PT Pintcast - Physical Therapy

Telehealth in rehab therapy: How it can be leveraged for patient care and why PT's should use this opportunity to advocate for permanent telehealth coverage expansion. What PT's need to know regarding billing etc. It's all a moving target right now.

Business continuity: What PT's need to know to keep their businesses running during times of uncertainty and hardship, including patient communications, employee support, company culture/morale and more.

Links from WEB PT:

https://www.webpt.com/resources/webinars/telehealth-and-continuity-strategies-for-pts-ots-and-slps-during-crisis/?utm_medium=web&utm_source=blog&utm_content=slider_ad_webinar_telehealth_and_continuity&utm_campaign=blog

Congenital Muscular Torticollis (CMT) is a postural abnormality affecting 4-16% of infants.  Shortening of the sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM) on one side of the neck causes the infant to tilt their head toward and rotate their head away from the tight side.

Download free study guides from Aureus Medical Staffing here: https://www.aureusmedical.com/nptestudycast.aspx

Megan Moran is a Physical Therapist and Assistant Professor at Marymount University.

Megan shares how she used Clifton StrengthsFinders in DPT education to test if grouping students by various strengths could make them more productive in school, at work, or in their personal lives.

CliftonStrengths is an assessment tool used across different industries to inform individuals of their personal strengths or talents.  Individuals are encouraged to leverage their strengths to make them more productive at work or in their personal lives.  At MU, we are introducing this to students as they enter the program with hopes they will continue to use their talents throughout their graduate education and as they enter the profession.

The assessment is easily available online, for a minimal fee.  Individuals can gain insight as to why they gravitate to certain tasks at work, or why they work well with others.  Knowing one's strength can help an individual choose roles where they will thrive.

* Know your strengths and how others might view the strengths* Don't spend most of your time focusing on your weaknesses* Learn the strengths of those you work with and discuss how your team can best achieve goals

Jerry Durham is a Physical therapist who learned that PATIENT SUCCESS comes from studying successful businesses and implementing what they have done in a "CUSTOMER FIRST" Culture!!

He has a company called The Client Experience Experience Company that works with multi site practices and practice managers.

He's a Physical Therapist of 25 years who has grown tired of my profession and healthcare NOT truly focusing on our clients, customers and patients!!  Im not afraid to share whats best and not afraid to speak my mind and call out the profession for its many times backwards approach.

 learned from my stack of books, my Business mentors, Entrepreneur Organization AND then doing, doing.

BUSINESS SUCCESS COMES FROM ONE PLACE ONLY..... client and patient success

Your client is on a journey and the better YOU understand that in your business, the MORE successful your clients will be and ultimately the MORE successful YOUR business will be!!

Your Front Desk being the hidden gem in a practice.... the most undervalued, misunderstood and poorly leveraged part of your biz!!

here is an ULTIMATE biz and patient metric that ALL should measure... knowing this 1 metric will tell you more about the HEALTH of your business than any other metric  (completed plans of care)

Your biz culture is defined by your clients journey in your business

THE FUTURE IS NOW....... people are paying more today for our services, people are expecting physio and healthcare to deliver an experience similar to other industries

People are growing tired of ALL the friction points that healthcare and physio put up AND they are willing to pay for LESS friction!!

* PEOPLE PAYING MORE.... (regardless of in or out of network)* People are willing to pay for an experience that has less friction* People ARE expecting better experiences from physio and healthcare

Zach Gabor runs The Level up Initiative an online educational company focusing on freemium mentorship focusing on critical thinking and communication skills.

Zak Gabor is a practicing PT for Boston PT and Wellness, and is also the founder of The Level Up Initiative, an online educational platform that focuses on improving student and new graduates critical thinking and communication skills. Their premier product is a "Freemium" mentorship that runs twice a year, and has around 400 enrollees per cohort! Visit thelevelupinitiative.com for more details.

* - Using a free mentorship platform as a trojan horse for academic reform* - The importance of critical thinking and intellectual humility as core values of the healthcare industry* - How strong critical thinking and communication skills translate into truly effective clinical practice

1. The elephant in the room - academic reform. We all know the boards are teaching to outdated concepts, we all know we need to do better. But it is not so simple to restructure deeply rooted academic tradition. How can we move the needle forward in a collaborative, constructive, and meaningful way? We have some ideas...

2. Critical thinking and intellectual humility as a key core value for the healthcare industry. Unfortunately, our own cognitive inflexibility has in part contributed to the current healthcare mess we are in. We hold ideas and even if those ideas are challenged with robust evidence, we have been un able to let go of deeply rooted dogmas despite the evidence it can have a negative impact on healthcare delivery. How do we truly practice intellectual humility?

3. How does critical thinking and communication translate into clinical excellence? Well I will put it simply. A truly effective clinician should be able to truly listen, connect, and synthesize information to create an informed plan of care. If you are up to date with your clinical understandings and frameworks, and pair that with a strong ability to influence and inspire your patients to take action...well, that's powerful, and pretty much all you need. And will also set you up to be a BEAST with telehealth. I would ask the question: do we really NEED manual therapy as our premier service we provide? 

These speak to pain points that a lot of students and new grads feel but don't always openly discuss because it is taboo to speak up against deeply rooted institutions and beliefs.

* It can transform healthcare* It can decrease clinician burn out.* It can set up to be successful and more flexible in the future when things change.

CEO and Founder (2010) of Concierge Physical Therapists.

The state of the industry. Cash practices. Social media influence on those trying to start cash practices. The future of PT as a profession.

Challenges and rewards of owning and operating a cash based practice. Issues with the seemingly endless pop ups of new cash practices. How the profession is positioned within the healthcare space.

* PTs thinking of starting a business would benefit.* Owning a healthcare business it TOUGH* Social media outlets are selling their “cash based plans” and making it easier than it seems* Good outcomes don’t always come from good therapies

After being diagnosed with Stage II cancer in his last year of PT school, Scott Capozza initially wanted nothing to do with cancer care professionally.  However, he’s come to learn that the best way he can give back to the cancer community is by helping fellow cancer survivors.  Through rehab and individually tailored exercise programs, cancer patients and long term survivors can overcome many of the physical side effects caused by treatment.

* What is a cancer survivor* What are some common side effects from treatment * How can rehab and exercise help cancer patients better deal with side effects (in prehab, during treatment, and in long term survivorship)* How PTs interested in oncology rehab can get more involved 

Side effects from cancer treatments are well documented and wide spread.  Early rehab intervention (prehab, during treatment) helps limit potential side effects while giving the cancer patient some sense of control of their health.  Survivors also require rehab following completion of treatment to safely exercise and screen for long term side effects like balance issues, muscle weakness and lymphedema.

There will be an estimated 17 million cancer survivors in the US in 2020.  No matter what setting you practice PT in, you will encounter a cancer survivor and you need to be prepared to treat them safely and effectively

* Cancer survivors experience many physical short and long term side effects from life-saving treatment.* Physical therapists can address many of these side effects throughout the cancer trajectory* Physical therapist should actively advocate for increased access to rehab for all cancer patients and long term survivors

We talk to Trent Harrison who's the Residency Coordinator at Brooks IHL and the Creator of an Online Education Platform, PhysioNexus.

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/tcharrisondpt

Our Guest

Trent is an Orthopaedic Certified specialist & fellow of AAOMPT.  An Orthopaedic residency coordinator for Brooks Rehab for over 5 years.  Self-taught web designer & video editor all for the purpose of creating a new online community hub for Physical Therapy education & collaboration.  

Very much into the concept of culture development.  Was an anthropology major, spent first career overseas in Japan as an English Teacher/Bartender studying Japanese intensively at Waseda University.  Came back to pursue a career in Healthcare.  Has been on both the membership committees of Academy of Orthopaedic Therapy (APTA) & AAOMPT (was also the chair of the Membership & media relations committee).  This all highlighted the need for increased educational cultural development outside of the typical social media platforms.

We talk about:

How people currently approach learning subjects or topics.  How people currently discuss cases and try to work with their colleagues on learning information.  How most of this does not involve a roadmap, reflection, or mentorship.  How Physionexus is hoping to tap into those things.  Also how important mentorship and reflection are and that’s in essence what Residency truly is about.

Current Education practices -> memorize, cram, piecemeal, reactionary.  Best methods -> scope topics, chunk information, space repetition, interleaving of topics, REFLECTION!  People are just doing it wrong, and most of it is habit.  Need to tap into habit forming concepts for the good of the profession.

Takeaway points:

Proper learning techniques will foster improved overall understanding of the profession.  Hopefully it begins to decrease practice variance.  I created Physionexus to try and improve outcome tracking, decrease practice variance, have a supportive nurturing location for conversation that would in turn act as a repository of information for others to learn off of. In addition to all of that utilizing educational tracks with proper education techniques to then improve our knowledge base.

* Current education techniques are poor habits that feel good, but aren’t storing information* Current online educational hubs involve expense lecture based tracts that dont help with reflection & implementation* Current social media & community usually is fleeting, meaning that information isn’t stored for others, and it usually can be way too polarizing.

Anang Chokshi is a physical therapist who left traditional care to help start a digital healthcare company in San Diego over 7 years ago, Reflexion Health.

As their Chief Clinical Officer he has been able to use his clinical background to build an organization that is using sensor technology and telemedicine to deliver care that is convenient for patients while providing clinicians greater insight into the recovery process.

We talked about why we should be embracing telehealth and technology into our practice in the future.

* Translating telehealth research into practical application of telehealth* How to use telehealth in today's healthcare beyond the B2C model* Telehealth doesn't mean less care* Telehealth still uses your greatest skill as a clinician, observation and clinical reasoning/decision making  

This is important because if physical therapy doesn't embrace telehealth, there will be companies that offer pseudo therapy to our patients.

We covered:

Understanding the opportunitiesPatient centric and focused careUnderstanding the legalities of your PT state board

Connect with Anang:Twitter: @AnangChokshiDPTInstagram: @AnangChokshi

We were lucky enough to be present to hear these two ladies deliver inspiring TED-like talks at the Tri-State PT conference in Las Vegas.

Megan Fisher

Megan Fisher a Paralympic gold, silver, and bronze medalist from the Rio 2016 and London 2012 Games, a ten-time world champion, and retired member of Team USA.

Her road to success has not been easy. At 19 years old she was involved in a tragic car accident that nearly killed her; leaving her in a coma and stealing the lower half of her left leg.

After the accident, Meg fought to overcome relatively simple challenges, like eating, standing, and relearning how to walk.  Incredibly, less than a year after the loss of her leg, Meg returned to college and finished her first triathlon.  That one race proved to her that she could overcome any obstacle.

Meg continues to explore her own physical boundaries.  She uses these experiences to inspire and motivate as well as to raise awareness for a wide variety of causes and organizations.

Today, she works as a Doctor of Physical Therapy, athletic performance coach, motivational speaker, and is in hot pursuit of other opportunities that demonstrate the capacity of the human body and spirit.   

Amanda Boxtel.

On February 27th, 1992 a freak skiing accident rendered Amanda a paraplegic. On that fateful day, at the age of 24, Amanda’s life took a dramatic turn and her dance on wheels began. It happened in a split second while downhill skiing – she somersaulted, an electric current ricocheted through her legs, and instantly she knew she was paralyzed. Since sustaining a permanent spinal cord injury, Amanda has become a strong advocate for people with disabilities and has been involved in community and outreach projects that aim to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities.

Amanda presents from her bionic exoskeleton suit, walking across the stage and demonstrating to her audiences the power of bionic technology. She is a passionate and dynamic motivational speaker who captivates her audiences with her stories, weaves in the valuable lessons she has learned along the way, and warms their hearts with laughter and compassion. She focuses her energy to present fresh material in a polished style. She has been featured as a speaker at numerous conferences and venues including TED2011, TEDx San Antonio, TEDxDU, TEDxSF, The Aspen Ideas Festival, 20th Century Fox Studios, Aspen Brain Forum, and Singularity University’s European Summit.

Amanda’s overall message is one of never giving up in pursuit of the best quality of life possible. From her life experiences, she has a greater sense of healing and that transformation occurs from within. She believes in the divine connectedness to all things and she aspires to help make the world a better place for future generations.

Amanda currently serves as Executive Director for Bridging Bionics Foundation, which aims to bridge human mobility with exoskeletons and bionic technology. In her spare time she enjoys writing, painting and drawing. She lives near Aspen in Basalt, Colorado.

To support our show, support our sponsors:

* Aureus Medical Staffing #TravelPT: www.AureusMedical.com * Academy of Orthopedic Physical Therapists Annual Meeting: https://www.orthopt.org/content/education/annual-orthopaedic-meeting Academy of Orthopedic Physical Therapists:...