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00:00:01
Tony Maritato, Total Therapy Solution
13 Plays30 days ago
In this episode, Steven sits down with Tony Maritato
Learn more about SaRA Health:
https://www.sarahealth.com/
Check out Total Therapy Solution:
https://www.youtube.com/c/TotalTherapySolution
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Transcript
Introduction to 'The Disruptors' Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to another episode of The Disruptors, where we're arming you with the tools you need to innovate within the physical therapy space by highlighting those who have come before you. I'm your host, Stephen Cohen. Now, let's get into it.
00:00:15
Speaker
All right, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of The Disruptors, where we're highlighting innovators within the PT industry in order to give you bite size and usable tactical advice to take forward in your innovation journey.
Tony Maritato's Unique Career Journey
00:00:29
Speaker
Today, I'm blessed to be joined by Tony Maritato. Tony, would you please give folks who somehow don't know you or or of you a brief intro, and then we'll hop right into it.
00:00:40
Speaker
Sure. Thanks, Steven. So yeah, my name is Tony Maritato. I'm a private practice owner. I'm a physical therapist. My kind of claim to fame that makes me a little different.
00:00:51
Speaker
I actually owned a physical therapy clinic before I became a physical therapist, but I came out of South Florida, Sarasota specifically. i love physical therapy. I still treat patients, but I probably love the business of physical therapy a little bit more.
00:01:06
Speaker
Oh, I love that. We're going to have dive into that. Yeah. I've selfishly, ah I've thought about potentially going back and maybe even becoming a PTA after this is is all over. I don't think I have it in me to do the DPT.
00:01:21
Speaker
I think I'm um'm done with that level of schooling, but um maybe we'll we'll save that for for later. Sure. Okay. Oh, so much to get into already.
From Martial Arts to Physical Therapy
00:01:30
Speaker
So why physical therapy? Like how did you get into owning a practice? yeah What was that that journey like?
00:01:37
Speaker
Yeah. You know, I, I remember growing up as a kid, i i loved being active, but I was never into sports. So I was an only child. I never played any he organized sports through high school.
00:01:51
Speaker
I was in the visual arts and, and, um, performing arts programs. So for me, you know, being active, hang on,
00:02:04
Speaker
So sorry. um Being active yeah was really like my main thing. and And so I graduated high school. I fell in love with martial arts.
00:02:15
Speaker
I was doing Muay Thai and Kali and Jiu Jitsu. And I was traveling and I was teaching with my professors. I spent probably a decade just full time into martial arts.
00:02:27
Speaker
And at some point I said, I want to open a martial arts academy. That got me to say, hey, maybe I need a bachelor's degree. So I got a bachelor's degree in kinesiology. I've always been driven by like, what am I doing right now? And how can I i do the next level of what I'm doing?
00:02:44
Speaker
ah So while I was in school getting my bachelor's degree, I was introduced to physical therapy, fell in love with it, and then worked for a year at an outpatient hospital physical therapy clinic as an exercise tech aide.
00:02:59
Speaker
And I remember talking the director and i was like, hey, how do I open a physical therapy clinic? I want to own a physical therapy clinic. And of course, he gave me the story, you know, great guy. I love him to death. But he was like, well, first you have to become a physical therapist. That's, you know, seven more years of school.
00:03:16
Speaker
Then you start getting a job. You work for the hospital. You meet the doctors and then you open your own practice. I was like, no way. I am doing this. Within probably three months of that conversation, I quit the hospital.
Building a Practice and a Family
00:03:29
Speaker
got a little personal training studio on Siesta Key, started doing personal training, recruited a physical therapist, and I convinced her to just give me three months to start a physical therapy practice in my personal training studio.
00:03:42
Speaker
Now, 24 years later, she's been my wife. We have four boys. like We've grown the practice to five locations. We've done so much, but that's kind of how I got into physical therapy.
00:03:54
Speaker
That's, oh, that's an amazing story. Um, and a lot to unpack there. i really appreciate how you heard the, hey, you know do this for seven to 10 years and then think about it, and just said, nah, I don't think so. um I think there's a a valuable lesson there, but I want to go back to a bit before you said something that I think is x is is extremely valuable.
00:04:20
Speaker
um which is this mindset of of how can I continue to do that? How can I do this at the next level and keeping that in the forefront of your mind? And it sounds like you have created a framework in your mind that just thinks about, okay, like incremental steps and and improvement, which feels much more achievable versus okay, well, if I want to be here in like 15 years, how how do I get there, right?
00:04:50
Speaker
I think, is it, i don't know if it's Musk's quote, but you know people typically underestimate what they can get done in a year and overestimate what they can get done in 10.
00:05:01
Speaker
um And I think that you you have lived that based on on your trajectory. So how did you keep yourself grounded to just focusing, and say just with the air quotes, right?
00:05:15
Speaker
just on that next step. I think you have to love the process. You have to love what you're doing. You know, so for me, the goal doesn't really matter. It's what am I doing right now?
00:05:26
Speaker
Am I having fun? Am I enjoying this? Am I learning? Am I growing? And you start to realize there are some universal truths that just pull through everything. So whether I'm starting a physical therapy business, I'm treating a patient, I'm learning how to speak a new language. It doesn't matter. It's do I enjoy what I'm doing while I'm doing it?
00:05:46
Speaker
And Am I motivated? Am I am I pulled to doing the next thing as opposed to am I forcing myself to do the next thing?
00:05:58
Speaker
think it's really valuable. So so if I'm breaking it down into a framework, which I. I've been trained and I'm not going to unlearn that from my days in consulting.
00:06:10
Speaker
Right. So you have to love the process. And the way you think about that is breaking that down. And do I enjoy this process? Do I love what I'm doing, which may be you know pretty similar? And then am I pulled in this direction?
00:06:25
Speaker
Right. And so think as folks are are listening and thinking about trying to find their thing that they want to go and and expand upon. i think that's a really good set of questions to really boil it back down to two, right?
00:06:39
Speaker
Do I love doing this process? And am I being consistently pulled in that direction, which really probably is one, right? Do I like, or do I love doing this? um and And if so, then maybe I need to figure out how to do more of it.
00:06:52
Speaker
Right. And, and that's it. That's, Wow, we're we're five minutes in and already have a ah really good piece here. So I'm excited about the the next, you the rest of the the time we have together.
00:07:07
Speaker
So you started a practice by recruiting APT, who is is now your wife and four boys. That's gotta be, I'm sure you've patched a hole or two in the wall in your day.
00:07:21
Speaker
Maybe a window or two if your boys were anything like my brother and I were. um And so, which is just a whole other conversation I'm sure we'll we'll have hopefully in person sooner than later.
00:07:34
Speaker
um Talk me through that sales
Patient-Centric Sales Approach
00:07:38
Speaker
process, right? Because, and I know you talk about this a lot, every PT is in sales, right? Whether you want to be or not, you're in you're in sales.
00:07:48
Speaker
And sales is is a very general term. I think it gets a bad you know rap ah to more of like, but people automatically think of a used car dealer, right? Versus a selling someone on a better better version of themselves, right? So as you were recruiting patients and ultimately a provider as well, like how how did you build that that that sales process or just, you know, what was it? Like what were what were you selling and how did you come to that?
00:08:20
Speaker
Yeah, I think most therapists can agree. Why did we become therapists in the first place? Because we want to help people. The best salespeople are the people that help people the most. You know, I've never from the first day in business till now, never I've never been in a situation where I forced somebody to buy something that I didn't think was in their genuine best interest.
00:08:42
Speaker
And that's what's so beautiful about being a therapist and being a salesperson, being a parent, being a teacher, being any of those things. You are honestly in a position to do what's best for the person in front of you.
00:08:54
Speaker
So when somebody comes to me with shoulder pain, I'm not trying to talk them into doing something that is opposite to what they want. If they want to feel better, it's my opportunity to give them the resources, provide them the opportunities to do what they need to do.
00:09:13
Speaker
So if that means buying a plan of care, that might be $3,600. If that means and you know getting a Medicare covered benefit that they've paid the premiums for their entire working life, that's an opportunity too.
00:09:27
Speaker
So for me, sales is really just my chance to help people achieve their goals, whatever their goals may be. I'm not here to judge what the goal is, if it's worth it or if it's not. And from a financial perspective, obviously,
00:09:41
Speaker
I've come to realize over time, i think this is a Zig Ziglar quote, you help enough people get what they want and you'll get what you want. So the better I can help people achieve their goals, I'm always going to be provided for. But that's really the root at where I approach sales. It's how can I get you what you want, what you need? Do I have the capacity to do that?
00:10:02
Speaker
I like that. And there's a an accelerator we went through called Techstars. One of their mantras is give first, right? And in a way, I think those the quote you just gave in that are are directly tied, right? It's like, how can I give something of value first and just have have hope, right? Or a belief that it will get returned to me. And at minimum at a one-to-one, but most likely at a two to three plus to one, which is what's called profit, right?
00:10:35
Speaker
At the the the lowest base pedestrian, level um i i appreciate that and you know maybe that's worth a a quick tangent right and you know do you think there's something here on why pts going generalize but why pts don't like selling so much is kind of back to that first part is they're not passionate about what they're selling and do you think that is a like a key piece of the, or a key driver of this adversity to the the sales process in in the physical therapy world.
00:11:14
Speaker
I don't know if I'd say they're not passionate about what they're selling as much as I would say they're insecure about what they're selling or they don't feel like they're really selling a solution to the problem. And I can totally empathize with that because I deal with that every single day.
00:11:28
Speaker
I'll give you an example. Patient comes in this morning. This was an individual that verbally is telling me I want to be stronger. Okay. it Makes total sense, right? I want to be stronger. I want to play with my grandkids. i want to throw a football.
00:11:42
Speaker
But I kind of know the the second layer of that is i want to be stronger as long as i don't have to lift weights, I don't have to sweat, I don't have to pay a copay, and I don't have to come work out.
00:11:55
Speaker
So it's not really that you want to be stronger. you know And in my physical therapy clinic, my personal philosophy, the stuff that we learn in school is nice, it's handy.
00:12:06
Speaker
But the real value is building so building rapport with the patient, helping them understand the journey, where they're going, where they want to get to, and then really coming up with you know a vehicle that not just will get them there, but will get them there in a way that they want to get there.
00:12:24
Speaker
right I want to go to New York. Well, I can ride a bike, but I don't want to do that from Ohio. I want to fly. So for us, I think most most therapists realize our patients are unfortunately they've been living a sedentary lifestyle. They have multiple chronic conditions. They're dealing with diabetes and obesity and hypertension and all of these other things.
00:12:46
Speaker
It's like the house is on fire and they're worried about a candle that's lit in the kitchen. We have a whole lot of other stuff that we have to deal with. So from a therapist perspective, you know, we're looking at and we're like, realistically, is three visits at a $50 copay going to be what this person needs to achieve their goal?
00:13:06
Speaker
Not a chance. So you feel bad because you know that $50 copay is more than the patient really has available to spend in some cases. And none of us want to waste their money on something that we know isn't going to achieve the goal that they
Rapport and Trust in Patient Care
00:13:21
Speaker
want.
00:13:21
Speaker
So you don't have that confidence. And that's where I think the difference between being in control, being the professional, being the practice owner. When I became a practice owner, I said, look, people need to exercise. They need to move. They need to work out.
00:13:35
Speaker
Can I build a vehicle that allows my clients to do that? That also is affordable. I want to make money, but I also want to make this accessible to everybody.
00:13:46
Speaker
So for a long time, we've had programs where $100 a month, unlimited physical therapy come in as much as you want. Anything that you need, i will get it to you for $100 a month.
00:13:56
Speaker
We can do that because we were able to make our money in other ways, leverage other assets, do other things that allow us to provide that value to the consumer. And I felt good as the therapist because I knew, okay I'm not promising you an end to low back pain. I'm not promising you you're going to win the next Olympics, but I'm telling you you're going to get more fit and you're going to feel better.
00:14:20
Speaker
you know And that's what I could deliver for $100 a month. ah there's There's a lot of of good, so great in that. I want to highlight one specific piece, right, which is the value in building the relationship, right? Because you don't get to that second level and unless you build that trust and that relationship.
00:14:43
Speaker
And, I mean, of course, we're biased, right I mean, that's what we focus on here at Sarah Health. So, you know, bias with, you know, massive, you know Mountains of salt, right? not Not just a grain of it.
00:14:55
Speaker
um But I like that because you're you're right. If you only get to that top level, of oh, I want to play with my grandkids or, oh, I want to get stronger or, oh, I just listened to a podcast and I'm worried about falling and breaking my hip and the mortality rate associated with it, right?
00:15:12
Speaker
But unless you're building that rapport and that relationship, you're not going to have that trust with that patient to get the the truth, right? That kernel, which is, oh, I do, I'm worried about this, but i don't want to walk in my neighborhood.
00:15:31
Speaker
Like, okay, that, like, right? Like that, that is going to help you design something like, okay, now I can use what I learned in school. It's almost like an unlock, right? Like you don't get to use the scientific, the care delivery piece of what, the clinical piece of what you learned until you establish that relationship first. And I'm not a clinician, so I'm gonna get over my skis a little bit here, but in these conversations I continue to have on a daily basis, like that seems to be the real like the real nugget is you have to earn the right to that data from from the patient.
00:16:05
Speaker
it's It's totally true. And it's funny because, you know, I'm officially a physical therapist since 2006, practice owner since 2001. I've been in the profession. I was a strength coach, personal trainer before that.
00:16:18
Speaker
So I've got a lot of years behind me working with individuals in, I would call it a vulnerable position. And so therapists, if they ever watch me, I do a lot of like online education, stuff like that.
00:16:31
Speaker
They generally hate the way I do evaluations. And it's a very different approach to an initial evaluation than we learn in school and then what most therapists do. But the piece that they miss is the patient who's coming to us, they've already gone through a series of failures, right? Whatever it is, neuro, ortho, it doesn't matter.
00:16:50
Speaker
My back hurts. Okay, I go see my doctor. My doctor can't help me, sends me to the orthopedic. The orthopedic can't help me, sends me to you know the chiropractor, the massage therapist, the medication. Finally, I get to the physical therapist.
00:17:03
Speaker
I haven't had the best of the best in my mind answer or have a solution for my problem. Why is this physical therapist going to have a solution? You know, I've failed at every step in the process to getting this resolved.
00:17:17
Speaker
So for me, recognizing that I'm like, okay, Hey, let's come in. Let's get an easy win under your belt. Don't worry. You know, in my, my admission process, I don't have them fill out any paperwork except they give me a signature because I'm required to get a signature to accept assignment and to do a couple of things from a compliance and privacy perspective.
Patient Evaluation Process
00:17:38
Speaker
They give me one signature. They don't answer any health questions. They don't do anything. And literally from the minute I see them pull into my parking lot, they almost never sit in a chair. They don't wait in the waiting room.
00:17:51
Speaker
They come in, they give me my signature. I'm talking to them at the reception area and we get started with exercise almost three minutes into it ah because I'll get all the information I need.
00:18:04
Speaker
as we build that relationship. But the most important thing for me is that you come in here as a patient, you feel good, you feel confident in my ability to help you, and you leave feeling better than you walked in.
00:18:16
Speaker
That's all I care about. And if I can accomplish that three sessions, five sessions, 10 sessions down the road, then I'll start to to really get to the insecurities and to all the stuff that's been holding you back.
00:18:30
Speaker
You know, and and the and the stories we hear from patients are amazing, but they're never going to release that information on day number one because they don't know me. They don't like me. They don't trust me. Nobody else could help them. Why am I going to be the one that helps them? So I really have to work hard to build that trust and rapport.
00:18:48
Speaker
Thank you for listening to this episode. This would not be possible without the sponsorship of Sarah Health. Sarah is the relationship operating system for physical therapy practices, driving better patient outcomes, improved arrival rate and improved financial margins.
00:19:04
Speaker
If you'd like to learn more, check them out at Sarah, S-A-R-A health dot com. sarahhealth.com. And if you'd be interested in advertising with us and helping us produce even more great stories, please let us know at Steven at sarahhealth.com. Now back to the episode.
00:19:23
Speaker
I want to highlight the the process piece, right? And and I'm sure you you do this where there's a ah negotiation tactic where you you let the sale basically take the window out of the sales of the argument against, right?
00:19:39
Speaker
And so if you just simply state and label and name things like, hey, you know, ah you know Miss Smith, Miss Smith, I'd imagine that you've been to your PCP, your ortho, ah you've maybe even done some imaging.
00:19:56
Speaker
And so it's not really that that $50 copay is expensive and and in ah and it's in a silo. it's expensive in the context that you have spent $2,000 and somewhere around like three to four months of lead time across the other appointments you've been to and in procedures and diagnostics that you've you've undergone to get to the point where we're here today.
00:20:22
Speaker
Right now, there's a whole conversation around you know going direct to PT and i know direct accesses. i think it's all 50 states now. i think an owner i was talking to last week was was joking there in Mississippi that ah Mississippi passed it first, Alabama passed right after, but put it into practice first. It's like this joke of like Mississippi needs Alabama and Alabama needs Mississippi, you know, for for that reason to be last and second to last in these types of of things.
00:20:54
Speaker
um But I think it's a really, really important detail just to to arm PTs and really any provider with is like understand the context of where that patient's coming in and that's just going to fast track the relationship right now that's very different right if if Miss Smith maybe relocated to Ohio right where Now she's being seen by you, but she came to you for like, she knows direct access. She's had good experience with PT and there was never a question her mind.
00:21:23
Speaker
It's a very different way to have that discussion than Ms. Smith, who, you know, has had, you know, $2,000 in out-of-pocket expenses and has already hit her deductible for the year. you know, she's not really thinking about it in the same way that a patient who is a return patient, right, would would would present ah from a more that,
00:21:44
Speaker
um psychological, you know, the biopsychosocial model and the psychological ah perspectives. Wow. i Yeah, we could spend almost too much time there. So I i wanted to to move
Helping Other Practice Owners
00:21:57
Speaker
past a little bit. So, you know, we talked about YPT and a little bit about, you know, your why for doing what you do now.
00:22:06
Speaker
But as you have transitioned to not just helping patients, but helping other practice owners, right? what What is driving that passion to you be what I see as a proponent in a, i don't know what else to to call it besides just a, you know, an upper right to the the tide that is raising all boats. What's driving that?
00:22:29
Speaker
Yeah, great question. I think it's one of those things where I look at the profession as a whole and i see a lot of frustration. I think we all do. Therapists want to earn more.
00:22:41
Speaker
They're under more compliance and regulations. They're under pressure. Inflation is going up, but salaries are staying down. And when I look at it, I think... What can I do? What value can I offer? It's the same for my patients, right? How can I help you?
00:22:55
Speaker
How can I help my profession? How can I help? And the story I go back to is I talked to my son. He's 15 now, but I remember when he was nine, we talked about what dad does as a job and a profession. And I said, hey, you know, I want you to think about this for a second.
00:23:10
Speaker
If I'm working in the clinic treating patients and I'm helping people get stronger and healthier, I can really only see maybe 10 to 15 people. i see them a couple times a week. That that fills up my entire week.
00:23:23
Speaker
So at best, let's say 15 people on active caseload. But if I hire people... Well, now if I hire 10 other therapists who potentially are better therapists than me, you know, that's 10 times the number of people that I can directly help because I help the therapist and then they help the the patients.
00:23:43
Speaker
And I'm like, expand that even beyond that to what if I put out free content? What if I help other therapists find independence, increase their income? The best thing i can deliver from my personal experience is helping them become better business owners and become more independent and then letting them do what they do, the magic they do for their patients.
00:24:06
Speaker
And that's really what keeps me going more than anything. um I never went down this road because I was thinking I'm going to be a guru or a consultant or any of that. And still to this day, i don't coach. I don't do any consultations. I don't sell my time in that way. I do teach a little bit, but my main thing is to kind of push the ideas, help therapists understand where the boundaries are, what they can do, because we're still so conditioned to think, well, two times a week, that's what everybody does. That's what everybody needs. That's what everybody should do. And really, no, like, yes, insurance reimbursement is a component. It's a resource we have available.
00:24:44
Speaker
But there are so many other things that aren't covered by insurance that are important to patient care. So let's act like the professionals we want to be. And let's see the big picture, eliminate the barriers and create a plan that's perfect for that patient sitting in front of you.
00:25:01
Speaker
ah there There's a direct tie to how we think about Sarah Health, which is giving practitioners more time to care.
00:25:12
Speaker
Right. that That's it. It's giving them more time to care. And think what you're doing is giving that same time. Maybe actually brought more broadly, you're giving freedom for practice owners to care in the way that they want to.
00:25:30
Speaker
Right. And so that could be freedom of thought in terms of, hey, you can do this. Right. Like just even the confidence of, hey, if you are the the shoulder place. Right. And and you know that and you're the best at it.
00:25:44
Speaker
don't be afraid to dive into to cash pay and other models to be able to affect more people at a deeper level, right? Or just even, hey, here's how you can treat for a few fewer hours or maybe not at all, depending upon you know the practice owner, and still make it work. And and here's the the freedom to to have that confidence and and do that. and I'd imagine to cut ties with a payer or two, should the economics say that that you should.
00:26:15
Speaker
So I love that. And I don't know if you would describe it it that way, but as I'm hearing it, right, that that your goal is to give freedom to care the way they want to to practice owners across the nation and potentially even internationally as as well.
00:26:31
Speaker
I'd imagine you have a a couple of folks from either across the pond or or our northern or southern neighbors that also have have found value in in what you're the knowledge that that you're delivering to them.
00:26:44
Speaker
Yeah, freedom is a perfect word. I mean, we want to deliver freedom to our patients so that they can walk and they can move and they can do the things they want to do. And we do that through building extra capacity.
00:26:55
Speaker
You want to lift something, let's make you stronger than you need to be. So when you lift that thing, you can lift it without getting injured. And it's the same thing for other therapists. You know, we want to protect that passion to treat because it's it's not as common as we would like it to be.
00:27:11
Speaker
And if you want me to hate something, tie my livelihood to it. Like I love cooking. You and I have talked off camera about food and nutrition and cooking. I cook every meal every day.
00:27:22
Speaker
But if you want me to hate cooking, make me a chef in a restaurant that I own. And when I have to cook to pay the mortgage, I will very quickly start to hate what I do.
00:27:33
Speaker
So for therapy, I protect my passion to treat by making it separate from my financial obligations. You know, I don't want to treat for three more minutes to get one more billable unit so I can pay my mortgage.
00:27:47
Speaker
I want to deliver what I believe is best for that patient completely independent of financial ties. um And so when I teach and talk to other therapists, I'm like, look, there are so many ways to make money.
00:28:00
Speaker
We are in the most prosperous time ever in human history. ah We just have to understand how we can bring that abundance into our lives. That abundance mindset is so, so valuable. Right. And there's.
00:28:14
Speaker
ah book that, that I really like, um, which i I'll ask you if you've read, it's called the happiness advantage by Sean Acor. Um, have you read that yet? No. Okay. Uh, I'll send you a copy. Uh, and, um,
00:28:32
Speaker
it one of the key pieces is around the abundance mindset. And to to especially to your point today, the barriers to entry are so, so low in comparison to what they were, right?
00:28:49
Speaker
If you came up with a new device, even if it was a new like You think of the peanut, right? Two lacrosse balls taped together, right? You put that on Amazon within a week, right? You could get it designed by someone. Heck, you could probably even use ChatGPT to somehow you know create the initial design.
00:29:08
Speaker
Very, very low cost and to at least start testing it, get it 3D printed. like You're maybe $1,000 all in and you can start generating some results from even a physical product, right?
00:29:19
Speaker
like That is a... That's an insane statement to say, hey, you could be four digits or less invested into something like a heart like a piece of a physical product and you're out there in market.
00:29:32
Speaker
ah like that That is wild. You could sell it on TikTok, right? and or Or Shopify. So i i like I really like that point. and want to highlight the the barriers that have evaporated in the last five, 10, 15 years.
00:29:49
Speaker
um and and agree, like there's a ton of people that are looking for answers at the you know patient and and even like non-patient level. ah Yeah, you can look at the total addressable market of physical therapy in the US is roughly like $40 billion, dollars right?
00:30:07
Speaker
um But then you look at the broader wellness market and it's topping a trillion with a T. And so is there space out there? Yeah, there's like 30x space out there that there is even within treatment. um And so ah there is not only reason to have an attitude to of an abundance because of the the positive externalities that that will result in in your life, I believe, and the research would support. But even just looking at the sheer numbers of it, like only one in 10 people get PT that should.
00:30:43
Speaker
And then Medicare, the reason they came out with the remote therapeutic monitoring codes is they believe that only one out of 100 Medicare beneficiaries actually complete their plan of care like they should in physical therapy. Like that's why they came out with the codes is and let's throw money at the problem.
00:30:59
Speaker
i That's is basically what it was. um And, you know, I think we're seeing some really cool innovative models coming out as as a result of that.
00:31:10
Speaker
But ah that's not what we're here to talk about. ah So I want to to come back to my favorite question to to ask. And I think I'm glad I'm asking this early because I feel like this is going to be a good bulk of discussion.
00:31:26
Speaker
Tony, I give you a magic wand. You can fix one thing within physical therapy.
Creativity and Change in Therapy
00:31:32
Speaker
What do you fix? I've been asked the question before and, you know, I'm a big believer in personal responsibility and accountability. And so, uh, I think really it has to come back to fixing ourselves, like fixing ourselves, the individual therapist, our perspectives, our vision.
00:31:54
Speaker
um we go in so naive and we want to accomplish so much, right? But then between the conditioning we receive through schooling, the conditioning we receive through employment, um somewhere we get lost and we fall into the system and we just go with the current.
00:32:13
Speaker
So if I had a magic wand to to wave, i would literally bring that naiveness back. And I would say, look, you know what why did you go into this in the first place to help people? OK, awesome.
00:32:27
Speaker
Now, take all of the knowledge, all the experience, all the information that you know and you have, and without boundaries, how do you create the patient care experience that you want to deliver? Like, forget who's paying, forget what they're paying, forget all of those things.
00:32:44
Speaker
How do we make this work? And that's that level of naiveness, I think is important to bring back. Like kids are amazingly creative. if You give them a paperclip, they're going to give you 250 things to do with that paperclip.
00:32:57
Speaker
You give that same paperclip to a college educated adult and they're going to have one thing. It's going to hold piece of paper. So I want to bring back some of that creativity that I think we've just lost. Plus, I mean, let's be real. We tend to be more analytical by nature.
00:33:12
Speaker
We tend to be more by the book. It's yes, no, black and white, right and wrong. And we know that life isn't like that. So let's bring some of those shades of gray back in. Let's allow ourselves to think a little more freely. And i think I think we can innovate on what we do and create some really amazing opportunities to help patients at scale in a more affordable way for them and in a more profitable way for us.
00:33:37
Speaker
I think that's and so valuable. And again, I'm biased here. But Sarah Health was my first venture into the healthcare care world. i And I think that naivety was It was limiting until it wasn't, right? And we came into it with a, hey, we wanna bridge the gap between visits. We wanna create continuity between visits because either of the co-founders, two of us as frustrated patients and one as a frustrated clinician, right? Like yes this has gotta change. we we We need to make this better. And you know what? We were in a way wrong for four years, four very, very long years.
00:34:22
Speaker
where we believed incorrectly ah that if we created something great for patients and providers, it would be adopted at scale.
00:34:32
Speaker
And we were wrong at that last piece. we We didn't bring in the additional financial piece of it, right? But when you think about it in that cu of terms of, okay, let me just do something great for patients and providers and see what happens next.
00:34:50
Speaker
We did find a nice little niche in these groups that had direct contracts with employers and all they cared about was, hey, we just want to deliver the most care between visits as possible because we don't get paid per visit. So if Sarah Help can help us engage and activate patients to do what they know they should be in between visits, we all win.
00:35:12
Speaker
um And then We were wrong about the at scale until we weren't. And all it took was a you know, I guess slight slash monumental, right? You get, depending on upon how you, you decide to describe it, monumental shift and a change of reimbursement and all of a sudden right place, right time. And and everything is, is off into the races.
00:35:32
Speaker
um But I, I think you're spot on with give yourself some time to be naive again. Right. I think, that is That is a like that is a a takeaway.
00:35:47
Speaker
um and And I like the the framing of it. to Give time for that in your exact verbiage of naivety, right?
Encouraging Innovation and Passion
00:35:56
Speaker
Give time for that. Because if if you don't,
00:36:00
Speaker
you're going to be stuck in your local maximum. Right. And there's a a design principle and in software primarily, but it can be adopted really anywhere, which is if you don't unburden yourself, your mind from the constraints of your current system, then you're only going to be able to innovate to a certain local maximum. Right.
00:36:19
Speaker
Versus if you ask, well, you know, well what if Right? um and What if insurance did pay for this? Like, okay, well, then it would look like this. Like, okay, well, maybe we we get ready because that might happen or we go attack in a certain way to be able to make that future a reality.
00:36:36
Speaker
um i oh that I think that in terms of takeaways, one and from earlier, you have to love the process, right? And and be pulled by passion into what you're doing, right? And it doesn't have to mean that you go your path, right? The the Tony path hey, I wanna help more practice owners and more clinicians be able to succeed and and be this rising tide that that raises all boats because you see the frustration you wanna fix it, right?
00:37:06
Speaker
That could be, hey, I wanna help people, wanna help the same number of people, but do it at a deeper level. There's a ton of value in that, right? it doesn't matter whether it's breadth or depth,
00:37:20
Speaker
Whatever it is, let your passion drive you into that. And then the second is give time for naivety. I think that is just such a, ah just a beautiful, beautiful, simple statement and framework for, and and hopefully a push for someone listening.
00:37:39
Speaker
Give yourself that time, right? Take a walk in nature and just unburden yourself from the system you're currently in. And it's like, yeah what if right ask the question what what if so tony i i i appreciate your time so very much and i think those those two pieces of advice are excellent tactical takeaways for for those listening to be able to hopefully make innovation just a little bit more accessible and help them think through like what how could they could expand their their impact awesome thank you well
00:38:17
Speaker
How can people find you? how How can people connect with you and and learn from you? Yeah, I'm super accessible. You can find me under Anthony Maritato on Facebook, on LinkedIn. I've got a YouTube channel, Learn Medicare Billing.
00:38:31
Speaker
um And really, you know, I'm an open book. I mean, ah my main value is I've made all the mistakes I can make in the last 23, 24 years.
00:38:41
Speaker
And I'm happy to share those lessons with anyone so they don't have to make the mistakes to learn from them. They can learn from the ones I already made. I appreciate that. and We'll make sure that those links are available for when we push this live.
00:38:56
Speaker
ah Tony, any other pieces of advice or anything before we we sign off? No, I think it's amazing. And I think it's great that individuals like you outside the world of healthcare care are connecting with therapists like me in the world of healthcare, care because I think you bring fresh perspectives. You bring a new set of eyes. You look at things from a different in a different way. And I think it's nothing but valuable to to help this integration happen between guys that understand tech and the individuals that understand humans.
00:39:31
Speaker
Well, <unk>re we're trying. We have a lot to improve and we're making a myriad of mistakes ourselves. But like you, we hope to continue to to lead with transparency and and help others not to re-earn the same scars as ah as as we've gotten.
00:39:48
Speaker
um And so with that, Tony, I want to thank you very, very much for being on this episode of The Disruptors. And I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. Thank you, Stephen. Thank you for listening to another episode of The Disruptors.
00:40:01
Speaker
I hope that you were able to take one or two things the away that you can apply immediately to your own innovation journey. As always, I'm your host, Stephen Cohen, sponsored by Sarah Health. Let's keep moving.