I'm looking for information that show how physical therapy practices overcome their biggest challenges.

As I've interviewed PT's, I have learned that there are many day-to-day problems that reduce productivity and profit.

I’m basically looking for problems that PT’s are having.. (so I can hopefully develop software what will solve them).

-- What is the most frustrating part of your day? What are the biggest problems you face on a day-to-day basis?

I'm hoping to publish these results in the PT in Motion publication to raise awareness of issues in the profession and work to provide solutions.

I think for a lot of ST's that are looking for employment or insurance paid work, it's the inconsistency of requirements with registration to be eligable for the roles.

I often see roles advertised that states registration with '?' is essential, when the fact is 'in my experience' over the years you can regester with any of them if; (1) you hold industry recognised qualification(s) to whatever the standerd is and then you are eligable for;(2) Insurance.

So if you are registered with someone relevent in the industry you are in, you therefore are qualified for the role and are insured to carry out the work.
Therefore why does it matter that they favour one over another, when it makes not one jot of difference of how capable the therapist is.

On a side note: anyone gets qualified to become an employed ST has either not done their research into work availablity or been mis sold the qualification. It's a great role if you have the skills and drive to succeed for yourself.

I can't understand why STs are searching for the "holy grail" of insurance work, at a time when insurance companies are reducing their claim payouts, they take 90 days to pay, require reports and paperwork which all eats into the time of the therapist.

ST is a great role, but you have to market yourself effectively and with the greatest of respect, many do not, many simply list qualifications and memberships of professional association and do not set themselves apart from the "crowd". Many lack passion for the industry, many treat the industry as a means of "what can it do for me" instead of "what can I do to promote the industry".

Regulation is another holy grail, ST got regulation via voluntary route and not enough STs sought to be registered, instead still waiting for STAT REGS, which despite our singing from the rooftops with official givernment paperwork, STs still think it will happen .....IT WONT....STO has published responses from GOVERNMENT.

for the sake of argument, lets imagine STAT REGS has just happened.....what now.....the flood gates will not open and clients will not be beating down our doors....WE WILL STILL NEED TO MARKET OURSELVES EFFECTIVELY, we will still be competing for clients with other health professions, we will still be getting derisory comments from "evidence based" Physiotherapy, and the insurance companies will change their small print to exclude our treatments.


IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE FOLKS, if you are not successful as an ST, it is for one of only 3 reasons;

1; YOUR COURSE DID NOT PREPARE YOU SUFFICIENTLY FOR WORK IN THE INDUSTRY

2; YOU ARE NOT MARKETING YOURSELF EFFECTIVELY

OR

3; YOU ARE NOT VERY GOOD AT YOUR JOB

for the record, many insurance comanies recognise my qualifications, many will pay for sports massage treatments, many already work with STO members, some recognise CNHC registrants.

Then add into the equation that a "major" in its own words, professional association has written down in black and white that their courses DO NOT meet National Occupational Standards, ie does not prepare you for what the industry wants, it then goes further by saying "once you have completed a degree programme, you should go and search out an UNPAID internship to gain experience".....WTF

STs are being employe by NHS trusts as .....PYHSIO ASSISTANTS on circa £14-15k, there are some employment opportunities in sport, there are advertised jobs, all paying minimum wage or just above, the FA have changed their courses now to reflect SPORTS THERAPY and recently several universities and colleges have worked with STO to develop their courses to meet what the industry needs.

So we have a choice now, we can chase the holy grail of regulation and insurance work or we can get off our proverbial arses and get out there and represent OUR INDUSTRY
by giving talks to clubs,
demonstrations of our skill set to sports teams
organising event cover
demonstrating passion for the industry
attending conferences
supporting our professional association (less than 25% of STO newsletters are opened) (less than 10% of STO members bothered to fill in a survey to give us direction for our fight over the next few years)
BY WEARING STO CLOTHING to events and talks
by using STO discount codes to purchase our products
by tweeting and FB ing our businesses effectively
by building relationships with other healthcare providers
by genrally getting of our arses and FINDING WORK OPPORTUNITIES as they will not land in our lap if we sit at home

and no disrespect to anyone personally, these are my thoughts and not those of STO.

in the words of Lord Kitchener YOUR INDUSTRY NEEDS YOU

Spot on Gaz.

If I hear one more SMT or ST say "I want what you have" with no concept of the work that goes into being successful and wanting it handing on a plate to them, I may kill someone! lol

I can understand some people wanting employment with the "security???" that goes with it. Spot the ? marks!!
Personally I enjoy the little part-time, side projects that come my way. A different environment, different challenges and sometimes working with a team is good. BUT there is no way I would want to be employed full-time, unless someone was throwing stupid anoumts of money at me, hint hint! lol.

Insurance wise though; Pru Health have been good, payments usually recievd within 6 weeks of invoice and minimal paperwork.

Something else that "grinds my gears"... You did ask Chris!
Is other professions that are HPC and have supposed strict codes & ethics etc etc, being able to promote themselves as Sports Injury Specialists!!
I can do some Spinal Manipulation, but it is far from my specialty.

most frustrating .....

When people want something for nothing all of the time, when they don't value your services, when they will take all of the free offers, but then not be prepared to spend a few quid to fix/improve themselves, when they begrudge the fee that is being charged (and I don't charge much!).

If only they would see that by paying for an occasional treatment themselves, this allows us to do some pro-bono work at events/club nights etc.

The only thing that frustrates me is the 'no-shows'. Thankfully few and far between, so not usually a problem. How do you resolve this, you cant. Tried everything.

I think you will always find frustrations in anything you do, but maybe I have been very very fortunate because I have never found anything else frustrating as a sports therapist (ok apart from people who ARENT sports therapists calling themselves one - professional ethics out the window as Marv says!)

I have never wanted to work for anyone else, can't see the appeal of slogging for someone else. No offence but I would NEVER work for £20k per year, in football or any other sport for that matter, when the sports people are paid an absolute fortune, and its you that's keeping them there!

Self employment is def the way forward, and is the main reason that Sports Therapists train in the first place. There are some high profile jobs in sport; I know sports therapists at, amongst others, Man City and Southampton, and tons in other sports, but the vast majority prefer to be able to earn the average full time wage, for part-time hours, and then pick what they want to do, whether it be freelance in sport, teaching, assessing, or anything for that matter.

One of my main frustrations is that I am not a full time sports therapist, as I really do miss it, but then, someone has to train them....

The "no-shows" really annoy me as well. I have now taken to texting each client the day before with a reminder of their appointment and time. It is time consuming but defiantly lowers the number of no shows I get....Might work for others.

I agree with what you guys are saying about being a 'self-employed' ST. It is a role I love and gives you the freedom to develop in a unique way and also experience other related roles, whether sports clubs, teaching etc.

BUT I also really enjoy having opportunnities to Freelance or be Employed 'Casual' or 'Part-time' when the right job comes up, for new challenges and it can aid your own motivation and also develop more links and future opportunnities.
And to not be considered for a role as you are not with the correct VOLUNTARY ORGANISATION frustrates me no end.
I am trained Above NOS and more than meet Qualifications & Experience requirement advertised for jobs in the past, that I was not considered for as I was not registered with X voluntary organisation.
When all registration organisation are voluntary and work in the same way, Qualified - Insured - Registered

So a less experience, less qualified candidate stands a chance as they happen to have registered with the right one for that job.

Some will say register with several/all to widen your chances, but why should anyone have to have that high expense for what is essentially use of a logo on your website and thats about it.
STO not included in that last statement.

I have worked my bottom off to achieve what I have so far and when opportunnites arise that I am suited to, I feel I have earned the right to be be considered on merrit, and have earned the right to choose if I would like some employed work if the opportunnity is there and not to be hindered by lack of a specific Voluntary registration.

Texting them does work, sometimes they genuinely forget!

I think re employment in Sports Therapy, this has never appealed to me either. I much prefer to be my own boss. I can understand the frustration of wanting to get a job only to be told you aren't a member of the right organisation though.

I think its down to ignorance though, some people don't know any difference. We actually told the keynote speaker that we had arranged for our conference that he couldn't deliver his talk, as it was totally against what we at STO are fighting for, which is employment based on ability, not the letters after your name. Needless to say he withdrew from the conference.

I have lost track of the amount of ST's I know that work in sport, that aren't members of all the associations, some belong to none, so it's down to the person putting out the advert, and having just seen something relating to a role in womens football, and the response that our very own Gary Benson sent, its down to us to challenge it, and offer a solution, ie, fully qualified and insured people who are capable to do what they are trained for.

Apart from that there's nothing else really that frustrates me about being a sports therapist, I like the hours, the work, the people, the opportunities it brings and most of all the changes I can make to peoples pain and problems.