For Employers Speech Pathologists Build a Profitable Niche in 'Accent Reduction' by Megan Malugani Weary of Medicare cutbacks and managed care policies that have dealt a major blow to their profession in recent years, a growing number of speech pathologists have begun catering to clients whose needs are professional rather than medical. Speech pathologists are reinventing themselves and looking for new areas and market niches.
Some individuals seek out and pay for speech therapy on their own.
In other cases, employers encourage employees to undergo speech therapy and foot the bill. Corporations realize that clear, efficient communication translates into a better bottom line, speech pathologists say. In business, time is money. Individuals who pay for accent modification themselves do so for a variety of reasons, Vuyt adds. For example, a Peruvian ophthalmologist who came to the U.S. needed to complete a residency in this country before she could practice here.