By Rob Jordan, PT
Fifteen years ago I started in private practice. I had hopes and dreams and personal goals I had set for myself. I had no particular desire to become wealthy or powerful. I just wanted to take care of my patients and make an honest living for myself and my family. It didn’t take long, however, for reality to set in. Over the next fourteen years I faced one challenge after another. It seemed I spent most of my time putting out fires. It is sad to say, but I had come to a point in my career where I honestly felt I could not win no matter what I did. I came to believe that the whole world was against me.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I had actually become reasonably successful to the outside world. I had managed to build my practice to three facilities and employed eleven people. Unfortunately, my family and I were paying a tremendous price for my “success.” Every two weeks I paid payroll and all of my bills and prayed that there would be something left over for me. I was working fifty to sixty hours per week and taking my work home with me. I had become so jaded and discouraged that I was probably not much fun to live with. Fortunately, my wife and my family believed in me and their support kept me going. But, by the early part of last year I had all but given up. I was preparing myself mentally for the day when I would be forced to abandon my dreams and give up. Two years ago I had hired a nationally known business consulting company to come into my office for a week. I spent $18,000 for them to tell me that I needed to close two of my clinics and fire 8 people. I also needed to cut my salary by 50% and start charging all of my patients $20 per visit as a service charge. Not only were these suggestions worthless, charging extra is illegal. I threw them out of my office and began considering closing my clinic. Perhaps, I thought, I should consider another occupation.
I had been receiving postcards and mailings from Measurable Solutions about their physical therapy marketing solutions for some time. I had even spoken with a representative about attending a seminar almost a year earlier. Unfortunately, I did not take any action until February of last year. I enrolled in the New Patient Course as a last ditch effort to save my practice. Worst case scenario was that I would pick up a few physical therapy marketing tips. I was intrigued by the notion that I could market my practice without feeding every doctor and nurse within 100 miles in an attempt to make them like me. I was skeptical to say the least, but figured I would “poke this thing with a stick” to see if it was real.
To my amazement, the ideas presented in the New Patient Course seemed to make a lot of sense to me. I began to see that I could gain control of my practice with the simple application of their physical therapy marketing technology. It was if a black veil had been lifted from my eyes. I had done a lot of things right over the years, but I could certainly do many things better. I came home from the New Patient Course with an energy I had not had in a very long time. We began seeing a change in our referral numbers about 6 weeks after starting the New Patient Course program.
Following the New Patient Course I was presented with an option of continuing my executive training or simply returning home with the information I had been given. I knew in my heart that my company had potential, but I could not figure out what needed to be done. I knew that marketing and promotion had worked in the past, but every time patient visits increased like I wanted, the bottom would fall out within a few weeks. What I came to realize was that my company simply did not have the organizational capacity to handle the increased load. I also came to realize, painfully, that I was probably the one holding us back. I had no real control of my company or the employees who worked for me. My idea of a financial plan was to pay all of the bills every month and pray that something would be left over. I was struggling to survive, but I was the one losing. I had spent thousands upon thousands of dollars over the years learning to be a good therapist, but I had spent virtually nothing on learning how to run a physical therapy business. My business was controlling me! Measurable Solutions gave me a glimpse of what potential my practice had. For the first time in many years I actually felt like someone was on my side.
I could not envision myself leaving Clearwater after the New Patient Course without signing up for additional training. I was hungry for every course I could get and I decided then and there that I was going to go for it. I had spent 10 years paying off student loans and another 14 years paying off bank loans after purchasing my practice. In the past 10 months I have paid for all of the training at Measurable Solutions and have money in the bank to spare. I, now, see a light at the end of the tunnel. I now see how I can run my business without even being there. My employees are happier and more productive and I am working fewer hours per week than I have in 14 years. How much is that worth?
Implementation of what I learned at Measurable Solutions has given me the ability to maintain control of my practice without constantly needing to produce to keep us afloat. I have learned how to give my employees responsibility and I have learned how to confront them when they fail to get the job done. As a result, they know that I trust them and that I expect only the best from them. Now, I have lots of free time to think about expansion and the future of this practice.
The New Patient Course and the Executive Training program at Measurable Solutions has given me more than just lots of new patients; it has given me my life back. To any therapist who believes that the courses are too expensive or the commitment too great, consider the costs associated with continuing what you are doing now. How’s that working for you? Do you see a day when you can walk away from your practice and retire? Do you foresee a time when you can run your practice for extended periods of time without being there? Until you learn how to control your practice, your practice will control you. Remember, you have spent many years and tens of thousands of dollars learning to become a PT. Doesn’t it make sense that you would want to spend a little extra to make sure you are successful in business as well?
