INNOVATION, The Next Growth Accelerant
This week we are introducing our new series that offers examples of how innovations that are already being tested by top companies in our industry can keep you growing, despite the current staffing crisis at all levels.
Full transcript
Generated from the episode audio and lightly edited for readability.
Good afternoon and welcome to another episode of Paul Martin's Crucial Conversations. Today we're real excited. We are kicking off a new series and I wanted to introduce to you what we're going to be covering in our new series. Our new series is called Physical Therapy Innovation. And what we're going to be doing over the next few weeks is we are going to be interviewing some of the pioneers in our industry who are driving innovation. The focus is going to be approaches as well as technologies that are literally transforming the physical therapy industry today.
You know, we see innovation as a growth accelerant and given as you saw in our deli analysis, acquirers are looking for companies who can grow both internally as well as externally. And so where are we seeing innovation driving growth in physical therapy companies today? What are some of those solutions and who are the folks that are driving them? We're going to focus on targeting innovation areas that are based on some of the biggest challenges that we have in the PT industry today. And we're going to take those challenges one by one and then introduce you to folks out there, pioneers out there who are driving innovation in these areas in order to really just get through these challenges.
Well, let's talk about some of those challenges. And first and foremost, it's staffing. And and we know and as in regards to staffing, it comes down to recruitment and retention. We're going to be interviewing folks that will be able to show you in a recruitment mode how you can do more and be more efficient in the recruiting that you're doing. In addition, in terms of retention, utilizing innovation for focused training programs as well as strategies to improve communication at every level of your company. And as we know, communication is absolutely key as it relates to retention of your professional staff as well as your ancillary staff.
We're really going to be focusing on the needs of the current professionals in the industry. As you know, this is a young group of professionals and their needs are somewhat different than ours may have been 20, 30 years ago when we were working in the clinic as staff physical therapists. Very much of a focus today on work life balance. And so what we're going to be doing is talking to folks that are developing technology that can actually assist your therapist to have a better work life balance.
Not taking notes home over the weekend and getting them all done during the day and being able to see more patients at the same time. You know, another big piece of staff is strengthening educational ties. When we talk to companies that have relationships with physical therapy schools, they are always better staffed than those that do not. So, how can we enhance those relationships with physical therapy schools in and around our market? And are there innovative ways to develop enha and enhance these partnerships, drive more student affiliations, and create for you teaching and mentoring opportunities at these institutions.
Now, I said for you, but for you as well as your professional staff, you know, many times it seems as though we're making it up to the owner for these educational ties, but companies that are using their staff, especially staff that have gone to these institutions to reach out and make those connections are having far better success recruiting than those that do not. You know, a big piece of conversation at the private practice section meeting were the Medicare cuts. And so, how do we create some balance here?
Well, efficiency is going to be more important than ever to balance the Medicare cut. And what we're going to be doing is talking to folks who are going to provide to you strategies that you can maintain and even improve your margins through these cuts. My question for you is, are you willing to take a cut in your margins based on these Medicare cuts that are taking place? In order not to, we're going to have to develop some innovative care models that based on the values that you have as well as your therapists are going to give the same clinical result and sometimes even better.
Another big piece of this is going to be scheduling and productivity. How can we optimize our schedule? Are there some revolution revolutionary solutions out there that can in better enable us to optimize our schedule? And we're going to leverage technology in order to enhance and make more efficient schedules that we have in our offices. And we're going to talk to folks who are doing this right now. And then finally, external growth. How can technology innovation accelerate your business growth? How can it enable you to do a startup clinic this year or maybe even two?
How can it drive you to maybe your first acquisition or potentially multiple acquisitions? Innovation can help to drive these things and it is helping companies right now. And we're going to be talking to the folks who are doing it. You know, one of the big pieces of conversation that we are having over and over again is valuebased reimbursement based on valuebased care. Well, to put ourselves in the best position to do this, we are going to have to prove our services value is absolutely crucial to getting to that endgame of better reimbursement for the services that we're providing.
So, how do we substantiate that service value? And how can technology help us to substantiate the value of physical therapy to our patients? And more than ever, we need to prepare for these shifts, these shifts to potentially valuebased reimbursement. And we're going to be talking to industry leaders who are currently prepare preparing for this inevitable shift. You know, I think for yourself, for me, and certainly for your staff, we need to embrace this innovative change. Sticking to old methods is just no longer viable. We need to embrace new innovative approaches.
Change is not just necessary, it will be mandatory for you to keep up. And so, tune in. We are going to be interviewing pioneers in this industry that will provide you knowledge and most importantly inspiration on how to use some of the new technologies that are out there in order to drive your business forward. I appreciate you spending the time with me today. If you have any questions on what I discussed today or you have an idea out there that you think is new that you would like to share on our show, just click below and let's talk. Thanks and have a great day.
Want to talk about your own business?
Marlton, NJ 08053