PT Talker

Whether you’re feeling optimistic about the future of private practice physical therapy or concerned about what the future holds, you’ll want to take a moment to listen to this week podcast.  Tom DiAngelis, PT, DPT is the current PPS president as well as a practicing PT in the state of Washington. He recently took time to share his outlook about private practice physical therapy.  Despite the changing environment, DiAngelis states a number of private practice physical therapists have been successful at working with larger health care networks. He also stresses that niche private practice can really separate their clinic from others giving them a unique advantage in challenging market situations. Some clinics are also finding success by  operating a cash-based practice and turning away from the insurance model. Learn more about the outlook for private practice physical therapy by listening to the full podcast now.  

Providing excellent service to your patients is just one of the ways you can set yourself apart from other clinics. From the floor of the APTA CSM 2014, Dennis Bush, Senior Vice President, Consulting for Martin Healthcare Advisors healthcare executive and consultant recently shared some of his tips for providing magical service to your clients. Great service begins with something as simple as asking questions a little differently. Bush suggests instead of asking a patient if he is in pain, ask the patient to describe his pain. During the evaluation even asking a patient what their biggest fears about physical therapy are can provide a lot of information to help you truly address your patient’s needs. Learn more tips for incorporation magical service at your practice by listening to the full podcast now.

Many are surprised to discover that physical therapy is often one of the many functions that takes place at elementary and secondary schools. Today’s expert Sue Cecere, PT, MHS is a Physical Therapy Instructional Specialist at the Prince Georges County Public Schools and Vice President of the APTA Section on Pediatrics. She shares what it’s like to work as a physical therapist in an educational setting.  A unique niche of physical therapy, physical therapists working in a school setting often have an opportunity to work with children throughout their education so physical therapists really get to know the kids and see their progress over a span of years instead of just a few weeks. Instead of working in a physical therapy room, physical therapists in a school setting work with kids in their actual environment using the tools and equipment available to them. Learn more about this area of physical therapy and the outlook for pediatric physical therapy by listening to the full podcast now.

It’s difficult to predict what the true impact of the Affordable Care Act will have on physical therapy. To share his thoughts on the future of physical therapy, Josh Bailey, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS, CPed recently joined PT Talker.  Dr. Bailey is co-owner, president and CEO for Rehabilitation Associates of Central Virginia. Bailey sees physical therapists as a low cost provider with high outcomes. He believes physical therapists have to do the best job possible and be better at defining and communicating their true value.  He also encourages physical therapists to get involved at the state level and work to develop meaningful direct access for physical therapists. Learn more by listening to the full podcast now.

Physical therapy plays an important role in a variety of settings, including the performing arts. Today’s guest, Ashley Templer, DPT,OCS, MTC and certified Pilates practitioner works at Body Dynamics, Inc. and provides physical therapy services to the Washington Ballet. A former student dancer at the Washington School of Ballet, working as a physical therapist gives her the opportunity to combine her dance experience with physical therapy. Like many athletes, she notes that much of the knee and foot injuries dancers experience are caused by some issues up the chain.  Learn more about how she got involved with working as a physical therapist in the performing arts setting by listening to the full podcast now.

Is now the right time to sell your practice?  What information should you have ready in the event you receive a phone call from someone interested in buying your practice? This week’s guest, Paul Martin, MPT, CBI, M&AMI, Martin Healthcare Advisors (MHA) founder and president outlines some of the considerations you need to make before deciding to sell your business. Martin indicates that now is a good time to sell your practice as there are several parties interested in acquiring successful physical therapy clinics. Learn the information you should be prepared to share, how to determine the best offer for your business and the process you should follow when selling your business by listening to full podcast now.

In the United States, over 14 million people suffer from some form of coronary artery disease, including congestive heart failure and millions more suffer from pulmonary conditions. Cardiac physical therapy helps individuals overcome some of the limitations patients suffer due to their cardiac or pulmonary conditions. This week’s expert Komal Deokule, PT, MSc PT, CCS, MCSP, MPNZ, MIAP and owner of Vital Physical Therapy shares how her clinic caters to the special needs of cardiac and pulmonary patients. In her niche practice, Deokule customizes exercise programs to meet the unique situation of every patient. Other conditions such as diabetes, balance issues, and muscular skeletal conditions are also taking into consideration. Learn more about what cardiac physical therapy is and how you can learn more about this type of physical therapy by listening to the full podcast now.

There are hundreds of apps out there for physical therapists.  But how do you know which apps are the best for your clinic?  This week’s expert, Dr. Ben Hando, shares details about a free peer-review medical app site called Medical App Journal. Embracing a similar approach as peer-reviewed journals, Medical App Journal provides peer reviews of apps. Their aim is to provide a complete comprehensive database of unbiased reviews by medical professionals who use the apps on a daily basis in their clinical practice.  Learn more about this free resource by listening the full podcast now.

Ever wonder how you can demonstrate value to your patients consistently?  Or truly understand what patients are saying about your clinic? Today’s expert, Scott Hebert, PT, DPT, CEO and Co-Founder of TheraVid, Inc. shares details on the ways a patient management system can help your clinic demonstrate value to your patients. A patient management platform built specifically for physical therapy, TheraVid combines home exercise videos with a variety of data collection tools to help physical therapists discover how often patients log on to do exercises, overall customer satisfaction and even how often patients are sharing details about their physical therapy experience on social media. Listen to the full podcast now to learn more and find out how you can be a part of the beta test for this new patient management software.  

From time to time, an article appears highlighting a patient’s negative experience with physical therapy. Recently, a Washington Post article highlighted a costly, unsatisfactory physical therapy experience. This week’s expert, Ann Wendel, PT, ATC, CMTPT owner of PranaPT addressed this situation in her blog and shares some tips on how physical therapists can avoid this scenario. To truly understand things from a patient’s perspective, Wendel refers to something she learned in her Pain Sciences course work “the pain is where the patient says it is, when they say it is, and it is as bad as they say it is, because it is THEIR pain.” She states this is critical to really understand the situation from a patient’s perspective and helps a therapist become a partner in their treatment.  Listen to the full podcast now to learn why it’s important for physical therapists to explain what the treatment plan is and why certain treatment techniques are being done to help patients understand the true value of physical.

Electronic medical record (EMR) systems provide physical therapists with the ability to access a patient’s complete medical record. But these, systems can offer much more than easy access to patient’s treatments, procedures and prescriptions.  EMR systems can help streamline billing, marketing efforts and more. Today’s expert, Nitin Chhoda PT, DPT and author of “Physical Therapy Marketing For The New Economy” and “Marketing for Physical Therapy Clinics” shares details about an EMR option for physical therapists. The In Touch EMR system streamlines medical records and also allows home exercise programs to be created. Physical therapists have the ability to create their own document templates. The system works with voice recognition and helps simplify Medicaid compliance.  The flow sheet gets mirrored in the plan of care and makes sure the billing information is documented correctly. Learn more about the marketing options and other features of this EMR system by listening to the full podcast now.

One of the challenges physical therapists often face is getting patients to comply with their treatment plans. To help ensure patients are doing exercises correctly and to improve home exercise compliance, Mike Roberts MPT, CSCS and owner of Central Mass Physical Therapy and Wellness is using a HIPAA-Compliant app by Postwire Health. The app makes it easy to capture and share videos with patients. Since using the application, his practice has been able to get more out of each patient visit. The clinic can monitor how often the videos have been viewed and use that data to evaluate patient treatment plans. Find out why he’s calling this app a game changer by listening to the full podcast now.

Have you thought about selling your physical therapy practice? Today’s guest, Paul Martin, MPT, CBI, M&AMI, Martin Healthcare Advisors (MHA) founder and president shares details about what physical therapists should and shouldn’t do when planning to sell their business. This issue and others are addressed in his recently released book called The Ultimate Success Guide: The World’s Leading Experts Reveal Their Secrets for Success in Business and in Life.  He shares why it’s critical for physical therapists to take time to properly prepare for selling the business, the importance of a solid business evaluation and how they can get the most money for their business.  Learn more by listening to the full podcast now.  

According to the National Institutes of Health in 2008 an estimated 14.8 percent of American adults (33.4 million) had a balance or dizziness problem. Today’s expert, Duane Anderson, Director of Sales for Medfit Systems, joins us to discuss using technology to test balance issues,. As the population continues to get older the demand for balance treatment has increased. More physical therapists are using balance equipment like the MedFit Systems KoreBalance Equipment to simplify balance training and assessment.  A computerized balance system gives you a definitive measurement versus a subjective measurement providing therapists with more accurate in results to best address the needs of the patients. . It also helps define the area that is the weakness that may be causing the balance issues.  Testing protocols really allow physical therapists to hone on specific areas to help combat balance weaknesses. Discover how physical therapists are using this technology to market their clinic and build their client base by listening to the full podcast now    

Most runners experience some type of injury in their lifetime. This week’s expert, Bruce R. Wilk PT, OCS specializes in running injuries and has developed a new treatment program that shows runners how to fix their own injuries and become a stronger and healthier runner. Author of The Running Injury Recovery Program, Wilk shares details about a recovery program that runners can use to treat their own injuries and become a better runner. He follows very specific guidelines and protocols when working with runners. Learn more about how physical therapists can best meet the needs of runners by listening to the full podcast now.