The Cost of Doing Our Best
Sessions at ROOTS are an investment. We're an independent, cash-based clinic and we charge more per session than many other options. When I started ROOTS in 2021, my sessions were priced alongside the market average at around $800 MXN.
So what changed?
I quickly discovered why pricing is more than just cost to provide an hour of time. I’m not writing this to explain why our prices are no longer in the middle of the pack but rather because I think most people don't actually understand what they're paying for when they choose one model over another, and that confusion affects their decisions.
When you come in for a 60 minute 1:1 evaluation at ROOTS, you’re not paying for an hour of our time in isolation. You're paying for the infrastructure that makes that hour possible:
the mentorship time we spend together and with clinical mentors discussing your case,
the continuing education in areas relevant to your problem,
the space, the equipment, the systems we've built to track your progress meaningfully,
the smaller caseloads we keep to prioritize bringing our fullest energy to each session…
None of that is captured in traditional insurance billing because traditional insurance billing isn’t proactive nor beneficent. It isn’t built with you in mind.
It’s built with profit margins in mind.
Insurance companies normally reimburse at a fixed rate per visit lower than you’d think and to make that financially viable, clinics need volume. They need to see more patients per day, more patients per hour.
That means shorter sessions (usually 30-45 minutes) with multiple patients in staggered appointments, overlapped sessions, and aides or assistants. One therapist might see 12-15 or more patients in a day.
In my first job, I saw 20-24 patients a day.
The insurance model requires efficiency, not depth or quality of care. In a sense, insurance reimbursement forces the hands of the clinic owners and that trickle down affects not only your session but the quality of the provider showing up to meet you there.
It’s not that these clinics or providers don’t want to do better, it’s just math. There are therapists working within those constraints who are genuinely skilled and committed. As a business owner, you’re left choosing between succumbing to the machine of it all, or carving your own path.
For us at ROOTS, we clearly chose the latter. And at every step, every choice, sacrificing quality of care is never on the table.
When you’re in a cash based clinic like ROOTS, everything is about YOU. We design your treatment around what you actually need, not around insurance overhead and approved session coverage limits. We can take time in assessment because we're not racing against a billing clock. We can do the mentorship, the team discussions, the depth of thinking that actually changes outcomes because we're not optimizing for volume but rather for individuals.
Our choice has pros and cons. Cash-based models and deeper, more specialized work are more accessible to people with money. Insurance-based models are more accessible to people without. Pricing is more than just cost, it's reflective of what's actually required to deliver the kind of care we’re dedicated to.
When making the decision of where to pursue your care, what you should actually compare is outcomes.
Have I had the same injury or pain for many years or tried treating it multiple times?
Will I not only get short but long term improvements in my pain and performance?
Will I leave the sessions and treatment plan with a deeper understanding of my body?
Do I desire the deeper touch, continuity, and support that the highest tier service will give me?
Is the investment in ROOTS worth it?
For some conditions and some people, the answer is yes. For others, insurance-based care is adequate.
The honest answer is that some problems don't require deep, long-term work.
Let me be clear, ALL BODIES benefit from that deeper work.
But if you have a simple acute issue (like an ankle sprain) and good insurance coverage, getting 12 sessions at 45 minutes with an insurance-based clinic might improve your pain for less money out of pocket.
However, if you have complex, long-standing dysfunction, if you're interested in actually understanding your body rather than just fixing acute symptoms, if you want the same provider seeing you over years and building a deep understanding of YOU and your patterns…that's where ROOTS shines.
My hope is that we see more innovation in how movement care is delivered and paid for.
I hope employers invest in preventative physiotherapy as part of wellness benefits. I hope insurance evolves to support longer sessions and ongoing maintenance rather than acute-only coverage. I hope more clinics experiment with hybrid models, sliding scales, or membership-based approaches that balance quality with accessibility.
But for now, no matter how we grow or change, our dedication is to make whatever choices keep us aligned with your best possible outcomes. That’s the investment at ROOTS
