Going Digital: A Brighter Future For Physical Therapists

Curv Health Team

By 

Curv Health Team

Published 

Apr 14, 2023

Going Digital: A Brighter Future For Physical Therapists

Why Physical Therapists are Considering Digital Practices

As a Physical Therapist, providing care that aligns with your values and vision for the professions is always the goal. But it’s much easier when you’re your own boss, which is no easy undertaking. Traditionally, going into business for yourself and starting an in-person clinic requires a huge financial investment. However, by going online, your dream of owning your private practice becomes much more affordable and realistic.

Let’s look at look at the realities of the profession, the benefits of starting your practice, and how digital solutions come into the picture.

The Current State of In-Person Physical Therapy

Working in private practice as a Musculoskeletal Physical Therapist can be both a rewarding and frustrating experience. Especially if you are a clinician who values taking their time to thoroughly assess, support, and speak to your clients.

A lot of times, this frustration has to do with the financial compensation structure that’s found in the majority of private clinics, especially in Canada. In many cases, you’re paid on a fee-for-service basis, and receive a set amount per appointment or a percentage of the appointment cost. This means, for both you and the clinic owner, more client visits leads to more financial gain.

But we’re here to ask the question: are there ways to improve this system?

A physical therapist providing manual manipulation in a clinic setting

How Physical Therapy Has Changed

We’ve all felt the brunt of putting profits at the forefront of our profession. For physios like yourself, this includes the promotion of short duration, hands-on techniques and passive modalities, to the physical design of clinics (e.g., rooms separated only by curtains to allow for easier movement back-and-forth between clients). In short, private practice has normalized overbooking and committing less time to attend to clients.

Navigating this system while continuing to provide high-quality, evidence-based care is no easy tasks. Because of this, you wouldn’t be the first Physical Therapist to feel like you’ve fallen short of providing the level of care your clients deserve.

The Idea of Your Own Private Practice

I’m sure you’ve thought to yourself how great it would be to own your own private practice, which would allow you to deliver care according to your own principles and values. However, the cost of starting and operating a clinic is high. And for most, without the guarantee of success, you might be hesitant or unwilling to compromise your financial situation and leave your full-time job.

If this describes your solution, you’re not alone.

How Does Digital Care Align With Physical Therapy?

How we see it,  physical therapy shouldn’t be limited by highly specialized hands-on evaluation and treatment. Instead, we can look at high-quality physical therapy as grounded in expert-level communication, which fits in incredibly well with our increasingly digital world.

Digital platforms and apps like Curv Health allow you to own and operate a private practice. You can schedule appointments, host video calls, send exercise programs, and chat with clients through instant messaging. In other words, it lends itself extremely well to an interactive, coaching-style model of physical therapy.

It also removes the stress of jumping between multiple clients in person. Instead you have the time to speak one-on-one with clients without interruption, and give them the time they deserve.

A Physical Therapist looking at the schedule on the Curv Health iPhone app which serves as an overview of their online private practice

In Closing

Digital physical therapy (or maybe you know it as virtual care or tele-rehabilitation) won’t replace in-person treatment completely. But for Physical Therapists like you, empowering clients with the knowledge and tools they need to understand and manage their condition on their own terms is what makes the job meaningful. And that can happen digitally, too.

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