Dr. Rob Worth is the President/CEO and co-owner of Advanced Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine in Appleton, Wisconsin. He has served the PT profession in a variety of roles within the APTA over the past 30+ years, including past-President of APTA Wisconsin and Federal Affairs Liaison. Rob has been actively involved in APTA Private Practice leadership for many years and currently serves as APTA Private Practice Vice President.

Candidate Statement:

What an amazing opportunity we have right now to do some really cool things together to improve the world of PT private practice! Thank you to the APTA Private Practice Nominating Committee for selecting me to be slated to run for the position of President and thank you to all the individual APTA Private Practice members who have been enthusiastically supportive of me running to serve in this position. After 30+ consecutive years of service to APTA in a variety of positions and 25+ years as an APTA Private Practice member, I am very excited to have this opportunity to make an even bigger impact on our profession.

A little bit about my practice:

Co-founded in 1998, we have grown to 30 clinics in Wisconsin, as well as providing on-site direct access PT services at several industrial companies, YMCA’s, universities, and a local Free Clinic for the underserved. Though we have been blessed with steady growth, we continue to prioritize staying grounded in the same values and culture we have had since we were a single location practice. My role as President/CEO of our practice is a blend of patient care, program development, involvement in our clinic’s orthopedic clinical residency program, fostering the growth and development of our team members, and most importantly…..leadership.  Our practice is 100% therapist-owned  with plans to transition to an all-employee-owned company next year.

A little bit about my APTA and APTA Private Practice involvement:

My APTA Private Practice Section background includes membership since 1998 and attendance of nearly every annual conference since then. Over the years I have had the privilege of serving our membership by being on many committees/task forces and currently serve as Vice President on the APTA Private Practice Board of Directors with an amazing group of individuals.

National level APTA activities include serving as a Wisconsin Delegate to the APTA House of Delegates for 20+ years, including representation as Chief Delegate, and serving on APTA Public Policy & Advocacy Committee.

State level APTA activities include serving as President of the APTA Wisconsin and serving as Federal Government Affairs Liaison.

Awards for professional involvement include APTA Wisconsin Outstanding Service; APTA Wisconsin Physical Therapist of the Year Honorable Mention; APTA Private Practice Jayne L. Snyder Practice of the Year; IndUS International Award for cross-cultural contributions in healthcare; as well as regional community awards including Volunteer of the Year and Small Business of the Year.

What are the most critical issues for APTA Private Practice and how would I address these if elected?

  1. Serve the needs of the members - especially the smaller and growing practice owners, to give them the resources they need to survive, grow, and thrive in this evolving healthcare environment.  
  2. Payment - We need to have a multi-pronged approach to improve payment for our services that optimizes payment under the current model through coordinated efforts (like SPARC – a national joint effort between APTA, APTA Private Practice, and APTA Orthopedic Academy to share best practice strategies to improve payment in every state), and also boldly move forward in showing all that physical therapists can offer within value-based healthcare, as well as diversification of payor sources beyond traditional insurance to include such approaches as cash-based PT and direct to employer services.
  3. Innovation and collaboration – Within APTA Private Practice we need to facilitate innovation in practice as well as innovation in how we let the public and legislators know the value that PT can bring to this new era of healthcare.  Collaboration with other health care professionals, health care systems, insurers, and the business world will be key, as well as collaboration within APTA and our other sections/academies.
  4. The next generation – It is incumbent upon us to identify, mentor, and grow the next generation of private practitioners within our own practices and in the leadership of our association. 

I am excited to support each of you as APTA Private Practice members in your practices and together lead our profession into a bold new future.  It is for all these reasons and more that I am running for APTA Private Practice President to continue our great work and humbly ask for your vote!