Software for podiatrists with a cash-pay clinic

Most podiatry money that patients pay out of pocket comes from what Medicare and many plans leave out: routine nail and callus care, custom orthotics, laser treatment for nail fungus. If you run that work as a cash-only clinic, or you've opted out of Medicare, SoloWOS fits. If your practice bills insurance electronically, HIPAA covers the health information it holds, cash visits included, and patient bookings belong in your EHR.

A cash orthotics patient, step by step

1. The patient books a 30-minute "New patient visit" from your booking page or the QR code at the running store down the street, paid by card at booking. The booking form asks only the general reason ("heel pain", "nail care").
2. Your financial policy goes out for e-signature before the visit: what you charge, that you don't bill insurance for these services, and your no-show fee.
3. Send your Good Faith Estimate as a PDF through Document Tracking and see when it was opened.
4. At the visit, you recommend custom orthotics. Send a proposal with the scan or casting, the orthotics and one adjustment visit as lines, and a 50% deposit.
5. Create the deposit invoice from the accepted proposal; the patient pays by card through your Stripe account. The lab order goes in when it shows Paid.
6. When the orthotics arrive, the patient books the fitting from a single-use link, and the balance invoice goes out from the same proposal.
7. Routine care patients book a 20-minute "Nail and callus care" meeting type every 8 to 10 weeks on their own, with a reminder the day before and a rebooking link an hour after.

A typical week

• Monday: eleven routine care visits, most rebooked from last time's follow-up email.
• Tuesday: two orthotics proposals accepted. Both deposits are paid by evening and the scans go to the lab.
• Wednesday: you send a proposal to a senior living community for a monthly on-site nail care morning, and the director signs the agreement the next day.
• Thursday: a laser patient asks what the three-session package costs. You send the PDF with prices and see her read it twice.
• Friday: you log the lab invoice for the orthotics and the autoclave service in Expenses, with receipts.

All 13 tools, one by one

Scheduling, Proposals and Invoicing handle most of a cash podiatry clinic. The rest fill specific gaps.

• Link in Bio: a page with nail care, orthotics and laser prices and your booking link, for your Google profile and the running store's counter card.
• Short Links: a QR code on the counter card at the running store and the senior center flyer; clicks per code show which one brings patients.
• Forms: a request form for senior living communities and gyms that want an on-site foot care day, with resident count, dates and contact person.
• Scheduling: new-patient visit, routine nail and callus care, orthotics fitting and laser session as separate meeting types, each paid by card at booking if you want.
• Proposals: custom orthotics with the scan, device and adjustment visit as lines and a 50% deposit, and proposals to senior communities for on-site days.
• E-Signatures: the financial policy that says which services you don't bill to insurance, and agreements with facilities for on-site care.
• Document Tracking: your price sheet and Good Faith Estimate as PDFs, with a record of when patients opened them.
• Screen Recording: little use with patients. Useful for a 5-minute video for a senior community's staff on how residents sign up for your on-site day.
• Notes & Boards: a board of orthotics orders by stage (deposit paid, at the lab, ready to fit) with first name and order date only.
• Time Tracking: rarely relevant. It helps when a facility pays you by the hour for on-site mornings.
• Invoicing: deposit and balance for orthotics from the proposal, laser packages, and monthly invoices to senior communities, with card payment and reminders.
• Expenses: lab fees per pair of orthotics, laser lease, instruments, sterilization supplies and CME, with receipts.
• Automations: a reminder email 9 weeks after a routine care visit to book the next one, and a no-show email with the booking link.

Medicare and estimates

• Medicare doesn't usually cover routine foot care such as trimming nails or removing corns and calluses. It can when a condition like diabetes or peripheral arterial disease causes problems in the feet, so check each patient's situation before you treat it as self-pay.
• Medicare generally doesn't cover orthopedic shoes or other supportive devices for the feet; therapeutic shoes for people with diabetes are the exception.
• Podiatrists are among the practitioners who can opt out of Medicare. Opting out takes an affidavit filed with your Medicare contractor and a private contract with each Medicare patient. Physical therapists and chiropractors can't opt out.
• When a self-pay patient schedules care at least 3 business days ahead, the No Surprises Act requires a Good Faith Estimate within 1 business day of scheduling (within 3 business days when the visit is 10 or more business days out), and CMS expects you to tell self-pay patients about that right on your website, in the office and when they book.

HIPAA: who can use SoloWOS and for what

HIPAA applies to health care providers who send health information electronically in standard transactions, such as billing insurance. A cloud service that stores protected health information for a covered provider is a business associate and needs a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). SoloWOS doesn't sign BAAs and isn't HIPAA compliant.

• If you bill insurance electronically, you're a covered entity: don't put your patients' health information in SoloWOS. Keep using your EHR or practice-management system for anything clinical.
• If your practice is cash-pay only and never bills insurance electronically, HIPAA may not cover you, but state health-privacy laws can still apply. Ask your lawyer before you rely on that.
• Either way, keep intake forms and booking questions administrative (name, email, preferred time, reason for the visit in general terms) and leave clinical questions for the visit and your records system.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules vary by state; check yours with a lawyer or your licensing board.

SoloWOS or Acuity Scheduling: which fits

Choose Acuity if:

• Your clinic bills insurance and needs a booking tool with a signed BAA (Premium).
• Patients expect text reminders.
• You sell laser packages or gift certificates that count down.

Choose SoloWOS if:

• Your clinic is cash-only and orthotics are sold with a deposit and a balance.
• You sell on-site care to senior communities and need proposals, agreements and monthly invoices.
• You want booking, e-signatures and invoicing at one price. More detail in Acuity Scheduling vs SoloWOS.

Prices and features checked between October 17 and 23, 2026 on each company's site.

Start with these three

Scheduling with the new-patient visit and routine care types, Proposals with your orthotics package saved as a template, and E-Signatures for the financial policy. Add the routine-care reminder automation once the first patients come back.

Free tools that help

• Profit margin calculator for a pair of orthotics after the lab fee.
• Payment fee calculator for the card fee on a laser package.
• Break-even calculator to see how many laser sessions pay off the device lease.
• QR code generator for counter cards and senior center flyers.
• Self-employment tax calculator if the cash clinic is a sole proprietorship.

What SoloWOS won't do for a podiatrist

• No charts, imaging, wound measurements or surgical scheduling.
• No insurance, Medicare or DME billing.
• No product sales at checkout and no inventory, so creams and over-the-counter inserts sold at the front desk need a point-of-sale system.
• No packages that count down; a laser series is quoted and each session booked on its own.
• Reminders by email only.
• SoloWOS doesn't file taxes, issue 1099s or collect sales tax for you. Invoicing sends the invoice with a pay link (card through your Stripe account) and your other payment details; your accountant or tax software handles the rest.