By Charles Scogna
In 2021, APTA Private Practice awarded the first Community Impact Award, bestowed upon a single member “who demonstrated the core values of excellence, integrity, social responsibility, altruism, and professional duty through a unique and sustainable program that positively impacts their community.”
By Brent Bednar, PT, MPT
What is your personal definition and markers of success professionally? How does your perception of success shift as you travel through stages and roles within your career?
Imagine this scenario: You’ve been in practice for a few years. You are profitable, growing, and have a good, stable staff. You have offered a few benefits, but your staff has been asking for Health Insurance benefits. You are wondering, “How can I afford to provide this benefit? If I don’t, will my staff leave for greener pastures, with more benefits?” What to do? After some research, you discover that Health Insurance will cost you $60,000/year. You also know that there is opportunity to improve staff performance as it relates to units/visit.
When I was a new leader within APTA, I often felt my generation was misunderstood. Appointment to the APTA Recruitment and Retention of Early Career Members Task Force gave me the opportunity to scrutinize the research behind factors that motivate various generations to engage in organizations and leadership roles. Data we analyzed reinforced the importance of comprehending the impressive diversity of ideas gained through experiencing the world at different stages and ages. The five heroines featured here are all in different phases of their career and have varying levels of experience as leaders, clinicians, and business owners. When interviewing them, I noticed common themes that encompassed the breadth of a career.
This year we have noticed more practices than ever are struggling financially due to reimbursement reductions and rising expenses. In past decades, the most common cause of disappearing profits was lower patient volume, usually due to increasing competition. However, now payment rates have declined to the point that many practices are seeing their profit entirely in question. It is possible that changes may need to be made in the way you operate in order to thrive.
