A Fresh Start
By Allyson Pahmer
Happy New Year! It is January, the month when thoughts turn to resolutions, setting goals, and fresh starts. I love the idea of a clean slate every 12 months; it always feels like a get out of jail free pass, a way to hit the reset button and try to improve what has not been working, or take a new approach to something that has not gone the way you had planned or hoped.
It is fitting, then, that the theme of this issue is “Best Practice.” I hope the articles that follow provide you with some ideas on how to improve your own performance and set business goals for the coming year—even if you are simply measuring against last year’s performance. I remember a familiar refrain from graduate school: “That which gets measured gets done.” What will you measure this year to track your performance improvement? Have you already identified the key performance indicators (KPIs) for your practice?
The Private Practice Section (PPS) board, volunteers, and staff have been working hard to give you some new tools and build new value for your membership that may help you along that quest. First, we are so excited to unveil the new PPS Mastermind Group program. You can read more about how the program works on page 17, but essentially a mastermind group is “networking on steroids.” It is a small group of PPS members, matched by business type and size, who get together at least twice per year to address common issues—whether it be marketing or management or collections or payment. This past summer, a group of your peers (fellow PPS Members) pilot-tested the program, and they unanimously endorsed it as something they found valuable.
The second project being launched is the “Fit Factor” website, a tool developed by the PPS Marketing and Public Relations Committee that you will be hearing more about in the coming months. The goals of the website are to equip physical therapists (PTs) with something they can use to educate consumers and increase awareness of what private practice physical therapists do. Access to this online marketing tool will increase the value of your PPS membership by driving potential patients to the “’Find a PT” site, as well as offer access to a library of videos for private practice physical therapists—another great member benefit. The beta site was unveiled at November’s PPS Annual Conference to a group of about 75 attendees and it was enthusiastically received and drew terrific feedback about how to enhance the site’s usefulness. We cannot wait to unleash it to the PPS community!
As the new PPS executive director, I, too, am identifying the KPIs for PPS and setting my own goals for ways to improve the Section’s service to and value for our customers: you, our members. New management at the top is the ultimate clean slate, so if you have ideas for new member benefits or would like to see a change in how we serve our members, I am all ears. Please write or call and help me create a Section that you are proud to call your home.
With best wishes for a prosperous and healthy new year,
