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By Jimmy McKay, PT, DPT | Physical Therapy Podcast
4.8
193193 ratings
The podcast currently has 1,715 episodes available.
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Why do physical therapy clinics feel broken even when everyone seems to be working harder? On this episode of PT Breakfast Club, Jimmy McKay, Tony Maritato, and Dave Kittle dig into physical therapist hiring, clinician recruitment, clinic marketing, reimbursement, RTM, AI-driven efficiency, and the economics of running a PT practice. The conversation starts with a simple hiring problem: most clinics are competing for the same physical therapists using the same job boards, the same bonuses, and the same messaging. If every clinic is fishing in the same pond, is doing more of the same actually a strategy? Then the conversation turns to marketing, attention, trust, and why a local pancake shop may understand brand building better than most healthcare organizations. Finally, the guys explore a bigger question for physical therapy: when technology makes care more efficient and less expensive to deliver, who actually captures that value? The clinician? The clinic? The patient? Or the payer? Topics include: • Physical therapist hiring and recruitment • PT clinic staffing challenges • Physical therapy job marketing • Clinician retention and hiring strategy • RTM and remote therapeutic monitoring • CMS and physical therapy reimbursement • AI and healthcare efficiency • Private practice physical therapy • PT clinic marketing • The economics of physical therapy practice The big takeaway: you may not need more applicants, more marketing, or more of the same strategy. You may need to play a different game.

Can cash-pay physical therapy clinics sell packages? In this episode of PT Breakfast Club, Tony Maritato, Dave Kittle, and Jimmy McKay react to recent discussion around state PT boards in North Carolina and Texas questioning whether cash-based, self-pay, or direct-pay physical therapy clinics can sell discounted treatment packages or collect payment for services that have not yet been delivered. The crew breaks down the tension between consumer protection and business reality. Are these rules protecting patients, or are they limiting access, punishing business innovation, and forcing clinics into awkward workarounds? Jimmy clarifies the difference between APTA chapters and state boards, while Tony and Dave talk through what this could mean for practice owners, patients, cash flow, refunds, accountability, retainers, memberships, and episode-of-care models. Then the episode shifts into a six-pack referral draft: who should PT clinics build relationships with besides the obvious physician offices? The picks include personal injury attorneys, youth sports coaches, private-pay nursing companies, gym owners and group fitness communities, wheelchair and medical equipment companies, and massage therapists. The crew closes by coming back to physicians with a better approach: stop leading with your credentials and start removing problems from their day. The takeaway: whether you are selling cash-pay care or building referral relationships, the real work is understanding incentives, trust, risk, and the person on the other side of the transaction.

What matters more in a physical therapy hire: clinical skill, reliability, values, or fit? In this episode of PT Breakfast Club, Dave Kittle and Tony Maritato talk through the uncomfortable parts of hiring that rarely make it into job descriptions. Tony starts with a question every clinic owner eventually faces: what do you do with someone who is great with patients, but unreliable? Dave shares his interview process, including phone screens, Zoom calls, in-person skills assessments, reference checks, and the small behavioral details that can reveal whether a candidate is actually serious. The conversation centers on one memorable example: a candidate who took a scheduled interview call while driving. For Dave, that was the end of the road. Not because the person was evil, but because the moment revealed something about attention, preparation, and how seriously they treated the opportunity. Tony and Dave also explore whether employers should clearly spell out expectations or leave some things unsaid to see what a candidate does naturally. They talk about new grads versus experienced hires, hiring for core values, ambition alignment, long-term fit, and why one person can either elevate a clinic or quietly disrupt everything. Then the episode turns toward outpatient ortho and the future of physical therapy. Dave brings up a LinkedIn post from an orthopedic surgeon who says he prescribes less formal PT than he did 10 years ago. Tony responds with a bigger question: what if some routine outpatient ortho care is not the best use of insurance dollars? That leads to a spicy conversation about joint replacements, bundled payments, home exercise programs, AI, cash pay, private practice, premium models, scalable healthcare, Equinox, Planet Fitness, and where PT might be headed next. This episode features Dave Kittle and Tony Maritato.

John Gallucci, CEO of JAG Physical Therapy, joins PT Pintcast for a conversation about business, failure, community, mentorship, branding, and building a physical therapy company that lasts. John traces his story back to Brooklyn, Staten Island, and his family’s surgical supply business. When consolidation took away his father’s hospital contracts, the family lost the business and the home John grew up in. That experience became one of his defining lessons: you are never smarter than the curve. Understand it, adapt to it, and do not assume history will protect you. He also shares how he found physical therapy at 13, how mentors shaped his career, and how JAG Physical Therapy grew from one clinic into 155 community-based clinics. For John, the number matters less than the model: every clinic has to be ingrained in its own community. The episode also covers The JAG Method, his books on soccer and baseball injury prevention, why the company name came from his initials, how opening the second clinic was driven by not wanting to lose a great clinician, and what a one-on-one conversation with Gene Simmons taught him about branding, audience, marketing, and entrepreneurship. John’s parting shot is simple: never take no for an answer. If you want it, go get it. If you get knocked down, get back up. You only go through once. Jag Physical Therapy John Gallucci Jr.

This episode of PT Breakfast Club starts with Jimmy McKay reporting from Prompt HQ after a trip to Portland for APTA’s Payment Summit and House of Delegates. Jimmy explains how he got in trouble for live tweeting the House of Delegates, why he likes the word “payment” more than “reimbursement,” and what it felt like watching the profession debate policy language in real time. Dave Kittle pushes hard on the bigger question: has payment advocacy actually moved the needle for physical therapy? If insurance companies and Medicare are not meaningfully increasing payment, should more PTs stop waiting and build direct-to-consumer cash-pay offers? Tony Maritato adds the counterpoint: maybe some advocacy success is measured by slowing the decline, not producing giant wins. Then the show turns into a business strategy clinic thanks to Grandpa the Mailbox Guy. For $320, he solves the whole mailbox problem. No hourly rate. No overexplaining. No “here are the 17 steps.” Just a clear result at a clear price. The crew applies that lesson to PT, including grab bar installation, home safety consults, cash-pay evaluations, AI content ideas, therapist recruiting, viral video formats, and what practices should do when a clinician calls out sick. The takeaway: keep it stunningly simple. The customer does not want your process. They want the problem solved.
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