Dana Strauss (00:01) Welcome back to episode 16 of the Future Proof PT podcast. In today's episode, Alex and I are introducing the concept of having the explorer's mindset in therapy practice. That's what we think of as a perspective that actively seeks out new horizons in healthcare delivery rather than simply refining existing approaches. These are quite different things.

This framework helps us understand why some practitioners and organizations thrive amid healthcare transformation while others struggle to adapt. An explorer in therapy practice isn't just someone who stays current with research, but they're someone who fundamentally questions assumptions about care delivery and business models and the profession's role in the evolving healthcare ecosystem. we're...

examining what this mindset looks like in action and why it matters now more than ever. The contrast between explorers and other mindsets became more evident as we discussed several key themes. So we're talking about first emerging research and clinical implications. We're taking a little bit different direction here, but when we think more about it kind of thematically, it isn't so foreign to other things that we've discussed, just a little bit different.

So Alex highlighted some fascinating developments in cellular level research regarding mitochondrial DNA's influence on movement disorders. And he didn't bring it up just because it's academic knowledge. He's trying to make that connection as an opportunity to fundamentally reimagine treatment approaches for neurological conditions when it comes to physical therapy. Listen and hear more about that.

Explorers actively seek out this type of emerging science and consider how it might transform their clinical reasoning, while others might wait for it to be distilled into standardized protocols Then we talked about reimagining the patient journey. That's a theme that's come up in prior podcast episodes, but this has a bit of a different twist.

Dana Strauss (02:04) we talked about reimagining the patient journey. In this discussion, we talked about how differently the patient experience can be structured depending on how you approach a treatment protocol and consider what a patient journey could look like. So we related this to what an explorer might ask, something like does a patient with low back pain truly need 16 to 20 visits or more of hands-on care?

Or could we achieve even better outcomes more efficiently with six visits or eight visits followed by digital support or hybrid care or potentially follow-up connection with that patient. And we're not talking about it from the perspective of reducing care. We're talking about optimizing the patient's journey to achieve either pain relief or...

independence or whatever the end goal is of the therapy treatment protocol based on the prognosis of course. How do we achieve it more efficiently? And that's really suited very well to the explorer who might be more open to and ready for value-based care models. Alex paints a scenario of two demographically identical patients receiving dramatically different care paths and illustrates this.

during our conversation. And he asks, know, do these divergent approaches coexist within a single practice? And this is something that, you know, practice owners face today. Can you simultaneously operate under multiple care models with different incentives? Or does transformation require fully committing to a new approach? Can you be straddling fee for service and value-based care?

This is a question therapists are not going to be the first to explore. Perhaps the most striking insight was Alex's observation about how therapists help patients recognize and build upon their strengths, yet collectively we struggle to do the same for our profession. The gap between the actual value therapists provide and our ability to communicate that value creates the perfect opportunity for outside disruption. Ideally,

we would disrupt internally as innovative thinkers within our own profession. Therapy disrupting itself. know historically disruption happens. And we talk a little bit about what that might look like. So explorers don't just deliver excellent care. They can articulate its value in terms that resonate with patients, payers, and health systems. And this ability to translate clinical and business languages is increasingly

becoming a differentiator for successful practices, therapy, or other types of practices.

Dana Strauss (04:46) Then Alex and I talk about balancing evidence with innovation. The tension between evidence-based practice and innovation emerged as another key theme of the pod. So while our profession rightfully values research-backed approaches, explorers recognize that sometimes waiting for more evidence becomes an excuse to avoid necessary change. They balance

rigorous clinical standards with the willingness to thoughtfully experiment with new care delivery models before all the evidence is in. When we talk about value-based care, a lot of the models are innovation models. They take a hypothesis about what a change in certain incentives might be and what it might create in terms of behavior change, and we test that over a period of time.

their physicians and health systems are doing this regularly now, right? They're participating in innovative models over a period of time because they feel that they can take the potential levers of the models and be successful.

Dana Strauss (05:50) Then Alex and I talk about disruptors that are impacting the therapy market, whether we are aware of it or not. And we examined a bit about why therapy point solutions are picking up traction with payers and health systems. So the external disruptors aren't succeeding in whatever way that they are because they provide necessarily better clinical care than therapists do.

But they're succeeding because they've packaged therapy expertise in ways that solve specific problems for specific stakeholders. They have found ways to take the inefficiencies and the opportunities to think differently about how care is delivered by therapists for patients. And they have taken a different mindset for packaging those services.

So by doing so, they're speaking that language of value efficiency and outcomes in a way that resonates with stakeholders that are looking for those solutions. And explorers will study these market dynamics, not to fear disruption, but because they want to learn from it. They recognize that therapists have the clinical expertise. These companies are trying to replicate. And what's needed is business and innovation mindset to leverage the knowledge effectively.

Alex does an assessment of readiness for value-based care by recognizing that perhaps, you know, lot of therapists are not ready for value-based care contracting and that there's really a mindset shift that has to happen. So it's not just about learning the mechanics of participating in a new type of program, but it's about reimagining what a therapy practice means in a healthcare system that's increasingly rewarding.

⁓ long-term or episodic or longitudinal outcomes rather than volume of care delivered. Explorers are not going to wait for perfect clarity before taking steps towards this future. Alex has a lottery ticket parable that you should enjoy around this topic and talks about how the profession has been hesitant to proactively engage with healthcare transformation.