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What’s wrong with healthcare and how do we fix it?
Every now and then, a video or story comes across my feed that peaks my interest. This past week, two videos came across my feed, one from Will Humphreys and a response from Anthony Maritato. The topic of the videos was “how do we save physical therapy?” Naturally, being an occupational therapist, owning a physical therapy clinic, and consulting with a lot of private PT/OT clinic owners, I quickly clicked on both of those videos and watched them. You can click the links below to find the original videos, but here’s the summary: Will sent out an impassioned plea to his physical therapy colleagues to figure out how to fight back against this system that is systematically squeezing clinicians to the point of burnout and attrition. He uses the example of United Healthcare and their reimbursement rate for PT/OT (like $65 per visit), and laments that we, as a profession, don’t know how to fight back. Tony, in his reply said that he isn’t really concerned about that because he views trying to fight insurance companies from pennies on the dollar just plays into a broken business model for healthcare service delivery. He thinks that clinicians need to innovate their way out of this problem.
In this episode, I provide some thoughts on the original video and expand a bit on the idea of innovating our way out of this problem. As I mention in my book Better Outcomes: A Guide to Humanizing Healthcare, the real value that clinicians bring to the table is our minds. Knowledge translation is our real superpower, not so much our technical skills or hands-on treatment techniques (though those can be helpful). We take our vast knowledge and expertise and bring those insights to bear on a patient or client’s specific situation. That’s what makes us valuable. So the question, in my mind, isn’t “How do we get third-party payers to pay us more for the time we spend with our patients?” Instead, we need to ask “How can we more effectively reach a larger number of people and share our knowledge in a valuable way”; put another way: “how do we effectively monetize our clinical expertise?”
What we cover in this Episode:
- How the High Volume healthcare business model leads to burnout
- Why most clinician’s thought on Business Development revolves around this idea of fee-for-service or quantity-based healthcare
- The dehumanizing effect of this high-volume healthcare environment
- Knowledge Translation and the role it plays in value creation
- Building resilient healthcare business through revenue diversification
- Achieving Better Outcomes through innovation
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Links to Original Videos
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If you enjoyed this episode: Join Rafael E. Salazar II, MHS, OTR/L (Rafi), principal of Rehab U Practice Solutions and host of The Better Outcomes Show as he explores the possibilities of a new healthcare. Guests range from clinicians trying new techniques and treatments to executives and entrepreneurs exploring new service delivery methods, business models, and organizational structures. You can sign-up to receive new episodes delivered directly to your inbox by filling out the form below. Â Learn more about Rehab U Practice Solutions by reading The Manifesto for a New Healthcare, or listen to Episode 000. Or, grab a copy of the book:Â Better Outcomes: A Guide to Humanizing Healthcare.
Are You Ready to Take Your Organization to the Next Level?
If you run a clinic or practice and are looking to develop a strategy that leverages best practices, new technology, and marketing/messaging in a way that maximizes patient engagement & retention, please reach out. We’d love to talk with you about how Rehab U Practice Solutions can help your clinic bring in more patients, retain them throughout their course of care, and create uniquely impactful patient experiences.
Rafael E. Salazar II, MHS, OTR/L (Rafi) is the Principal Owner of Rehab U Practice Solutions, the host of The Better Outcomes Show, and the author of Better Outcomes: A Guide to Humanizing Healthcare. He has experience in a variety of rehab settings, working with patients recovering from a variety of injuries and surgeries. Rafi has worked in a variety of settings, from orthopedic and musculoskeletal rehabilitation, to academia, and even healthcare consulting. He spent the majority of his clinical experience working at Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, where he was the lead clinician and clinical education coordinator for the outpatient specialty rehab program. In this role, he treated many veterans with chronic pain and helped to establish an interdisciplinary pain management program. He has worked on projects ranging from patient engagement initiatives to marketing communication campaigns to a multi million dollar project assisting the State of Georgia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities transition individuals out of state institutions to community residences. His work on Telehealth has been discussed in Forbes. He also has experience as a core faculty member at Augusta University’s Occupational Therapy Program, as a Licensed Board Member on the GA State OT Board, and he serves on the Board of Directors for NBCOT. He works to help healthcare clinics and organizations deliver uniquely impactful patient experiences by improving service delivery through consulting, training, and speaking.
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Work With Me
If you’re ready to craft a strategy to help your organization bring in more clients, retain them throughout their course of care, and create uniquely impactful patient experiences, then reach out. I’d love to talk with you about how Rehab U Practice Solutions can help.
What I can help you do:
✅ Train your staff and clinicians to be able to confidently communicate the value your organization provides…
✅ Leverage best practices, new technology, telehealth, and marketing/messaging to maximize patient engagement & retention…
✅ Develop a system that keeps patients & clients happy, engaged, and satisfied throughout the entire process of care…
I help you not only craft marketing messages & campaigns that build that know, like, & trust value you need to convert leads into scheduled clients; but I also work with your clinicians and staff to make sure that, once a patient decides to schedule an appointment, you have a system setup that keeps them happy, engaged, and satisfied throughout the onboarding, treatment, and discharge process.
In short, I’ll help your whole organization become focused on the most important thing in healthcare: people – the people who work for your organization, and the people who your organization treats and serves.
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