Changes to Look for in the PT Industry in 2018

Physical therapy continues to be a growing field with a positive outlook as a career path. It is a $30 billion industry with a 30% job growth over the next 10 years. This expansion is due to an increase in sedentary lifestyles, aging population, growth in employment and early specialization in sports.

The physical therapy market is expected to continue to flourish, but there will be big changes coming its way that may disrupt the industry as we know it.

Consolidations:

Up until now, the market has been highly fragmented and competitive with the largest 50 competitors comprising less than 25% of the market. With many changes slowly occurring in the physical therapy market, this is one of the biggest changes to keep a look out for. Big corporations will start buying up small mom and pops and hospital systems will start to take over the market. It is expected to see multiple high-level private equity acquisitions occurring in the new year with more to come in the future.

Change in Referral Source:

Due to hospitals and doctors having more ownership in physical therapy practices, Independent physical therapy practices will find it harder to rely on physicians as their primary referral sources. Hospitals and doctors will want to keep patients within their network and will be less likely to refer out. Therefore, private owned practices will need to look for different ways to obtain referral sources and will have to rely on direct access, social media marketing and digital patient engagement tools (such as betterPT) to help maintain or increase their patient caseload.

Increased Out of Network Providers:

Healthcare reform is on the horizon with the industry continuing to see lower reimbursement rates and stricter Medicare rules and regulations. This will cause private practices to shift gears towards being an out-of-network provider. This means that clinics will have a relationship with their patients, not insurance carriers. This becomes pricier for the patient, as the patient has to pay the physical therapy clinics directly for their services and then be partially reimbursed from their insurance provider. Corporately run physical therapy practices will be able to maintain in-network benefits due to leveraging out their sheer volume of patients and clinics however, small mom and pop shops will not be able to survive with this model.

Focusing on Specialties:

Physical therapy clinics will have to work extra hard to ensure their services go above and beyond what’s available elsewhere due to the rising cost of care to the patient. Therefore, clinics will focus more on specialties and hiring quality therapists with specialized skills. You will see more physical therapists partaking in residency programs and obtaining specialty certifications such as their Orthopedic Certified Specialty (OCS) or Pediatric Certified Specialty (PCS) from the APTA. You will also see increased marketing techniques (such as betterPT) as clinics will have to educate the population on why their clinic is better than the one next door.

Increased Patient Engagement Tools:

Patient engagement is a hot topic throughout the healthcare world and will continue to make its way into the physical therapy world. In an effort to keep patients connected to clinics and ensure that they will return for their next visit, physical therapy practices must create meaningful relationships with their patients and keep them connected to the clinic even when they are not physically at the clinic. Keeping up with the latest technology (such as betterPT) will improve the patient experience and improve patient satisfaction.

Industry shifts are certain as we move forward into 2018 and while they may bring unwelcomed difficulties and change, embracing these changes as a patient and as a clinic will help keep everyone stay connected. Physical therapy providers should focus on ways that they can deepen their relationship with patients and revamp their marketing strategies (such as betterPT) to help get patients in the door quicker and stay in the door.

The goal is for patients to have better access to healthcare, better knowledge about where to go and more autonomy to choose a clinic that best fits their needs. BetterPT is here to help! It is a mobile and web based platform that brings patients and physical therapists together with seamless scheduling, booking and in-app communication with top clinics and facilities.

Don’t let the physical therapy industry change without you and start getting BETTER in 2018!