Wii are Human Movement Specialists?

As many of you are aware, the APTA has recently undertaken a strategic planning effort, which we have previously blogged about here (and are big proponents of its getting done). However, there is some early feedback about intentions to brand PTs as practitioners of choice for "human movement disorders" rather than using plain language that consumers and payers will actually understand. Think about it. Go ask 20 of your neighbors what a "human movement disorder" is and if they've ever had one. It's rather silly actually.

I don't want to be too critical until we see the final version of the strategic plan, but I will confess to getting that sickening feeling again that we're about to cave to a vocal minority so that we can be all things to all people and not offend anyone with the use of practitioners of choice for “musculoskeletal conditions” terminology (neuromusculoskeletal works well too)…never mind that’s a phrase that resonates wildly with consumers and payers.

If we are correct that "human movement" is about to be the centerpiece of our brand (I am hoping for a bad dream), only PTs can stare an epidemic of musculoskeletal conditions like LBP in the face (LBP accounts for 2% of all physician office visits…only routine examinations, hypertension, and diabetes result in more office visits) and try to carve out a new nebulous term that says our problem is actually human movement disorders. What is the ICD-9 code? Does it lead to sexual dysfunction?

All the while, the cost of managing LBP increased 65% (adjusted for inflation) to $6096 in 2005 compared to $4695 per case in 1997, outpacing every other rate of increase in health care. Yet our problem is "human movement"?

A marketing campaign around "human movement" will be difficult at best. We need Branding 101 to get enacted here quickly (Felicity, have you started yet?...we need you to save us from ourselves!). "Human movement" is analogous to watching the typical business owner market to themselves...mostly clueless about the customer and what our brand needs to mean to the customer.

Unless we come to our senses, here are some possible brand tag lines for our "human movement" campaign.

1) Wii Are Human Movement
2) Got Human Movement?
3) PT: For When Your Movements Are No Longer Human
4) Absolutely, Positively, Human Movement
5) PT:  The Missing Link in the Human Movement

We will also need to revise our top diagnoses as seen by APTA to the following:
1) Blackberry Thumb
2) Back Pack Pain
3) Human Movement Disorder

For all three, the preferred treatment is Wii Therapy.

Ok, enough ranting here, and we welcome anyone from APTA to suggest we're way off base (and pray dearly that we've got this one completely wrong). Regardless, we have to get the economics right on this one. At the current rate of decline in reimbursement, and considering the 5% per year decrease projected for Medicare, by the year 2020, we will be an organization of volunteer "human movement specialists" who are asked to pay dues for the privilege of working for free....what a deal!

What we need is a major marketing campaign that targets real direct access for real conditions with which payers and consumers identify, LBP being the biggest one. We can only hope that common sense will prevail.

Just an initial reaction. Your thoughts?

The EIM Team

Comments

[Jim Glinn]

While I understand your position, I have to question if what you are hoping for is realistic?

How can the APTA create a campaign that will appease the following groups: Peds, Aquatic, Cardiac, Wound Care, Neuro, Acute, Oncology, Ortho......

Unfortunately, the answer is they can't!

Why not create a core campaign that creates more general awareness about the various arenas that PT's might be found practicing and then based upon some metric (membership numbers in each section...) divide the rest of the budgeted monies amongst the various sections for "marketing" their respective practice areas?

Seriously, how do you market a profession that has sections as diverse as wound care versus orthopedics?

I agree that a campaign that positions us as human movement disorder specialists will not be much help to our intended audience or to our professional identity.

Finally, if APTA does decide upon "Human Movement Disorder Specialists" as the core of the campaign what will the wound care section think?

This whole campaign will have some real challenges that I do not know can be solved with putting all of us PT's into one big basket.....

[Selena Horner]

I read through the draft this weekend and was very disappointed.

The "core purpose" of the APTA is to assist us in advancing our practice which is enhancing health and quality of life through human movement?? Now, honestly, does anyone at the APTA listen to members?? Let me refresh everyone's memory. Peter Schrey did a pretty reasonable job putting together what we want... you can find the signed petition here: http://www.petitiononline.com/apta2007/petition.html

First of all, I highly doubt that the majority of us enhance "health." I'm sure we do impact health, but no, patients don't walk in my doors and say, "I'm not feeling to healthy, what can I do about it?"

Second of all, "quality of life" is a personal, individual matter. Do we measure or determine someone's level of quality of life? We do focus on improving function and I'd hope we are measuring changes in function. The only physical therapists that might not be improving function would be those practicing in a hospice setting.

The core purpose of the APTA isn't even in line with Vision 2020...

Almost all of the "objectives" are written in weak language (LOTS of enhance and increase without any descriptive qualifiers to know that anything actually was enhanced or increased). We write goals every day - they need to be realistic, measurable and have a timeframe. The objectives aren't measurable. In most of them, there is no way to measure that the objective was met. Take for example: the Metric/Date for Payment for Services objective (a) - "There will be a decrease in the rate of errors in Medicare's CERT program and an increase in the number of reports of improved documentation from the payer community within 2 years." Would a goal of "Decrease pain and increase shoulder flexion" be an acceptable documentation goal?

And last, but not least... This whole draft was supposed to be "strategic outcomes, objectives and strategies." Outcomes... check. Objectives... check. Strategies... Strategies... Strategies? Oops... apparently the strategies are a secret? Wait, the fine print... strategies will be developed during the next phase of the strategic planning process. The APTA will definitely have a barrier - weak objectives that are not measurable and are vague will create havoc in creating a strategy due to reader interpretation.

I'm wondering exactly what CRT/tanaka found here: http://www.crt-tanaka.com/ learned about physical therapists? CRT/tanaka was supposed to be responsible for the branding/marketing. If that brand platform follows the core purpose...

How come the survey doesn't include agreeing or disagreeing with the core purpose?

[Jon Newman]

First, some links (of course) that may be helpful. The first is the draft version of the strategic plan for those interested in reading it. Sorry I can't truncate links on this blog. Mods, feel free to do it if you'd like.

http://www.apta.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=47756

Next is a survey asking for your feedback.

http://vovici.com/wsb.dll/s/449dg32f87

I think they're on the right track myself although I would describe our core concept as being concerned with behaviors and actions (more so than "movement".)

My understanding of this draft (and I could be very wrong) is that this is not the language we would express to the general public. Rather it is an attempt to use a *universal terminology* for professionals.

Also, I don't know if there is something more final than the draft I linked to but there are frequent notes in parenthesis acknowledging that metrics and dates are to be added.

[sean]

Great post John. I especially liked your use of the term, "vocal minority".
Jim Glinn,
Can you name a reimbursable disorder not encompassed within the term neuromusculoskeletal? Let's take your woundcare example:
why do we treat a wound? Is it for cosmetic reasons, or the fact that it is affecting or about to affect nerves, muscles or bone?
NMS specialist is a tagline. If the public is interested, we can provide further material explaining our place in the realm of healthcare.

[PaulS]

Thanks for the post.

My wife is a PT and is not an association member, which makes her, IMHO, a valuable person to chat with about this topic. She ought to be the consumer that the APTA is trying to target, the PT who feels the association does not provide any meaningful value.
While ADHD drifts me off topic, I ran the 'human movement disorder' term by her, and asked her for the first word that came to her mind.

Guess what she said...

"Zelnorm"

[James Glinn]

Jon, thanks for posting the link to the draft!

Sean, I have no problem with the use of "neuromusculoskeletal." I don't think the term will do much to help our practice, but anything the APTA does is supplemental to our local efforts to let our local community know who we are and what we do. If I were a wound care specialist, I would see little to no value in "Neuromuskuloskeletal" for me in my daily practice. I won't argue that it might encompass the specialty of wound care, but it does not help the minimally informed consumer.

Still don't hold much hope for APTA to be the end all answer to the identity problem that PT's so often suffer from in the eyes of the general public. PT's have become so diverse in their various offerings that one advocacy group will have a REAL hard time meeting multiple expectations. If the "consumer" is expecting more granular data about information that is important (or perceived as important) it will be nearly impossible for APTA to succeed with a "human movement" or any other moniker.

It happened with practice. Marketing will follow suit. Why are there multiple "groups" both inside and outside of APTA (AAOMPT, Ortho Section, NAIOMT, Sports Section, Aquatic, Pediatirics...)? Would the best bang for the buck come from one general campaign or more local driven campaigns that are nuanced for the target? If I were the sports guys I would want sports stuff marketed, if I was the spine care guy I would want the spine and LBP marketed.

Given the current diversity of our great profession, a tag line is fine but will not solve any real identity problems without much back end support from the various specialties that hope to benefit.

Still like the idea of a global campaign to increase awareness of Physical Therapy and then give each of the sections the freedom to promote what they feel is important.

Loved the "zelnorm" comment!

Great topic boys!

[Larry Benz]

Jim:
Great topic indeed-and timely. A universal tag line is not realistic. On the other hand, we as you point out we have WAY too many splinter groups internal and external to APTA. All of the groups that you point out have as vested of an interest as any in terms of marketing and branding PT. My suggestion for the last several years has been to create a Foundation for PT like organization (can even be within our current Foundation) that exists solely for the purpose of marketing and branding PT for outpatient musculoskeletal (think of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). Regardless of the differences between AOMPT and Ortho Section of APTA, they both have a common interest in PR and branding of PT and a non profit entity that has real experts in this stuff makes sense. I think John Child's said it best-somebody needs to save us from ourselves. The interesting trend is that PT is "hot"-really "hot" right now (PT's in mainstream media, ESPN, # of Tweetscans per day, google, etc.) yet we have no effort to create a more universal appeal (Got Milk?).

AND we are about to lose our profession to nurses who are doctors and primary care extenders. Timing is now.

[Jon Newman]

Something worth considering is whether we want to be known for our means to an end or our ability to achieve certain ends. It seems that based on the definition of a core ideology ("consistent identity that transcends all changes related to its relevant environment") that we have to focus on our ends as the means to achieve them will necessarily change with the evidence.

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