PT Talker

A brand as defined by the American Marketing Association is a “name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers.” Today’s expert, Dr. Ben Fung is a physical therapist that also helps physical therapy clinics develop a strong brand.

Branding is more than a logo. It’s the way individuals relate to your clinic. He encourages physical therapists to take time to identify who their major market segment and use that information to develop a brand that resonates with the hearts and minds of current and potential customers. Learn more by listening to the full podcast now.

We’ve had a few podcasts focused on the importance of providing outstanding customer service. This week’s podcast features a tool designed to help you do just that. James Lomuscio, CEO & Co-founder of Hability, a patient relationship management system shares how the system helps you improve customer communication, engagement and retention.

 Hability was designed to help improve patient care outside the clinic. It simplifies follow-up, reduces missed appointments and helps create a lifelong loyal customer. John Bonaroti, PT,ATC and Director of ESSMC is using the system and has found it to be useful as a patient management and engagement tool.  The system allows them to send a text message to patients as a reminder for an appointment, answer questions, follow up after treatment is complete and more.  Learn more by listening to the full podcast now.

Words matter. That’s why today’s guest advocates for using the term consumer over patient when referring to clients at your clinic. In his second podcast with PT Talker,   Jerry Durham, PT, Principal of San Francisco Sport and Spine Physical Therapy,  shares why customer service is so important at your clinic.

He stresses that consumers have a choice. A patient is someone who comes to a clinic with symptoms that can be addressed and once addressed a physical therapist may never have the opportunity to work with that individual again. Durham feels referring to individuals as customers instead of patients implies that the clinic is building a long-term relationship with every individual they work with and encourages physical therapists to find ways to stay engaged even after the initial problem is addressed.

Discover how his clinic provides a “no surprises” approach and how his dedicated customer support staff delivers results by listening to the full podcast now.

It’s a great time to be a physical therapist. Despite lower reimbursement rates faced by many physical therapists, today’s expert,  Jerry Durham, PT, Principal of San Francisco Sport and Spine Physical Therapy,  shares why he he’s so excited about the future of physical therapy in the first of two podcasts.

His clinic is currently in the process of operating out of network and he has found greater success in doing so with higher average revenues per visit than ever.  And despite the uncertainty associated with the Affordable Care Act, he believes physical therapists are in a great position to share why physical therapy may be the best option for some individuals. Learn how he uses social media to foster communication and why he believes a customer focused practice is critical to his success.

In a constantly changing environment, physical therapists are looking at new ways to increase their practice. Today’s expert shares his solution to surviving in a challenging physical therapy climate. Russ Certo, PT and owner of Grand Island Physical Therapy founded the medically oriented gym (MOG) by combining a medically focused fitness center with his private physical therapy practice.  

The MOG concept became a survival technique for Certo’s clinic which had an average reimbursement of only $47 a visit.  To provide the most benefit to his customers, he only hires medical personnel with an interest in fitness.  By adding the MOG, he increased his referral based practice by 22 percent in the first year and has continued that volume over the years.  Learn more about the cost savings and positive outcomes a MOG provides by listening the full podcast now.

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.