And we wonder a Cap is likely??

Check out this link to an OIG report on PCH Health Systems.  http://www.oig.hhs.gov/oas/reports/region9/90400069.pdf

We need to get to a critical mass with PT's and specifically PT leaders to turn the profession around and become part of the solution instead of waiting for the third parties to force change in our behaviors... with their idea of how to control the process!!!  Are you tired of constantly molding your practice around the external changes instead of creating a practice you envision?

It seems we need to create an optimism and belief that the masses of PT's can rally around.  They need to see a hope and a vision that is compelling and that hits them at the core reason they are a PT to begin with.  We need a shift from a pessimistic outlook to a future of hope!

In Marcus Buckingham's book "The One Thing You Need to Know" he talks about the key to leading is creating the optimism and the clarity for the followers.  Can we get the critical mass of leaders together and develop that optimism and clarity?  Does it need to come from the APTA, or other established organization or can it (does it need to) come from a separate movement that is a fresh approach that creates a tipping point that the established organizations can then leverage?  Is what EIM stands for and is accomplishing a possible venue or platform to start emerging these leaders and start to create the clarity and the momentum?  Or am I an eternal optimist and dreamer... lunatic...idealist...etc?   What are your thoughts?  What do you see as a way to create the change needed?  Can it be done?

Jeff

Comments

[Ken Mailly, PT]

Jeff:

I wonder whether our choice is truly between optimism & pessimism, or between "proaction" and reaction. After all, does anyone still doubt that some type of action is necessary? Your concerns are certainly shared by many PTs, including this one, but we need to turn this concern into action, and action has a price tag while hope and optimism do not. If we simply “hope” for such change based on “optimism” alone, the outcome is assured to be less than ideal.

In my view, the first of these concerns is exclusive ownership of our services for the simple reason that one cannot control what one does not own. Too many PTs seem to be in chronic denial over this simple truth, and it has caused tremendous damage to the services we provide, the recipients of those services, and the perception of those services by external stakeholders. To those who feel that ownership is not necessary to control PT, I would suggest this: Attempt to renovate your neighbors’ home against their wishes, and let us know how that works out for you.

Anyone who has ever attempted to truly practice autonomously as an employee of a "physical therapy provider" will surely tell you, it has not been terribly successful for them. In point of fact, do we not feel that Physical Therapists are the only providers of physical therapy because PT is a profession and NOT a "treatment"?

If we cannot, or will not, control these services then I wonder if there is any point in even discussing them, because they're not "ours" to begin with. Once we control these services, then perhaps P4P & EBP will truly mean something to “us”, collectively.

[Jeff Hathaway]

Ken,
Your point is well taken. I think we agree in principle. It is my contention that there are enough respectable ideas out there but no venue to channel the change into the very action you speak of. We need leadership that can package the idea(s) in a way that mobilizes the individual PT's across the country. I am proposing that the leaders need to come togehter to create and communicate that vision optimistically, creating hope that leads to the action (versus reaction).
This optimism is not the kind of blind optimism that isn't grounded in a real plan (likened to the Stockdale principle referred to in "Good to Great" by Jim Collins) but rather a belief in a vision and plan that creates a tipping point of action by PT's at all levels.
Having said all of that I have more questions than answers - my hope is that these questions can begin a process of overcoming the inertia that seems to be winning in our profession at too many levels.
Jeff

[mark boncser]

Really good discussion so far.great to see the passion for our profession. Ken I agree with your points about owning PT but that comes back to Jeff's point with a mass political push to deal with the chiropractic lobbies and also the medical lobby. It is a case changing in my opinion a generally apathetic profession to a proactive profession. This starts with all PTs or PTAs who can afford to to join the APTA to do so. I realize that some can't afford to join but I believe this is a small percentage. I'm more hopeful now than I have been as a PT for 16 years because I do believe we as a profession are more politically aware and more proactive. However, it remains a political "minefield" and we have to choose our battlefields and opponents carefully.