After completing your formal schooling, obtaining your required certifications and licensing with the appropiate boards, now it is time to open your practice and began acquiring patients.  In the process though, have you taken time to complete an assessment of how much money your practice needs to earn monthly, even daily to operate (minimum income amount)?  Or how many patients you will need to see each day to reach this mimimum goal?  It is possible to complete an analysis that enables you to forecast this information, even before you start seeing patients.  Understanding what the mimimum needed to operate the practice is not only allows for you to then set profit goals, but also create an adequate fee schedule that will ensure you are reaching and maybe even exceeding your goals.  Just because the insurance carriers will only pay you a set amount, that doesn't mean they also dictate what your fee schedule is.  You, as a medical provider, have more control than you may think!  While each carrier has their own fee schedule they pay you by, you can decide what 'mix' of patients you need to see per carrier type daily to reach your minimum goal and ultimately, your profit margin. You may also decide that contracting with some carriers is much better than with others.  All of this can only truly be determined though, once you have done the proper planning and analysis to determine how much you really need to earn.  Stop short changing yourself by simply just guessing what you're worth, and know what you're worth.