Our Patient Visits Have Increased by 270%

I started my first outpatient physical therapy clinic in June 2002, in a small town outside of San Antonio, TX. My partner John joined the practice in September 2003 and assisted in opening an additional clinic in the San Antonio medical center. Initially, new patients were coming in the door because of our good relationships with the area doctors; however, we often found ourselves working over 80 hours per week, seeing patients during the week and working nights and weekends to catch up on “administrative” tasks. Additionally, we found that as we got busier, we were not able to get out and do any marketing, causing our patient load to fall. As our numbers fell, we were able to get out and knock on doors but were frustrated at the thought that we had to become caterers to doctors in the area in order to increase our business. Nonetheless, our numbers would rise again forcing us back in the clinic to treat. Over time, our patient visits looked like a roller coaster and we were working ourselves into the ground.

We first heard about Measurable Solutions through their mail outs, but did not sign up for the new patient course until after receiving numerous letters. We went to The New Patient Course in July 2004 and were a little unsure as to how well the program would work once we got back. Despite our skepticism, we realized that we could not continue to work at the same pace and hope to have any quality of life. We also realized that we were missing an effective administrative structure and that most of the responsibilities were falling back on the owners, despite the fact that we were treating patients over 12 hours a day. Consequently, we signed up for the Administrative Courses in hopes that we could learn how to set up an effective administrative structure and executive staff to help us run our business, while also decreasing the number of hours we were working. After completing the New Patient Course in July, we quickly returned to begin working on the Management Technology Courses in August. Because we were already working long hours, understaffed and faced some staff resistance to implementing the technology, we did not incorporate all the technology as quickly or as completely as we should have initially. Despite slow progress in getting everything implemented, each time we “added a piece to the puzzle” we saw immediate growth. Finally, we realized that we just had to make the decision that we were going to get our top executives trained and fully implement the technology that we had learned from Measurable Solutions. We also realized that because we thought the process of getting everyone trained and the technology implemented was going to be a long one, that WE were making it a longer and more difficult process than it actually was.

Since finishing our course work at Measurable Solutions, our patient visits have increased by over 270%. We have also added a satellite clinic, bought land for future growth and are now treating less than 10 hours per week (by our choice and love for the profession, not because we have to). Interestingly, we have also found that our patient visits actually increase more when we are not in the clinic because we are truly able to run our business in a more effective manner. Currently, we are spending more time planning for the future growth and viability of our company, while allowing our staff to run the daily operations. It is a great feeling to have our life back and to know that our practice can run independently with, or without us being present.

Chad Elms, Owner

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