It’s a fine line between editor and stalker. Thanks to the Internet, I can be a bit of both. The worldwide web provides the ideal vehicle to lurk among chat groups and catch the latest flames thrown by therapists at insurance companies and each other. One of my favorite haunts is the Cash Based Physical Therapy Group on LinkedIn. This is a virtual locale all survival-minded PTs should visit after they read two articles in this issue that introduce ideas for new revenue streams.
One of these articles is authored by Jerry Durham, PT, a member of the Cash Based Physical Therapy Group and a clinic co-owner. In this feature, Durham challenges PTs to think differently about an asset they may already own: practice-management software. Durham details how a clinic can capture revenue from overlooked customer service opportunities by understanding how to apply certain software features. The linchpin of his approach? Practice according to the philosophy that the physical therapy experience is about the patient, always.
Read Durham’s article and understand why you may not know as much as you think you do about how to assign responsibilities among clinical and nonclinical staff. To get a sense for Durham’s line of thinking, ask yourself how important your front desk staff is in the life cycle of the patient—on a scale of 1 to 10. Then find out how Durham ranks this position, and why.
Another must-read in this issue is the feature on page 14. This article was hand-picked for this issue and written by Robert Babb, who is a PT and an MBA, which means he can fix a body as well as he can fix a business. Babb’s article reveals the answer to an intriguing question: What happens when therapists genetically alter and resurrect the long-extinct house call?
Babb offers a five-step approach to developing a successful house call program. The article details a framework that physical therapy clinics can use to offer house call services, thereby creating a win on three levels. On the first level, and perhaps most critical, house calls allow vital therapy services to be delivered to a population that may otherwise not be able to access them. Secondly, a house call program offers practices a competitive edge. And third, Babb demonstrates how house call services can perform as a profit center.
There is little argument that the business climate for therapy practices is tough. It seems to me, however, that there are plenty of therapists willing to innovate as a way to assure the success of their own businesses. The profession, I believe, is pretty much “over” looking to Washington, DC, for a lifeline. There seems to be plenty of savvy among the profession for those who are willing to find the answers for healing their businesses from within.
—Frank Long, editorial director, Rehab Management