Feb. 22, 2026

Never Assume. Always Ask. The Advocacy Wake-Up Call for PTs

Never Assume. Always Ask. The Advocacy Wake-Up Call for PTs
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Physical therapy reimbursement has declined for years — while tuition, expectations, and scope continue to expand.


Steve Smith joins PT Pintcast live from CSM to discuss:

  • Why he became a private practice owner after a VC acquisition
  • Lessons learned about leadership during COVID
  • Medicare payment cuts and recent advocacy wins
  • Why every PT must understand advocacy
  • How state-level scope of practice changes create national ripple effects
  • The importance of simple, clear messaging in professional advocacy
  • His big goal: getting one-third of PTs in Massachusetts actively signing advocacy letters


The message is simple:

If you don’t engage before decisions are made, you’ll be reacting after something is lost.


His parting advice:

Never assume. Always ask.


Topics Covered

  • Medicare reimbursement trends
  • Scope of practice reform
  • Prescriptive authority & imaging access
  • Association engagement
  • Leadership in PT
  • How to take your “soft first step” into advocacy
Transcript
WEBVTT

00:00:00.089 --> 00:00:00.909
Here we go.

00:00:01.008 --> 00:00:02.289
I'll give a quick intro.

00:00:02.309 --> 00:00:13.412
All right,

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live streaming from CSM in Anaheim.

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I do want to thank Sarah Health,

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the platform helping you take RTM from a

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thought, a theory,

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a thing you saw in a webinar into

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your practice, streamline it,

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and help you help your patients between

00:00:30.711 --> 00:00:32.012
visits and earn revenue.

00:00:32.051 --> 00:00:32.932
Wouldn't it be great if you could do

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both?

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Turns out you can.

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SarahHealth.com.

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It's SarahHealth.com.

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S-A-R-A,

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like the girl in your middle school class.

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It's Sarah without an H. Sarah.

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S-A-R-A.

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Health.

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He's a private practice owner,

00:00:46.356 --> 00:00:47.156
legislative advocate,

00:00:47.237 --> 00:00:49.536
and president of APTA Massachusetts.

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After more than twenty years treating

00:00:52.357 --> 00:00:52.718
patients,

00:00:53.078 --> 00:00:54.357
now he's working to strengthen the future

00:00:54.378 --> 00:00:56.639
of this profession through advocacy,

00:00:56.819 --> 00:00:58.018
leadership, and action.

00:00:59.098 --> 00:01:00.119
Steve Smith, welcome to the show.

00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:00.719
Thank you.

00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:02.000
Great to be here.

00:01:02.020 --> 00:01:03.000
This is a pretty cool party.

00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:03.701
It is.

00:01:03.740 --> 00:01:05.941
How many CSMs deep are you?

00:01:05.980 --> 00:01:06.361
Do you know?

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I think this is eleven.

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Oh, that's good.

00:01:08.621 --> 00:01:08.902
Yeah.

00:01:08.921 --> 00:01:09.981
When did you graduate from PT school?

00:01:10.361 --> 00:01:11.222
Oh, two thousand five.

00:01:11.522 --> 00:01:11.802
OK,

00:01:12.242 --> 00:01:13.603
so when did you catch the bug of

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like, do this thing?

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Because this isn't a normal.

00:01:15.685 --> 00:01:16.424
We had it in Boston.

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Oh, that was.

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So we had in Boston the second year

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out and it was like, oh,

00:01:19.787 --> 00:01:20.626
this is a cool party.

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Thank you for the coffee, by the way.

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We just went and hit the coffee booth.

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My pleasure.

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And yeah, it's when I could afford it.

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That's what I would go.

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Yeah, as early career wise, as you should.

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Right.

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And I think they try to do a

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good job.

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People, you know,

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will will complain about, well,

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why is it in this city,

00:01:36.275 --> 00:01:36.796
in this city?

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And then they just like literally just

00:01:38.275 --> 00:01:41.058
like, where will you put nineteen?

00:01:41.158 --> 00:01:42.778
It needs to have a big enough like.

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Not just a big enough city,

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but a big enough city built around a

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conference.

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Like,

00:01:48.081 --> 00:01:49.861
show me where you'd put all the people

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and where they would sleep.

00:01:51.742 --> 00:01:53.421
And some cities are built for that.

00:01:53.522 --> 00:01:55.162
And you'll see the New Orleans' and the

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San Antonio's and the San Diego's and

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the... Sorry, the Anaheim's of the world.

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Right.

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And the Boston's of the world.

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Yeah.

00:02:03.085 --> 00:02:03.766
So you do both...

00:02:04.621 --> 00:02:06.222
Clinic owner, you've done that.

00:02:06.923 --> 00:02:08.584
And chapter president,

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I mentioned in the intro.

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What made you step into advocacy and

00:02:13.606 --> 00:02:14.627
leadership roles?

00:02:14.647 --> 00:02:17.169
Because both of those are, by default,

00:02:17.308 --> 00:02:18.710
leadership and advocacy roles.

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What was sort of the bug for you?

00:02:21.331 --> 00:02:24.473
I caught the ownership bug when the clinic

00:02:24.514 --> 00:02:26.314
I was working for got bought out by

00:02:26.335 --> 00:02:28.596
a venture capital group and didn't

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necessarily like the direction it was

00:02:30.016 --> 00:02:30.537
going to go.

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So I wanted to continue to treat community

00:02:32.598 --> 00:02:32.799
health

00:02:33.740 --> 00:02:36.907
and found a partner and found a space

00:02:37.207 --> 00:02:39.334
in a community I love and went from

00:02:39.373 --> 00:02:39.633
there.

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And so that organically has been

00:02:43.270 --> 00:02:45.173
great and rewarding, but it's been super,

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super challenging.

00:02:46.554 --> 00:02:48.634
And I also didn't know leadership was also

00:02:48.675 --> 00:02:49.635
a skill you have to learn.

00:02:50.175 --> 00:02:51.116
I just thought, I was like,

00:02:51.356 --> 00:02:52.358
I've managed people.

00:02:52.557 --> 00:02:53.338
I know these things.

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I know how to tell people things and

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how to do them,

00:02:55.281 --> 00:02:56.001
and they'll just do it.

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Right.

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Turns out, it's not the case.

00:02:58.823 --> 00:03:00.724
So then during COVID,

00:03:01.025 --> 00:03:02.366
had to rethink a lot of things.

00:03:02.385 --> 00:03:03.546
Then I started asking questions.

00:03:03.866 --> 00:03:04.548
Questions about like,

00:03:04.867 --> 00:03:06.068
I've always been an APCA member,

00:03:06.109 --> 00:03:06.610
so what...

00:03:07.461 --> 00:03:09.943
are we doing here um we started getting

00:03:09.983 --> 00:03:12.444
some good guidance from our president two

00:03:12.465 --> 00:03:14.948
past presidents ago eric fulmar and he

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really did a great job guiding our ship

00:03:17.229 --> 00:03:20.872
through um a lot of the legalities of

00:03:20.913 --> 00:03:22.973
the shutdown and so really helping us get

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back open helping us do it safely and

00:03:26.737 --> 00:03:28.038
you know not losing the clinic at the

00:03:28.058 --> 00:03:30.420
same time so that was huge terribly

00:03:30.441 --> 00:03:32.301
important yeah so you literally said i

00:03:32.342 --> 00:03:33.524
don't like where this is going

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I'm going to do it myself,

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which is simple to say and not easy

00:03:38.566 --> 00:03:39.127
to do.

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Let's play that whole game of what do

00:03:42.312 --> 00:03:43.693
you wish you knew then that you know

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now?

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What would you have told yourself?

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What landmines did you step on that maybe

00:03:47.239 --> 00:03:48.080
you could have avoided?

00:03:49.437 --> 00:03:49.717
You know,

00:03:50.336 --> 00:03:51.557
I don't know if there's anything that you

00:03:52.318 --> 00:03:55.099
can do when you're having the issue with

00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:56.199
something like COVID comes up.

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It's unprecedented.

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Once in a generation.

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Hopefully.

00:04:00.983 --> 00:04:02.824
I wish I had asked questions earlier.

00:04:03.403 --> 00:04:04.324
And that's really my big thing.

00:04:05.344 --> 00:04:06.205
I just was a member.

00:04:06.245 --> 00:04:07.725
I didn't ask what, you know,

00:04:07.786 --> 00:04:08.445
could be done.

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What can I do to help?

00:04:10.526 --> 00:04:10.765
Yeah.

00:04:10.926 --> 00:04:11.526
In what ways?

00:04:11.586 --> 00:04:12.447
Like, what are we working on?

00:04:12.887 --> 00:04:13.947
I just kind of went with the flow

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and then you're like, all right,

00:04:15.388 --> 00:04:16.668
so payments not going the right way.

00:04:16.747 --> 00:04:17.927
So we're not getting good news on this.

00:04:17.947 --> 00:04:19.269
We're not getting good news on that.

00:04:19.869 --> 00:04:20.908
So you're just sitting there accepting.

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Right.

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And that's something I just as I got

00:04:23.509 --> 00:04:24.050
older, I'm like,

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I just don't accept this anymore.

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Right.

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So how do we actually try to make

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a change?

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Yeah.

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So that's where I came from.

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Yeah.

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People are the life hack.

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People write things.

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People still write the thing.

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People are on podcasts.

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It's still a people thing.

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And most of the time when people do

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things,

00:04:40.898 --> 00:04:43.139
they like when you ask them questions

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about the thing that they've done.

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Right.

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But they like that.

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Yes.

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Like I told the story a couple weeks

00:04:48.502 --> 00:04:50.225
ago how when I was in PT school,

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second career student.

00:04:51.605 --> 00:04:52.045
So I sort of.

00:04:52.425 --> 00:04:53.726
picked up a few life hacks along the

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way,

00:04:54.047 --> 00:04:55.408
and realized I do this big paper in

00:04:55.447 --> 00:04:57.389
neuro, and I'm not a huge,

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I don't like reading research.

00:05:00.389 --> 00:05:01.411
My brain doesn't brain.

00:05:01.430 --> 00:05:02.670
Some people are good at it, I'm not.

00:05:02.951 --> 00:05:04.711
So I just called a person who had

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written a book on the topic that I

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was researching,

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and she talked to me for an hour,

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and explained everything,

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I understood everything,

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and then she gave me a Google Drive

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full of the stuff I should have been

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reading.

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And I was like, well that was easy.

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You can do that.

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That's your skill.

00:05:19.180 --> 00:05:19.761
That's right.

00:05:19.821 --> 00:05:20.862
But anybody can do that.

00:05:21.021 --> 00:05:22.824
That quite literally costs zero dollars,

00:05:23.264 --> 00:05:24.286
just an hour and a half of my

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time,

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and it gave me everything that I wanted.

00:05:26.447 --> 00:05:27.449
Absolutely.

00:05:27.488 --> 00:05:29.230
You've said that, I love both statements,

00:05:29.310 --> 00:05:32.593
every PT and PTA needs to care about

00:05:32.694 --> 00:05:34.255
advocacy, payment, and access.

00:05:34.815 --> 00:05:36.177
Why is that so critical now?

00:05:36.437 --> 00:05:37.459
Why is that important now?

00:05:39.069 --> 00:05:40.110
It's always been important,

00:05:40.151 --> 00:05:42.192
but I do think now with the...

00:05:43.314 --> 00:05:44.574
Tuition never decreases.

00:05:45.755 --> 00:05:46.677
It's going to go up.

00:05:46.916 --> 00:05:47.137
Right.

00:05:47.276 --> 00:05:48.757
It's going up every year a certain

00:05:48.798 --> 00:05:49.259
percentage.

00:05:49.939 --> 00:05:51.279
Our pay is not going up every year.

00:05:51.841 --> 00:05:52.201
In fact,

00:05:52.261 --> 00:05:55.103
we had six years of Medicare devaluing our

00:05:55.124 --> 00:05:55.543
services.

00:05:55.843 --> 00:05:57.886
So now we did get a recent win

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this last year,

00:05:59.226 --> 00:06:00.507
and we are sitting at the table this

00:06:00.528 --> 00:06:04.031
year for federal payments through

00:06:04.071 --> 00:06:04.571
Medicare.

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But...

00:06:06.869 --> 00:06:08.372
We just can't sit there,

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get more education,

00:06:11.014 --> 00:06:12.177
raise our practice level,

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and then not get reimbursed or paid for

00:06:14.961 --> 00:06:16.223
that.

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Everyone's waiting around.

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I feel like a lot of people wait

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around for somebody else to do something.

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And it's not,

00:06:23.456 --> 00:06:25.237
nobody else is doing anything for us.

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So you can join an association,

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you can remain on your own,

00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:30.201
but at least the point is like,

00:06:30.221 --> 00:06:32.584
know who your legislators are and just at

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least reach out because they're humans

00:06:33.904 --> 00:06:34.084
too.

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And they love a conversation with their

00:06:35.985 --> 00:06:36.607
constituents.

00:06:37.007 --> 00:06:39.928
So just being active and then at the

00:06:40.009 --> 00:06:40.730
very minimum,

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push for something like in Massachusetts,

00:06:43.031 --> 00:06:44.153
we have our scope of practice bill.

00:06:44.612 --> 00:06:45.934
That's going to fundamentally change

00:06:46.033 --> 00:06:48.735
prescriptive authority and our ability to,

00:06:49.516 --> 00:06:49.617
um,

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have diagnostic imaging.

00:06:52.802 --> 00:06:54.523
So with those two new permissions,

00:06:54.543 --> 00:06:56.043
it opens up a whole new can of

00:06:56.062 --> 00:06:56.564
worms for us.

00:06:57.144 --> 00:06:57.603
And it's great.

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And if we really push that as a

00:07:00.725 --> 00:07:03.107
profession, not just an association,

00:07:03.826 --> 00:07:04.947
we have a chance of making something

00:07:05.028 --> 00:07:06.267
really good happen in Massachusetts.

00:07:06.809 --> 00:07:08.129
And when a domino falls,

00:07:08.850 --> 00:07:10.951
it'll help hopefully fall somewhere else.

00:07:11.011 --> 00:07:11.391
Exactly.

00:07:11.411 --> 00:07:11.971
It's the beginning.

00:07:12.190 --> 00:07:12.370
Right.

00:07:12.531 --> 00:07:13.012
Right.

00:07:13.031 --> 00:07:14.312
So it leads to changes in payment.

00:07:14.331 --> 00:07:16.793
It leads to us getting a seat at

00:07:16.812 --> 00:07:17.954
the table with third party payers.

00:07:19.081 --> 00:07:20.543
advice for someone who's hearing this

00:07:20.562 --> 00:07:21.903
going but i don't really understand

00:07:21.983 --> 00:07:24.384
advocacy i understand the process i just

00:07:24.403 --> 00:07:26.105
want to lower anxiety like people can just

00:07:26.125 --> 00:07:29.346
show up and just like help right like

00:07:29.487 --> 00:07:31.307
fold chairs or pay attention or be on

00:07:31.326 --> 00:07:32.507
a call you don't need to run a

00:07:32.687 --> 00:07:34.988
committee on your first day like that's

00:07:35.009 --> 00:07:36.769
not how it starts right right and i

00:07:36.790 --> 00:07:38.069
think what we're learning is that we had

00:07:38.089 --> 00:07:40.130
a huge education gap for that first step

00:07:40.690 --> 00:07:42.572
there's there's education on once you're

00:07:42.672 --> 00:07:44.692
in it how do you advocate better how

00:07:44.713 --> 00:07:45.793
do you do this better but there was

00:07:45.874 --> 00:07:46.033
no

00:07:47.033 --> 00:07:49.016
soft first step off the bus or onto

00:07:49.055 --> 00:07:51.117
the bus to get going with it.

00:07:51.197 --> 00:07:52.237
So, you know,

00:07:52.317 --> 00:07:55.100
trying to put out an educational program

00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:57.221
for our members that would really help

00:07:57.601 --> 00:07:58.622
people to take the first step.

00:07:58.682 --> 00:07:59.362
Why should you care?

00:07:59.403 --> 00:08:00.223
What are we caring about?

00:08:00.244 --> 00:08:02.185
And what do we do?

00:08:02.225 --> 00:08:03.906
So yeah,

00:08:03.925 --> 00:08:07.588
somebody else coined this sort of this

00:08:07.668 --> 00:08:07.908
idea.

00:08:07.928 --> 00:08:09.250
It's called the grunt test.

00:08:10.091 --> 00:08:11.391
So if I look at a brochure,

00:08:12.762 --> 00:08:15.944
Or a booth at CSM or anywhere or

00:08:15.963 --> 00:08:18.185
a website at APTA Massachusetts.

00:08:18.665 --> 00:08:20.545
I should be able to answer three questions

00:08:20.685 --> 00:08:21.625
without thinking.

00:08:21.925 --> 00:08:22.187
Right.

00:08:22.226 --> 00:08:23.266
And they call it the grunt test.

00:08:23.466 --> 00:08:24.168
What do you do?

00:08:24.987 --> 00:08:26.749
How does that make my life better or

00:08:26.788 --> 00:08:27.028
not?

00:08:27.588 --> 00:08:28.730
And then if I like the answer to

00:08:28.750 --> 00:08:29.689
number one and number two,

00:08:30.110 --> 00:08:30.670
what do I have to do?

00:08:30.690 --> 00:08:31.250
Right.

00:08:31.331 --> 00:08:32.652
Right, book now, join here,

00:08:32.711 --> 00:08:33.172
da da da da.

00:08:33.471 --> 00:08:34.432
And it needs to be,

00:08:34.613 --> 00:08:36.333
a lot of times, in healthcare,

00:08:36.693 --> 00:08:38.794
I'll just take shots at ourselves, PT,

00:08:39.316 --> 00:08:42.236
we over-explain and we over-complicate

00:08:42.256 --> 00:08:44.538
things because, I don't know,

00:08:44.578 --> 00:08:45.658
maybe we feel like we have to.

00:08:46.019 --> 00:08:47.179
And I'm just here to tell you that

00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:48.341
the New York Times is written at an

00:08:48.400 --> 00:08:50.042
eighth grade level, on purpose.

00:08:50.261 --> 00:08:51.743
Not because they think ninth graders don't

00:08:51.783 --> 00:08:52.062
read,

00:08:52.523 --> 00:08:53.644
or adults don't read at a higher grade

00:08:53.683 --> 00:08:53.903
level,

00:08:54.163 --> 00:08:55.544
they understand that you can't be an

00:08:55.605 --> 00:08:57.285
expert at all of these different things.

00:08:57.566 --> 00:08:58.807
So keep it simple.

00:08:59.496 --> 00:09:00.937
We know healthcare literature is even at a

00:09:01.018 --> 00:09:01.697
lower level than that.

00:09:01.717 --> 00:09:05.259
So to keep engaging and working in such

00:09:05.340 --> 00:09:07.020
a diverse population,

00:09:07.381 --> 00:09:09.163
it's got to be really simplistic,

00:09:09.383 --> 00:09:10.243
really to the point,

00:09:10.663 --> 00:09:11.563
but make a good point.

00:09:11.644 --> 00:09:12.664
But there's a couple of times that I

00:09:12.684 --> 00:09:13.184
wanted to,

00:09:13.245 --> 00:09:15.426
my dad has a PT and OT and

00:09:15.505 --> 00:09:17.586
an SLP and they'll call me for updates

00:09:17.626 --> 00:09:20.469
and they change every once in a while.

00:09:20.489 --> 00:09:21.470
So a lot of them don't know that

00:09:21.549 --> 00:09:23.071
I'm also a physical therapist, right?

00:09:23.191 --> 00:09:24.672
On top of being the son.

00:09:24.871 --> 00:09:25.091
Right.

00:09:25.432 --> 00:09:26.972
And I want to very...

00:09:28.918 --> 00:09:30.260
I don't know how it would be absorbed,

00:09:30.301 --> 00:09:30.640
but I'm like,

00:09:31.020 --> 00:09:32.783
that is over the average person.

00:09:33.783 --> 00:09:35.225
Some of the things you're saying do not

00:09:35.265 --> 00:09:35.807
need to be there.

00:09:37.028 --> 00:09:38.470
Talk to me like a normal person.

00:09:38.789 --> 00:09:39.671
I know you're a normal person.

00:09:39.750 --> 00:09:40.392
I've met PTs.

00:09:40.471 --> 00:09:41.033
We're normal people.

00:09:41.373 --> 00:09:42.794
On the phone, stop being that.

00:09:42.815 --> 00:09:43.615
I don't know what that was.

00:09:43.796 --> 00:09:44.475
Don't do that again.

00:09:47.566 --> 00:09:48.907
For clinicians who feel busy or

00:09:48.947 --> 00:09:50.269
disconnected from advocacy,

00:09:50.568 --> 00:09:53.230
where is that soft first step?

00:09:53.410 --> 00:09:54.732
Where should they go?

00:09:54.753 --> 00:09:55.312
They're like, okay,

00:09:55.332 --> 00:09:56.214
I don't need to do something.

00:09:56.573 --> 00:09:57.875
Fine, I'll do it.

00:09:58.655 --> 00:09:59.636
How do I sign up?

00:10:00.418 --> 00:10:01.418
I'm not in this club yet.

00:10:01.578 --> 00:10:02.440
Where do I go?

00:10:02.620 --> 00:10:02.860
Right.

00:10:03.380 --> 00:10:04.922
And the first thing we've had people do

00:10:04.981 --> 00:10:07.344
is actually email our association,

00:10:07.544 --> 00:10:09.086
go to our page, email us.

00:10:09.586 --> 00:10:09.846
But...

00:10:11.006 --> 00:10:12.386
We would like this to be more forward

00:10:12.427 --> 00:10:15.227
facing and put out something that people

00:10:15.248 --> 00:10:15.748
can go to.

00:10:16.148 --> 00:10:17.768
Be able to highlight that on social media

00:10:18.307 --> 00:10:19.628
and be able to have an easy landing

00:10:19.668 --> 00:10:22.349
page on our website that may or may

00:10:22.408 --> 00:10:23.448
not be member protected.

00:10:24.688 --> 00:10:25.609
If it's not member protected,

00:10:25.649 --> 00:10:27.110
at least we're getting the advocacy word

00:10:27.149 --> 00:10:28.450
out there for what we want.

00:10:28.610 --> 00:10:29.929
And the more voices we have,

00:10:30.110 --> 00:10:32.071
the more we'll achieve.

00:10:32.211 --> 00:10:32.390
I mean,

00:10:32.431 --> 00:10:34.811
we see what the nursing association does

00:10:34.850 --> 00:10:35.471
in Massachusetts,

00:10:35.551 --> 00:10:36.451
and they are a powerhouse.

00:10:36.510 --> 00:10:37.711
They have so many voices.

00:10:38.192 --> 00:10:39.131
When they're asked to show up for

00:10:39.172 --> 00:10:40.211
something, they show.

00:10:40.572 --> 00:10:42.514
So what can we take away from our

00:10:42.714 --> 00:10:43.894
sort of cousin, you know,

00:10:44.014 --> 00:10:45.296
nurse nursing profession?

00:10:45.336 --> 00:10:45.956
What would they do?

00:10:46.135 --> 00:10:46.917
Would they do well?

00:10:47.518 --> 00:10:48.697
Or what should we look at from five,

00:10:48.759 --> 00:10:49.899
ten, fifteen years ago?

00:10:49.918 --> 00:10:50.820
What can we borrow?

00:10:51.019 --> 00:10:52.961
Their messaging is really, really good.

00:10:53.221 --> 00:10:54.982
So they're not just their membership,

00:10:55.003 --> 00:10:56.485
but also, you know, it starts in school.

00:10:57.125 --> 00:10:58.485
that's what we're getting into now is

00:10:58.525 --> 00:11:00.167
we're starting to get that word in

00:11:00.206 --> 00:11:00.587
schools,

00:11:01.528 --> 00:11:03.409
being asked to guest lecture about

00:11:03.529 --> 00:11:04.110
advocacy.

00:11:04.211 --> 00:11:06.712
We're making it a focus for our annual

00:11:06.753 --> 00:11:07.533
conferences now.

00:11:07.852 --> 00:11:09.575
So we just had a great hour long

00:11:09.634 --> 00:11:11.316
opener about advocacy at our annual

00:11:11.355 --> 00:11:12.677
conference last November.

00:11:12.777 --> 00:11:15.298
So we are we're taking steps to get

00:11:15.339 --> 00:11:15.538
there.

00:11:16.500 --> 00:11:18.581
And it's something that's just been we've

00:11:18.642 --> 00:11:19.361
kind of missed, I think.

00:11:19.582 --> 00:11:19.763
Yeah.

00:11:21.024 --> 00:11:22.764
What's your big, big, hairy,

00:11:22.825 --> 00:11:24.485
audacious goal as

00:11:25.366 --> 00:11:26.788
president of Massachusetts.

00:11:27.187 --> 00:11:28.509
What's something that when you're sort of

00:11:28.528 --> 00:11:30.971
done and you pass off the office to

00:11:30.990 --> 00:11:32.371
the next person that you're like, hey,

00:11:32.412 --> 00:11:33.373
if we achieve this,

00:11:33.432 --> 00:11:34.854
this is what I'm aiming for.

00:11:34.974 --> 00:11:35.214
Yeah,

00:11:35.313 --> 00:11:38.176
if we can get a third of our

00:11:39.037 --> 00:11:42.158
registered PTs in the state to sign an

00:11:42.198 --> 00:11:42.859
advocacy letter.

00:11:42.980 --> 00:11:43.480
Ooh, okay.

00:11:43.740 --> 00:11:43.980
You know,

00:11:44.039 --> 00:11:46.361
for each thing that we're putting out

00:11:46.381 --> 00:11:47.761
there and like this is important because

00:11:47.782 --> 00:11:48.123
of this.

00:11:48.663 --> 00:11:51.264
And if we get those voices consistently,

00:11:51.784 --> 00:11:53.346
that is a huge, huge win.

00:11:53.365 --> 00:11:53.466
Yeah.

00:11:53.985 --> 00:11:55.267
And that's that's engagement.

00:11:55.386 --> 00:11:56.206
That's people caring.

00:11:56.226 --> 00:11:57.408
That's people taking ownership of their

00:11:57.427 --> 00:11:57.868
profession.

00:11:58.307 --> 00:11:59.389
And that's really what we're looking for.

00:11:59.548 --> 00:12:00.190
Where are you now?

00:12:00.269 --> 00:12:00.649
Ballpark.

00:12:02.884 --> 00:12:04.485
I would have to go through because we're

00:12:04.645 --> 00:12:05.745
on a different app now.

00:12:06.206 --> 00:12:09.067
And so now that we've just kind of

00:12:09.106 --> 00:12:10.527
signed on to a new application,

00:12:10.886 --> 00:12:11.847
we're going to be able to track that

00:12:11.868 --> 00:12:12.548
much easier.

00:12:12.587 --> 00:12:14.248
So I would love to tell you the

00:12:14.268 --> 00:12:14.989
number, but I don't have it.

00:12:15.009 --> 00:12:16.668
What gets measured gets improved.

00:12:16.889 --> 00:12:17.609
You can't measure it.

00:12:17.649 --> 00:12:19.669
You can't possibly improve it or know it's

00:12:19.710 --> 00:12:20.330
being improved.

00:12:20.470 --> 00:12:20.789
Absolutely.

00:12:21.029 --> 00:12:21.789
What gives you hope?

00:12:21.809 --> 00:12:23.030
Let's go bigger.

00:12:23.051 --> 00:12:24.471
We'll go bigger than just Massachusetts.

00:12:24.530 --> 00:12:26.192
What gives you hope about where the

00:12:26.211 --> 00:12:27.432
profession's headed in general?

00:12:28.688 --> 00:12:30.629
I think when we get together as leaders

00:12:31.250 --> 00:12:32.591
that we're all on the same page.

00:12:32.692 --> 00:12:36.474
I think the leadership of APTA itself has

00:12:36.494 --> 00:12:37.894
kind of changed their mentality too.

00:12:38.495 --> 00:12:40.636
New strategic framework really shows that

00:12:40.697 --> 00:12:42.817
payment by fourteenfold is the most

00:12:42.878 --> 00:12:43.479
important topic.

00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:44.359
It was not small.

00:12:44.599 --> 00:12:44.879
Right.

00:12:44.979 --> 00:12:47.201
It's payment and then fourteen miles of

00:12:47.260 --> 00:12:48.402
nothing then number two.

00:12:48.501 --> 00:12:48.682
Right.

00:12:49.062 --> 00:12:51.563
And so I think that that focus,

00:12:51.624 --> 00:12:53.645
especially even just in the last really

00:12:53.725 --> 00:12:54.265
nine months,

00:12:54.285 --> 00:12:56.388
that that focus has changed and how

00:12:56.408 --> 00:12:57.688
they've changed their education,

00:12:57.708 --> 00:12:59.450
their programming and where we're at in

00:12:59.509 --> 00:13:01.951
terms of leaders being able to talk about

00:13:02.011 --> 00:13:02.331
things.

00:13:02.631 --> 00:13:03.653
That's really important.

00:13:03.753 --> 00:13:04.153
Yeah.

00:13:04.273 --> 00:13:05.073
And, you know,

00:13:05.094 --> 00:13:06.995
getting on the same boat really makes us

00:13:07.054 --> 00:13:08.517
want to, you know,

00:13:08.557 --> 00:13:09.817
we're all rowing in the same direction,

00:13:09.878 --> 00:13:10.798
even if we have to do it different

00:13:10.817 --> 00:13:11.097
ways.

00:13:11.339 --> 00:13:11.678
Correct.

00:13:11.839 --> 00:13:12.158
Yes.

00:13:12.178 --> 00:13:14.640
I never knew the differences from state to

00:13:14.681 --> 00:13:14.880
state.

00:13:14.961 --> 00:13:15.601
I just assumed...

00:13:17.298 --> 00:13:17.898
population.

00:13:18.038 --> 00:13:18.437
I don't know.

00:13:18.538 --> 00:13:20.599
And then I looked into how different state

00:13:20.658 --> 00:13:21.919
practice acts are.

00:13:21.940 --> 00:13:23.860
And we are fifty different little

00:13:24.061 --> 00:13:25.620
countries that are tied together.

00:13:25.821 --> 00:13:26.041
Yes.

00:13:26.620 --> 00:13:28.461
And every state legislature works

00:13:28.522 --> 00:13:28.981
differently.

00:13:29.743 --> 00:13:31.243
You know, we see how a win gets,

00:13:31.442 --> 00:13:31.663
you know,

00:13:32.082 --> 00:13:34.203
how does a win go in Utah be

00:13:34.244 --> 00:13:35.784
different than how it's done in Montana,

00:13:35.804 --> 00:13:37.105
than Colorado, than Massachusetts.

00:13:37.645 --> 00:13:39.426
And so knowing how the legislature works

00:13:39.485 --> 00:13:40.005
is really,

00:13:40.046 --> 00:13:40.986
really important to

00:13:41.687 --> 00:13:43.408
to get wins with our mechanisms.

00:13:43.508 --> 00:13:44.227
And if you don't,

00:13:44.268 --> 00:13:46.188
you will get steamrolled or you will get

00:13:46.229 --> 00:13:46.808
something just,

00:13:46.849 --> 00:13:47.990
you'll get completely rubbed,

00:13:48.169 --> 00:13:49.429
something completely taken away from you.

00:13:49.710 --> 00:13:51.331
Colorado had a thing up in, uh,

00:13:51.571 --> 00:13:53.072
in their state legislator about losing

00:13:53.451 --> 00:13:54.591
term title protection.

00:13:55.072 --> 00:13:55.993
Like they were going to lose this.

00:13:56.013 --> 00:13:56.153
Right.

00:13:56.173 --> 00:13:57.092
And they were like, we have,

00:13:57.173 --> 00:13:57.653
once we get our,

00:13:57.854 --> 00:13:59.573
our members to rally and say,

00:13:59.634 --> 00:14:00.514
we might lose this.

00:14:00.654 --> 00:14:00.875
Right.

00:14:01.294 --> 00:14:02.716
Everybody will pay attention the day after

00:14:02.755 --> 00:14:03.216
you lose it.

00:14:03.515 --> 00:14:03.676
Right.

00:14:03.735 --> 00:14:04.856
Where are you paying attention?

00:14:05.017 --> 00:14:06.397
What are you doing six months before we

00:14:06.437 --> 00:14:07.298
lost it, bro?

00:14:07.337 --> 00:14:09.238
Like you're a day late, a dollar short.

00:14:09.498 --> 00:14:09.739
Yeah.

00:14:09.798 --> 00:14:09.958
Right.

00:14:09.999 --> 00:14:10.658
You don't want that.

00:14:10.839 --> 00:14:10.999
No,

00:14:11.158 --> 00:14:13.279
we want to have those voices be ready

00:14:13.320 --> 00:14:14.301
and willing to do things.

00:14:14.461 --> 00:14:16.802
And then also, if you get ownership,

00:14:16.822 --> 00:14:17.783
you get hospitals,

00:14:17.822 --> 00:14:20.524
you get rehab directors bought into what

00:14:20.563 --> 00:14:21.364
we're trying to do,

00:14:21.845 --> 00:14:22.924
they're going to ask their staff to do

00:14:22.965 --> 00:14:23.024
it.

00:14:23.205 --> 00:14:23.424
Yeah.

00:14:23.465 --> 00:14:24.586
So you're just going to kind of work

00:14:24.605 --> 00:14:27.246
through a network of amplifiers that if

00:14:27.287 --> 00:14:29.307
the messaging is good and it's something

00:14:29.347 --> 00:14:31.109
that is worthy for the profession,

00:14:31.470 --> 00:14:32.070
people will do it.

00:14:32.309 --> 00:14:33.210
Love it.

00:14:33.230 --> 00:14:34.230
We have a tradition on the show.

00:14:34.650 --> 00:14:35.130
Every episode,

00:14:35.150 --> 00:14:37.793
we do something called the parting shot.

00:14:38.613 --> 00:14:40.615
This is the Parting Shot.

00:14:41.195 --> 00:14:42.596
One last mic drop moment.

00:14:43.277 --> 00:14:44.057
No pressure.

00:14:44.518 --> 00:14:46.698
Just your legacy on the line.

00:14:48.561 --> 00:14:48.760
All right.

00:14:48.780 --> 00:14:50.201
Parting Shot is brought to you by Sarah

00:14:50.241 --> 00:14:50.481
Health.

00:14:50.501 --> 00:14:52.504
Find them online at SarahHealth.com.

00:14:52.543 --> 00:14:54.125
Bringing RTM to your clinic.

00:14:54.205 --> 00:14:56.427
Can you get paid for interacting with your

00:14:56.447 --> 00:14:57.567
patients between visits?

00:14:57.827 --> 00:14:58.327
Spoiler alert.

00:14:58.687 --> 00:14:59.568
Yes, you can.

00:15:00.269 --> 00:15:01.951
And also, I want to point this out.

00:15:02.331 --> 00:15:04.452
A lot of RTM is app-based.

00:15:04.932 --> 00:15:06.894
Sarah Health is text-based.

00:15:07.798 --> 00:15:09.299
Everybody already has that app on their

00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:09.500
phone.

00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:10.301
It's text message.

00:15:10.561 --> 00:15:12.501
So that means no apps and no logins

00:15:12.542 --> 00:15:13.582
because, gosh,

00:15:13.623 --> 00:15:14.923
if I have to remember one more password,

00:15:15.024 --> 00:15:15.504
I'm going to lose it.

00:15:15.984 --> 00:15:16.625
So find them online.

00:15:16.664 --> 00:15:17.365
SarahHealth.com.

00:15:17.404 --> 00:15:19.265
It's S-A-R-A-Health.com.

00:15:19.726 --> 00:15:20.547
SarahHealth.com.

00:15:20.606 --> 00:15:20.807
All right.

00:15:21.206 --> 00:15:21.707
Parting shot.

00:15:21.727 --> 00:15:22.447
What do you want to leave with the

00:15:22.467 --> 00:15:23.408
audience today as we wrap up?

00:15:23.990 --> 00:15:25.150
It's something I have written at the

00:15:25.171 --> 00:15:26.932
bottom of my notes for every board of

00:15:26.951 --> 00:15:28.292
director meeting that I run now.

00:15:28.611 --> 00:15:30.511
It's never assume and always ask.

00:15:30.772 --> 00:15:31.873
Ooh, never assume.

00:15:32.052 --> 00:15:32.293
Yes.

00:15:32.552 --> 00:15:33.753
Always ask.

00:15:34.212 --> 00:15:35.953
Appreciate your time today.

00:15:36.014 --> 00:15:37.173
Thanks for doing the service.

00:15:37.494 --> 00:15:38.634
I don't live in Massachusetts,

00:15:38.913 --> 00:15:40.494
but if we get wins in Massachusetts,

00:15:40.955 --> 00:15:42.174
it might be easier to get wins in

00:15:42.215 --> 00:15:43.715
my state of New York and your state

00:15:43.735 --> 00:15:44.134
of whatever.

00:15:44.254 --> 00:15:45.615
So thanks for doing what you do as

00:15:45.635 --> 00:15:46.556
well as the rest of your board.

00:15:46.735 --> 00:15:47.076
Of course.

00:15:47.196 --> 00:15:47.696
Thank you so much.