentialing

CAQH ProView: The Complete Setup Guide for Independent Practitioners

A step-by-step walkthrough of building your CAQH profile correctly the first time — including the fields most practitioners get wrong.

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[Author Name]
Apr 14, 2026 · 6 min
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Legal & Entity

LLC vs. PLLC for Clinical Practitioners: Which One Do You Actually Need?

The answer depends on your state and specialty. Here's how to look it up, what the difference means for liability, and what to file first.

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[Author Name]
Apr 10, 2026 · 5 min
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Billing & Revenue

Cash-Pay vs. Insurance: How to Decide Before You Open Your Practice

Most practitioners open with a model they picked by default. Here's the framework for choosing deliberately — based on specialty, state, and patient population.

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[Author Name]
Apr 7, 2026 · 7 min
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Independence

What Full Practice Authority Actually Means for Your Launch — By State

27+ states have granted full practice authority to NPs. Here's what that means in practice, what restricted authority looks like, and how it changes your launch plan.

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[Author Name]
Apr 3, 2026 · 9 min
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Patient Acquisition

How to Get Your First 20 Patients Without a Referral Network

Directory profiles, a Meta campaign, and a Google Business Profile. That's the first 90 days of acquisition for most independent practitioners. Here's the order and the numbers.

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[Author Name]
Mar 28, 2026 · 6 min
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Digital Presence

The Five Pages Every Clinical Practice Website Needs Before Launch

Most practice websites are missing the one page that converts visitors into booked patients. Here are the five you need — and what each one has to do.

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[Author Name]
Mar 22, 2026 · 5 min
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Mindset & Transition

How to Give Notice to Your Employer When You're Going Independent

What to say, what not to put in writing, how to handle the patient conversation, and why you should have revenue on the calendar before you hand in your notice.

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[Author Name]
Mar 17, 2026 · 7 min
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Credentialing

Payer Credentialing: Why You Start in Month 1 and Open in Month 3

Credentialing takes 90–120 days. If you wait until your website is live to start, you'll have a practice with no billing. Here's the correct sequence.

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[Author Name]
Mar 11, 2026 · 5 min
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Billing & Revenue

Setting Your Fee Schedule: Cash-Pay Rates for PMHNPs, NPs, and Therapists in 2026

Market rates, what patients will actually pay, and how to set a fee schedule that works for your specialty, your state, and your model — without undercutting yourself.

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[Author Name]
Mar 4, 2026 · 8 min
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Independence

The PMHNP Income Gap: What the Numbers Actually Show in 2026

Employed PMHNP salary vs. independent practice revenue — what the gap is, what drives it, and at what caseload the numbers become impossible to ignore.

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[Author Name]
Feb 26, 2026 · 10 min
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Digital Presence

Psychology Today vs. Zocdoc vs. Headway: Which Directories Are Worth It in 2026

A direct comparison of the major clinical directories — cost, patient volume, conversion, and which ones to activate first based on your specialty.

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[Author Name]
Feb 19, 2026 · 6 min
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Mindset & Transition

What Happens in the First 30 Days After You Launch Your Practice

The first month is when most new practice owners panic. Here's what's normal, what's a problem, and what to focus on so the second month is better than the first.

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[Author Name]
Feb 11, 2026 · 7 min
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From Reading to Building

The information is here. The infrastructure is one step away.

Everything you've been reading about — the entity, the credentialing, the billing, the patients — exists in a structured 90-day buildout. Pick the tier that fits how you work.

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