Why Physical Therapy Must Fight for Its Future — and How You Can Help

WEBVTT

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Nick, welcome back to the show.

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Thanks for having me, Jimmy.

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Good to be here.

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I feel like every time you come,

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it's like,

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something's going on and I

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need you to pay attention

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and I need you to do something.

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And that's, that can't be easy, right?

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Like you're constantly

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listening to the profession,

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paying attention to what's

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going on in DC.

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I mean, just before we hit record,

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you said, Hey man,

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just got off a plane for DC

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and then next week I'm going back to DC.

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And that's where decisions

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are fortunately or

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unfortunately made like it or not.

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That's where things happen.

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So I feel like you're the

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guy who's always like, Hey everybody,

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I need you to pay attention to this.

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And then in a few weeks,

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it's this other thing.

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Things are always happening.

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That can't be easy for you.

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Easy?

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No,

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because no one can stay on top of

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what's going on in DC.

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So I don't think it would be

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easy for anybody.

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However, is it needed?

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Yeah.

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And is it something that we

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as a profession need to do

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a better job at it, right?

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Things happen all the time that affect us.

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as therapists or as

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healthcare providers from

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decisions that are made in

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Washington and other state

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houses around the country.

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And not being on top of

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those things sometimes can hurt you.

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And so, yeah, it's on all of us to say,

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hey, look at what's going on here.

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Hey,

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just find out this is going on and

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bring that out to the masses.

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And one of the beautiful things is, though,

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that

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You know,

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we're we got people like you

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who've got great reach and, you know,

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we can get on to do a podcast.

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We've got companies who are

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just killing on social

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media right now so we can

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get the message out much better.

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So we're learning and we're

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doing much better at it.

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All right.

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So of importance right now,

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we'll start off with the big stuff,

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the SAFE Act.

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That's H.R.

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eleven seventy one.

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And now that bill aims to

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prevent falls and reduce

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opioid use amongst older adults.

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So far, Nick, I'm all I'm all in.

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I like both of those things.

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I'd like both of those

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things to to go away.

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Why is it such a game changer?

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And what can physical therapists do?

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The people listening right

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now to help push this thing forward?

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Well,

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the reason it's a game changer is it

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positions therapists as

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really the experts in fall prevention.

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Because, I mean, that's what we are.

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And I think I've talked to

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you about this before,

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but I wish you could change

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your name to Fallologist, right?

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Because then everyone would

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know what we do and everyone would know,

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like, that's us.

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But the reason why it's

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important right now is because, you know,

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there's this stuff going on

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that you guys may have heard of,

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which is called a reconciliation bill.

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And the president wants to

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have this really huge bill

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that comes out that says,

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A lot of things.

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They're trying to put an

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extension of the tax brackets in there.

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That's a huge thing in and of itself.

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But they're trying to put

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Medicaid reform in there.

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There's going to be health

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care provisions.

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There's going to be

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provisions for things that

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stand way beyond taxes.

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We have a commitment.

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uh that they're also going

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to try to address fee

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schedule inside

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reconciliation but the

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problem is all this stuff

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costs money and where the

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safe act can be positioned

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and what I just basically

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spent the last few days in

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dc doing with some of our

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other aptqi board members

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was saying hey look we

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understand you have to pay

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for a lot of this stuff

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that's coming out and

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here's an idea we spend

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fifty billion dollars a

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year on falls it'll be a

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hundred billion by the end

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of the decade at the way

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the slope of the curve is going

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We can save some of that

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money because if we prevent

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some of these falls from happening,

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that ambulance ride, that ER visit,

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that hip replacement surgery,

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all those expenses start to

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dissipate and you spend

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less money on that all in

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exchange for a hundred and

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forty dollar PT or OT fall

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risk assessment.

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Right.

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So in the country right now

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with the current rates,

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this assessment we're

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talking about would cost

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about one hundred and forty bucks.

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We want to make that free to the patient.

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but one injury from a fall

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that results in medical

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costs is ten thousand dollars.

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So the premise is pretty simple.

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If a PT as a whole can bat

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better than one for seventy,

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this bill starts to save us money.

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And we know that we are

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better than one for seventy.

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So we're positioning this as a solution.

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So when we go to Congress,

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we're not saying pay us more,

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pay us more and get in line

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with everybody else who wants more money.

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We're saying here's

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something that you can use

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as an offset to save money.

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It's better for patients.

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One of the things we're

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really excited about is

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You know,

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it's easy to position this as

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it's good for therapists,

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but we're not going to have

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a windfall from this.

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But it's really great for

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patients and it's not just us saying so.

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We got a public statement of

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support from AARP saying

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that they support this bill.

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So it really is better for the patient.

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And oh, by the way,

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it happens to be helpful

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for what Congress is trying

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to do right now with the

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reconciliation bill.

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So that's why it's important.

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What can folks do?

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We've been talking about it constantly,

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contacting your members of

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Congress saying, here's the bill number,

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eleven seventy one.

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Please support it.

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Get your patients on board.

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You as a therapist, you're one person,

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but you treat dozens of people a day,

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multiple dozens a week.

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I'm sure all of them either

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are at risk for falling

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themselves or have a loved one that is.

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your father, your mother,

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your grandparents, your in-laws,

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this affects everybody.

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So start getting other people involved.

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You'll be surprised how easy

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it is to get some folks, you know,

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relating to this because

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everyone probably knows

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somebody who is at risk or

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has already fallen and that

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fall has completely changed

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somebody's life.

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Yeah.

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And with baseball season,

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just a couple of hours away,

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one for seventy is point

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zero one for two.

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I think we can bet better

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than I'm pretty sure I have faith.

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I have faith.

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So that is the way, like it or not,

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but contacting the people

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that represent you is the

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way to make change.

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Now,

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a little bit of a different

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organization or maybe some crossover,

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Medicare cuts in the future of PT.

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Ongoing reductions in

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Medicare reimbursement

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rates have been a huge

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concern for the profession.

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Just go into any Facebook

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group and you hear that left and right,

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people complaining about that.

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Can you break down the

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latest developments and

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what they mean for PT clinics and,

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of course, ultimately their patients?

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Yeah, where we are right now,

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it's a pretty precarious state.

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I mean,

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people are talking about it's a two

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point eight percent cut for this year,

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but that's just looking at it too narrow.

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In the last five years,

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we're talking about five

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consecutive years of cuts.

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This is like eleven percent cumulatively,

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and we've done nothing wrong.

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This is this is not in

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response to a punishment.

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This is that therapists are

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doing bad things.

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You hear these terms flung around, fraud,

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waste.

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We're not we're not part of

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the abuse of the fraud.

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That's not us.

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But we're still getting this huge cut.

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So where things currently

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stand as it comes to

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Medicare reimbursement is I

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was alluding to it earlier.

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We're trying to make sure

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that it's addressed in this

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huge bill that they're

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trying to put together on the tax cuts.

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And we received some

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commitments that they're

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trying their best to put it in there.

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However, again,

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it's not done until it's done.

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And it could still take a while.

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I don't think anything's imminent.

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This build they're trying to

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put together will likely

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drag on into the summer.

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And one of the messages that

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we took to the Hill this week was, hey,

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if you do...

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if you are able to come

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together to give us a

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little bit of a reprieve on

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the fee schedule for a

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short-term fix and a patch

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like they've done in the past,

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If it happens near the end of the year,

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like,

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should we just look at maybe making

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it for all of twenty twenty six too?

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Because why should we come

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right back in December and say, hey,

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we have a problem.

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And again,

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so we're getting we're getting

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that word out that like we

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understand these things take time.

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But then maybe the trade off

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is we didn't we didn't get

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relief in the first half of

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twenty twenty five to maybe

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try to take care of twenty

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twenty six while we're at

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it and just give us some

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more breathing room.

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Long-term,

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I think we've got to start

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looking at things like how

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do we protect ourselves

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from cuts in the future?

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Because we can't keep

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getting on this

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merry-go-round of we got cut bad,

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now let's try to get cut a

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little bit less and get a

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little bit money back.

00:07:47.262 --> 00:07:48.884
But at the end of the day, again,

00:07:49.084 --> 00:07:49.944
you look backwards and

00:07:49.985 --> 00:07:51.446
we're down double digits in

00:07:51.485 --> 00:07:52.586
a short amount of time.

00:07:53.595 --> 00:07:54.375
It's not sustainable.

00:07:54.456 --> 00:07:55.137
It's not fair to our

00:07:55.156 --> 00:07:57.559
therapists over the long term.

00:07:57.779 --> 00:07:58.399
Who's going to want to

00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:00.281
become a therapist at that

00:08:00.322 --> 00:08:01.803
rate and go to school for

00:08:01.824 --> 00:08:02.524
the length of time you have

00:08:02.545 --> 00:08:03.745
to go to school when you

00:08:03.786 --> 00:08:05.887
could do any number of

00:08:05.949 --> 00:08:06.548
other health care

00:08:06.569 --> 00:08:07.870
professions that are great

00:08:07.911 --> 00:08:08.851
professions and that help a

00:08:08.872 --> 00:08:09.432
lot of people.

00:08:10.372 --> 00:08:11.634
But the risk reward is a lot

00:08:11.675 --> 00:08:12.214
better for your degree.

00:08:13.516 --> 00:08:13.675
Right.

00:08:13.716 --> 00:08:14.596
The cost to get your degree.

00:08:14.677 --> 00:08:17.177
So we have a problem here

00:08:17.197 --> 00:08:17.798
and we need to start

00:08:17.838 --> 00:08:19.598
thinking long term about

00:08:20.420 --> 00:08:22.240
where do we go from here in

00:08:22.300 --> 00:08:24.281
terms of how do we solidify

00:08:24.862 --> 00:08:27.882
the value of therapy and in

00:08:27.923 --> 00:08:28.783
the eyes of the folks who

00:08:28.824 --> 00:08:29.843
make these decisions to say

00:08:29.884 --> 00:08:30.824
we should start protecting

00:08:31.404 --> 00:08:32.365
this service instead of

00:08:32.404 --> 00:08:33.706
looking for ways to cut it,

00:08:33.745 --> 00:08:35.365
especially when it's not much left.

00:08:35.745 --> 00:08:37.025
There's not much meat left in our bone,

00:08:37.086 --> 00:08:37.505
unfortunately.

00:08:37.525 --> 00:08:38.147
Yeah.

00:08:38.226 --> 00:08:39.307
Yeah, I think you're right.

00:08:39.346 --> 00:08:40.187
Let's go to a different bill,

00:08:40.206 --> 00:08:41.346
Medicare Patient Access and

00:08:41.386 --> 00:08:42.947
Practice Stabilization Act

00:08:42.967 --> 00:08:44.087
for those keeping score at home.

00:08:44.107 --> 00:08:44.727
That's H.R.

00:08:44.847 --> 00:08:45.807
eight seventy nine.

00:08:46.288 --> 00:08:46.389
Now,

00:08:46.408 --> 00:08:47.989
that bill has major implications for

00:08:48.009 --> 00:08:49.489
both practitioners and patients.

00:08:49.989 --> 00:08:51.149
What are the key points PT

00:08:51.169 --> 00:08:52.750
should understand and how

00:08:52.769 --> 00:08:53.809
can they help push it through?

00:08:54.429 --> 00:08:54.570
Yeah,

00:08:54.610 --> 00:08:55.750
this is a really important bill

00:08:56.171 --> 00:08:58.311
because it's highlighting the fact that,

00:08:58.750 --> 00:08:59.331
you know, like I said,

00:08:59.552 --> 00:09:00.471
we've had these cuts.

00:09:02.075 --> 00:09:04.383
at a time when inflation is

00:09:04.482 --> 00:09:06.249
run rampant and everyone's costs,

00:09:06.350 --> 00:09:07.253
if you run a clinic

00:09:08.846 --> 00:09:09.847
You're paying more for your rent.

00:09:10.489 --> 00:09:11.669
You're paying more for your supplies.

00:09:11.990 --> 00:09:13.191
You want to be a good employer.

00:09:13.270 --> 00:09:13.991
You're trying to give

00:09:14.032 --> 00:09:15.472
everyone as big a raise as

00:09:15.493 --> 00:09:16.453
possible for your wages.

00:09:18.196 --> 00:09:19.417
You can't run a business

00:09:19.437 --> 00:09:20.738
where your expense line is

00:09:20.758 --> 00:09:22.759
going straight up and your

00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:24.380
income line is going straight down.

00:09:24.760 --> 00:09:25.501
And that's what's happening.

00:09:25.542 --> 00:09:27.043
So what eight seventy nine

00:09:27.062 --> 00:09:28.504
is trying to bring to the

00:09:28.764 --> 00:09:30.725
to the to the masses is

00:09:31.226 --> 00:09:33.288
look for beyond the fact

00:09:33.308 --> 00:09:34.289
that we keep getting cut.

00:09:34.870 --> 00:09:35.309
We need to start

00:09:36.071 --> 00:09:37.071
incorporating inflation

00:09:37.270 --> 00:09:40.232
into the equation here

00:09:40.513 --> 00:09:41.894
because it has not occurred.

00:09:41.953 --> 00:09:43.173
And unfortunately,

00:09:43.215 --> 00:09:44.475
in the office space setting,

00:09:44.495 --> 00:09:45.336
so it's not just therapists,

00:09:45.355 --> 00:09:47.397
but anyone paid on that fee schedule,

00:09:47.417 --> 00:09:48.716
which is a lot of physicians as well.

00:09:49.918 --> 00:09:52.139
Our schedule has been frozen

00:09:52.178 --> 00:09:52.980
from any kind of

00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:54.921
inflationary update at all.

00:09:55.500 --> 00:09:56.923
So again, same thing.

00:09:57.562 --> 00:09:58.423
You have the bill number.

00:09:59.544 --> 00:10:00.725
We need to get folks to

00:10:00.745 --> 00:10:03.408
understand that our fee

00:10:03.448 --> 00:10:04.529
schedule is not keeping up

00:10:04.549 --> 00:10:05.150
with inflation.

00:10:05.230 --> 00:10:06.451
And again, for the long term,

00:10:07.533 --> 00:10:08.774
we have to at least start

00:10:08.813 --> 00:10:10.716
getting to where every year

00:10:11.636 --> 00:10:12.337
it's a given that

00:10:12.597 --> 00:10:13.839
providers' expenses are

00:10:13.859 --> 00:10:15.181
going up and that payment

00:10:15.201 --> 00:10:16.001
should go up to at least

00:10:16.022 --> 00:10:17.003
try to offset some of that.

00:10:17.503 --> 00:10:17.682
Yeah.

00:10:18.004 --> 00:10:18.624
And we'll reiterate,

00:10:18.663 --> 00:10:19.946
many PTs feel sometimes

00:10:19.985 --> 00:10:21.548
like policy is someone else's job.

00:10:21.567 --> 00:10:23.168
It's not just the job of big

00:10:23.208 --> 00:10:24.190
organizations or people

00:10:24.210 --> 00:10:25.272
whose job it is to go to the Hill.

00:10:25.312 --> 00:10:26.092
It's crucial for every

00:10:26.133 --> 00:10:27.995
clinician to get involved

00:10:28.134 --> 00:10:29.756
when representatives can

00:10:29.797 --> 00:10:30.957
hear these messages from

00:10:31.018 --> 00:10:32.580
multiple voices in their

00:10:32.620 --> 00:10:34.020
communities from patients

00:10:34.061 --> 00:10:35.263
that may or may not vote to

00:10:35.302 --> 00:10:36.364
get them back into office.

00:10:36.884 --> 00:10:37.823
They tend to they tend to

00:10:37.864 --> 00:10:38.784
pay attention and it is an

00:10:38.825 --> 00:10:40.245
effective way that they can

00:10:40.264 --> 00:10:40.946
make an impact.

00:10:41.846 --> 00:10:43.447
If I asked you to look into a crystal ball,

00:10:43.886 --> 00:10:46.967
if PTs and OTs don't take action now,

00:10:47.528 --> 00:10:48.707
where might you see our

00:10:48.748 --> 00:10:49.509
profession or our

00:10:49.528 --> 00:10:51.389
professions in five years?

00:10:51.408 --> 00:10:51.610
I mean,

00:10:51.769 --> 00:10:53.250
I don't want to I don't want to

00:10:53.289 --> 00:10:55.010
rattle the saber and fear monger,

00:10:55.030 --> 00:10:56.270
but you do want to make

00:10:56.291 --> 00:10:57.532
sure people understand the

00:10:57.591 --> 00:10:58.831
tension in the story over

00:10:58.871 --> 00:10:59.812
things that might happen.

00:11:00.153 --> 00:11:01.472
What's at stake if if some

00:11:01.493 --> 00:11:02.192
of these legislative

00:11:02.232 --> 00:11:03.254
efforts don't succeed?

00:11:04.092 --> 00:11:05.095
Well, here's what we're looking at,

00:11:05.875 --> 00:11:07.799
and I appreciate your point

00:11:07.820 --> 00:11:10.403
about let's not get too morose,

00:11:10.443 --> 00:11:12.567
but let's look at what the

00:11:12.628 --> 00:11:13.490
trends currently are.

00:11:14.010 --> 00:11:15.011
I mentioned this a little bit earlier.

00:11:16.476 --> 00:11:17.958
wants to go to pt school in

00:11:18.078 --> 00:11:20.701
in five years if uh um if

00:11:20.761 --> 00:11:22.443
the situation is that you

00:11:22.484 --> 00:11:24.306
continuously get cut and

00:11:24.645 --> 00:11:25.626
and and oh by the way in

00:11:25.667 --> 00:11:26.989
five years if anyone thinks

00:11:27.028 --> 00:11:28.250
that tuition will go down

00:11:28.269 --> 00:11:29.731
you're I'd love to talk to

00:11:29.772 --> 00:11:30.471
you I don't know how you

00:11:30.491 --> 00:11:31.953
would get that so whatever

00:11:32.114 --> 00:11:33.875
the cost is today every

00:11:33.916 --> 00:11:34.996
year from now in the next

00:11:35.037 --> 00:11:35.977
five years the cost to

00:11:35.998 --> 00:11:37.080
become a pt will go up

00:11:37.539 --> 00:11:39.601
But also every year or the next five years,

00:11:40.062 --> 00:11:42.544
the salaries to be a PT may

00:11:42.585 --> 00:11:43.846
not be moving much.

00:11:44.225 --> 00:11:45.748
And again, as those widen,

00:11:45.768 --> 00:11:47.428
we're going to have a workforce problem.

00:11:47.970 --> 00:11:50.111
And the APTA published a

00:11:50.131 --> 00:11:52.313
nice paper kind of highlighting that, hey,

00:11:52.333 --> 00:11:53.034
we're starting to see

00:11:53.434 --> 00:11:54.416
projecting shortages.

00:11:54.895 --> 00:11:56.898
And I think that will only exacerbate,

00:11:56.957 --> 00:11:59.581
actually, because we have a pipeline.

00:11:59.961 --> 00:12:00.802
that we're used to getting

00:12:00.841 --> 00:12:02.243
new grads every year to

00:12:02.283 --> 00:12:03.644
replace people who retire

00:12:03.803 --> 00:12:05.585
or cut back on their hours.

00:12:05.904 --> 00:12:06.686
But what happens when your

00:12:06.725 --> 00:12:07.566
pipeline dries up?

00:12:08.687 --> 00:12:12.769
And also, separate from the workforce,

00:12:12.789 --> 00:12:13.789
let's just talk about access.

00:12:16.751 --> 00:12:17.572
Our members are closing

00:12:17.613 --> 00:12:19.014
clinics that have twenty

00:12:19.053 --> 00:12:19.975
patients a day coming in.

00:12:20.514 --> 00:12:21.556
We're not we're not closing

00:12:21.596 --> 00:12:24.337
clinics because we have no

00:12:24.398 --> 00:12:25.259
one coming in and there's

00:12:25.278 --> 00:12:26.899
no there's no demand for

00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:28.721
our services in our country.

00:12:28.740 --> 00:12:31.703
There is absolutely a chunk

00:12:31.803 --> 00:12:32.945
of baby boomers coming into

00:12:32.985 --> 00:12:35.326
Medicare every single day, and they

00:12:36.027 --> 00:12:37.168
they will guzzle pt

00:12:37.207 --> 00:12:38.308
resources if they can and

00:12:38.328 --> 00:12:39.208
services if they can

00:12:39.490 --> 00:12:41.730
however if the payment we

00:12:41.750 --> 00:12:42.711
get for those services

00:12:42.772 --> 00:12:44.833
can't meet um our costs

00:12:45.173 --> 00:12:45.734
we're gonna have to shut

00:12:45.774 --> 00:12:47.535
down clinics so when you

00:12:47.556 --> 00:12:48.535
have a service that people

00:12:48.596 --> 00:12:51.158
want and will come in and

00:12:51.278 --> 00:12:52.919
you have the volume but you

00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:53.820
actually have to close the

00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:55.802
clinic anyway what's what's

00:12:55.822 --> 00:12:56.402
going to happen to your

00:12:56.442 --> 00:12:57.182
patients who need those

00:12:57.222 --> 00:12:58.464
low-cost services um

00:12:58.484 --> 00:12:59.244
they're going to fall more

00:12:59.825 --> 00:13:00.465
they're going to have more

00:13:00.504 --> 00:13:01.125
surgeries than they

00:13:01.166 --> 00:13:02.125
probably needed they're

00:13:02.145 --> 00:13:04.008
going to be less independent

00:13:04.830 --> 00:13:07.152
Maybe they're living with their kids more.

00:13:07.192 --> 00:13:09.572
Maybe they're living in nursing homes.

00:13:09.833 --> 00:13:11.475
I mean, think about this.

00:13:11.534 --> 00:13:12.495
If every household,

00:13:12.514 --> 00:13:13.176
there's not enough

00:13:13.216 --> 00:13:16.278
Generation X folks to tell the boomers,

00:13:16.298 --> 00:13:17.078
you can come live with me.

00:13:17.839 --> 00:13:18.679
And when someone does,

00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:19.360
if they're in that

00:13:19.500 --> 00:13:20.801
situation where they can do that,

00:13:21.522 --> 00:13:22.623
someone's got to stay at home with them.

00:13:22.663 --> 00:13:23.363
Now you're taking people out

00:13:23.383 --> 00:13:23.964
of the workforce.

00:13:23.984 --> 00:13:25.163
There's a whole add-on effect.

00:13:25.203 --> 00:13:27.105
And I know I'm maybe drawing

00:13:27.125 --> 00:13:28.206
some lines that you think, OK,

00:13:28.287 --> 00:13:29.807
that might be a stretch, but it's not.

00:13:29.908 --> 00:13:31.068
When we're talking about not

00:13:31.109 --> 00:13:32.490
having an independent,

00:13:32.549 --> 00:13:33.890
healthy senior population,

00:13:34.650 --> 00:13:35.552
these things happen and if

00:13:35.572 --> 00:13:36.773
you talk to anyone with an

00:13:36.893 --> 00:13:39.014
older uh a person in their

00:13:39.054 --> 00:13:40.076
home or they're they're a

00:13:40.115 --> 00:13:40.976
caretaker for someone

00:13:40.996 --> 00:13:42.097
elderly they are probably

00:13:42.138 --> 00:13:42.778
shaking their heads to know

00:13:42.817 --> 00:13:43.499
exactly what I'm talking

00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:45.341
about yeah yeah when access

00:13:45.380 --> 00:13:47.442
goes down uh when

00:13:47.523 --> 00:13:48.884
reimbursement goes down

00:13:49.083 --> 00:13:50.105
that is going to close

00:13:50.144 --> 00:13:51.245
clinics and that's going to

00:13:51.306 --> 00:13:52.326
reduce access and then

00:13:52.346 --> 00:13:53.368
quality of life I mean we

00:13:53.388 --> 00:13:54.729
want to start with finish

00:13:54.749 --> 00:13:55.370
with the end which is

00:13:55.409 --> 00:13:56.971
quality of life will go

00:13:57.010 --> 00:13:58.692
down for those who need it the most

00:13:59.613 --> 00:14:00.234
Some people,

00:14:00.573 --> 00:14:02.716
I ran into some bigwigs this

00:14:02.755 --> 00:14:03.176
last weekend.

00:14:03.196 --> 00:14:04.096
I was away at a conference.

00:14:04.336 --> 00:14:05.576
Some people actually, like bigwigs,

00:14:05.596 --> 00:14:06.298
people who run companies,

00:14:06.357 --> 00:14:07.177
listen to this show.

00:14:07.198 --> 00:14:08.779
Wow, amazing.

00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:09.379
Who knew?

00:14:09.960 --> 00:14:12.841
APTQI is an organization

00:14:12.861 --> 00:14:13.582
that brings together

00:14:13.623 --> 00:14:14.964
organizations to do a lot

00:14:14.984 --> 00:14:16.544
of the work that Nick is talking about.

00:14:16.585 --> 00:14:17.345
So Nick, I'll give you,

00:14:17.625 --> 00:14:18.706
since we know big fancy,

00:14:18.745 --> 00:14:19.767
sometimes big fancy people

00:14:19.787 --> 00:14:20.547
listen to this as well.

00:14:21.028 --> 00:14:22.008
What's your pitch for

00:14:22.188 --> 00:14:23.269
organizations who are not

00:14:23.308 --> 00:14:26.171
members of APTQI of why they should join?

00:14:26.270 --> 00:14:27.331
What would they get out of it?

00:14:27.371 --> 00:14:28.533
What would our profession get out of it?

00:14:29.133 --> 00:14:29.373
Sure.

00:14:29.413 --> 00:14:31.813
So if you're a leader of a

00:14:31.874 --> 00:14:33.455
company that and it doesn't

00:14:33.475 --> 00:14:34.676
even have to be a company

00:14:34.696 --> 00:14:35.976
that is a provider of care.

00:14:36.076 --> 00:14:36.736
If you're a leader of a

00:14:36.797 --> 00:14:38.317
company that has any stake

00:14:38.337 --> 00:14:38.918
in the profession,

00:14:38.957 --> 00:14:41.639
maybe you sell equipment to therapists,

00:14:41.658 --> 00:14:43.279
maybe you sell software to therapists,

00:14:44.061 --> 00:14:45.421
maybe you sell a platform

00:14:45.461 --> 00:14:46.461
or you have a digital platform.

00:14:47.101 --> 00:14:48.482
whatever it happens to be.

00:14:48.883 --> 00:14:51.484
If as therapy goes, your company goes,

00:14:51.764 --> 00:14:53.965
there's a place for you at APTQI.

00:14:54.404 --> 00:14:55.605
And what I mean by that is

00:14:55.686 --> 00:14:57.287
we have a structure to

00:14:57.307 --> 00:14:58.067
where we have membership.

00:14:58.147 --> 00:14:59.106
If you're a provider group,

00:14:59.187 --> 00:14:59.788
we have a structure.

00:15:00.927 --> 00:15:02.089
We have a membership tier if you're

00:15:02.828 --> 00:15:03.929
sort of like a vendor for

00:15:04.269 --> 00:15:05.171
therapy providers.

00:15:05.711 --> 00:15:07.732
And what we do with our members is one,

00:15:07.773 --> 00:15:09.073
we educate them on what's going on.

00:15:09.553 --> 00:15:10.014
But two,

00:15:10.615 --> 00:15:12.917
we take all of them to DC and we

00:15:12.956 --> 00:15:14.138
have them talk directly to

00:15:14.158 --> 00:15:14.938
lawmakers and say,

00:15:15.058 --> 00:15:15.999
this is what's going on.

00:15:16.038 --> 00:15:17.019
So you were mentioning,

00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:18.740
I just got back from DC yesterday.

00:15:19.341 --> 00:15:20.643
I was there with about seven

00:15:20.842 --> 00:15:23.524
of our CEOs and I'm going back next week.

00:15:23.565 --> 00:15:24.625
The plan is about, you know,

00:15:24.645 --> 00:15:26.167
another five or six of our

00:15:26.187 --> 00:15:27.768
companies are sending representatives to,

00:15:28.089 --> 00:15:29.649
and we will take you on a hill.

00:15:29.669 --> 00:15:30.850
What we do with your dues money is

00:15:31.370 --> 00:15:34.133
We, you know, we get materials.

00:15:34.173 --> 00:15:34.953
We get, you know,

00:15:36.754 --> 00:15:38.436
lobbyists that help push our cause.

00:15:38.495 --> 00:15:39.777
And we take you on the hill and we say,

00:15:40.057 --> 00:15:40.878
this is what we need to do.

00:15:41.278 --> 00:15:42.359
And this is we need to talk to you.

00:15:42.458 --> 00:15:43.440
And this is what we need to say.

00:15:43.460 --> 00:15:45.721
And it doesn't matter if

00:15:45.740 --> 00:15:46.442
you've never done it before.

00:15:46.682 --> 00:15:47.802
We will show you what to do.

00:15:49.908 --> 00:15:52.571
A-P-T-Q-I dot com is where

00:15:52.591 --> 00:15:53.792
you can find out more information.

00:15:54.371 --> 00:15:55.033
Always informative.

00:15:55.052 --> 00:15:55.692
Thanks for keeping us

00:15:55.732 --> 00:15:56.774
abreast of the situation.

00:15:57.875 --> 00:15:58.895
Would love to hear more.

00:15:58.916 --> 00:15:59.556
Maybe we'll bring you back

00:15:59.596 --> 00:16:01.217
in a couple of months to

00:16:01.258 --> 00:16:02.337
hear where these things

00:16:02.357 --> 00:16:03.739
that we talked about now,

00:16:03.980 --> 00:16:04.720
how they played out.

00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:05.400
Update,

00:16:05.721 --> 00:16:06.761
and then I know this is going to be

00:16:06.782 --> 00:16:07.461
a shock to the audience.

00:16:07.481 --> 00:16:08.283
I bet there'll be something

00:16:08.322 --> 00:16:09.323
new we need to pay attention to.

00:16:09.364 --> 00:16:09.543
Probably.

00:16:12.405 --> 00:16:13.566
Good job security for you,

00:16:13.586 --> 00:16:14.746
but that just highlights

00:16:14.767 --> 00:16:15.687
that there's always stuff

00:16:15.726 --> 00:16:16.467
going on that we need to

00:16:16.488 --> 00:16:17.368
pay attention to and we

00:16:17.427 --> 00:16:19.609
have to stay vigilant or we

00:16:19.629 --> 00:16:21.409
don't get represented.

00:16:21.831 --> 00:16:22.490
That's it in a nutshell.