UpDoc Perspective: Top 4 Physical Therapy Industry Topics from PPS 2018

The annual Private Practice Section, APTA – PPS conference acts as a physical therapy business litmus test. This year, 4 themes jumped out. Watch Gene Shirokobrod and Dr. Ben Fung discuss and explain the major concepts.



Show Notes

  1. Human Resources
    There is a starvation in practices of all settings for talent. And, it seems that a continuous flow of talent is required in this contemporary job market where company culture, opportunistic career moves, and balance in lifestyle is desired.
  2. Growth
    Are we in a bubble? Maybe? Maybe not. The one thing we know is that the industry is growing and healthcare is heavily shifting towards a value over volume environment. There are more startup practice owners this year than ever before — so, if reimbursement is “going down,” where is the disconnect? And, more importantly, how do we bridge this gap?
  3. Marketing
    Conservatively, 10% of healthcare consumers that need to see a Physical Therapist will ever get the opportunity to do so. As a profession, we need to do a much better job at crafting and delivering our own narrative to reach our customers where they are at. There was a notable increase in marketing programing throughout the conference sessions — practices are recognizing the need to go directly to the consumer.
  4. Mergers & Acquisitions
    Larger organizations are buying up profitable, well-tuned, smaller practices and practice groups. Why? Strength of size. At scale, larger entities have economies of scale that lend to more efficient management systems, revenue, and profit margins. However, M&A groups aren’t just looking for anyone — they’ve been down that road before, and, it turns out it can be quite difficult. What they ARE looking for are companies of good fit. This is also being noted in the world of Management Service Organizations where smaller collectives of practices can come together for that strength of size while retaining their identity and operational independence.

Relevant Resources

Ben: Ben is COO & Co-Founder of UpDoc Media.
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