We Are the Faces of PT

Gaining the Courage to See What Could Be

When you see an opportunity, you take it. I saw the opportunity to expand beyond the traditional practice model and evolved my business to include more than physical therapy. My business changed from Pinnacle Physical Therapy to Pinnacle Medical Wellness.

As Pinnacle Medical Wellness, we approach the reason for a patient's visit differently. We look at the whole health continuum. Designing and implementing a more holistic approach to care is important to us.

As one of the early adopters of lifestyle medicine, which includes diabetes management, exercise and other health and lifestyle habits, physical therapists can broaden their practice and explore new areas of care. Practicing lifestyle medicine allows therapists to use their expertise in movement and behavior change to further help patients optimize their health and address or prevent many chronic diseases.

PPS gave me the confidence to move toward my new business model. I was given a national audience to share my ideas with and I was able to learn ideas from others. I've been able to collaborate with peers and learn from people with whom I don't compete. There's value in the relationships and networking that APTA Private Practice provides.

For those considering or who are new to APTA Private Practice membership, make it a priority to attend the conference! By getting away from your practice, you see through a different lens and gain a different perspective. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there and connect!

Unique Care, Unique Perspectives

Weekend warriors deserve the same treatment as professional athletes. That's the foundation of my practice: bringing the highest level of care to the everyday athlete. I have a unique background in Olympic sports medicine that enables me to do that, and I've been focused on growing my practice and extending my philosophy of care.
I want physical therapists to be seen as the professionals they are and be more visible in the health care arena. Being a black male, I represent the smallest subset of the profession and I want to be more active to bring on more people who look like me. That starts with leadership.
I became a member of APTA Private Practice in 2014 in an atypical way. There were some openings on the education committee and because of my background in academia, private practice, and professional sports, they thought I would be a great addition to the committee. I became a member and went straight into a leadership position.
Being in the room with people who have 15-20 years of experience and their own perspectives is a rich experience for me. They help me grow with their insight and advice. It's great to be around people who see the bigger picture before I do. My membership with APTA Private Practice has been with me as my practice has experienced rapid growth; we now have four locations in three states. APTA Private Practice gave me a way to surround myself with people who have done what I want to do.

Focused Care for Self-Pay Patients

To me, physical therapy doesn't have to be just episodic relating to a surgery or an accident. By not accepting insurance, we are able to work with a new mom, high-level executive, an empty nester or retiree, to help them achieve a higher level of performance than insurance would typically cover.
Specifically, we perform a Five-Point Check Up using an InBody scan to determine skeletal muscle mass, body fat, cardio endurance, strength and functional ability. With this, the patient receives a score and their therapist develops a plan to get the patient stronger and improve their function. All of the work is one-on-one and we aim to solve the patient's problem and then set goals to achieve beyond that.
I've been a member of APTA Private Practice for five years and at first, I thought, how is this going to benefit me since I'm not a big company? My initial thoughts changed after being in the Peer2Peer NetWorks program; that was a game changer for me. The program gets you around like-minded people and pushes you to do better. The camaraderie is great and really shows that we are all in this together to make health care better.

Helping Clients Lead Better Lives

The environment of my private practice is different than most. With a focus on fitness, our building looks more like a gym and less like a medical space. It has all the trademarks that you would find in a gym like turf areas to exercise on and motivational signs and quotes around the space to help clients get in the right headspace.
My staff are experts at helping clients return to their prior level of function. We operate on the principle that physical therapy isn't just about pain reduction, it's the reduction of risk for future injury. We apply an evidence-based practice to help those we serve. If we'd only focused on pain and not on movement, we would not be as successful helping clients become more resilient and avoid injuries.
I've been a member of APTA Private Practice for almost four years now. I joined to have access to other physical therapists who are walking the same path as I am. APTA Private Practice provides a breadth of resources and tools that have been invaluable, like the marketing, clerical, and administrative tools.
Regardless of whether you want to go into private practice, if you have a side hustle or anything involved in the business of health care, APTA Private Practice is a great place for a wide variety of resources to help you on your journey.

My name is Stacy Menz and I own a pediatric physical therapy clinic that treats newborns all the way up to young adults in their early 20s. My clinic is mostly a generalist practice covering a range of treatments, but it has changed over the years from home-based only, to a mix of school, home, and clinic, to mostly now clinic work. Within my clinic, all staff are employees. My tip to anyone building their business and hiring staff: build a team that is a cohesive unit.

We take private insurance as well as cash payments. My clinic works with the state and school system on early intervention and will always work with a client or family to learn new treatments to fit their needs; we will do the training and make it work!

I joined APTA Private Practice in 2007 but wasn't really using any of my member benefits at the time. For a while I was thinking of dropping my membership, but someone encouraged me to go to a APTA Private Practice conference. I went in not knowing anyone but wound up writing a profile piece for Impact magazine and then meeting more people at the author reception.

Going to that first conference was like drinking from a fire hose. The education at the event is overflowing, but the people really enhance the value. It helped me create a network that I can call and reach out to when I need guidance. A physical therapist can get education from other places, but having a network of other physical therapists in private practice adds value to APTA Private Practice membership on top of the top-notch education.

Impact has been a valuable resource. It always has tidbits of information and covers a wide variety of topics that any physical therapist can use. With the hands-on pieces and 50,000-foot articles, there is always something in there that I can implement or think about in a different way. Not to mention the action items at the end of some of the articles give physical therapist's tangible takeaways. The 101/How-To series is also a great reference point when you're struggling with understanding a topic.

The COVID-19 information was truly an amazing resource; it gave physical therapists real-time information and the virtual talks were helpful to connect with others during the pandemic. Those talks gave me a sense of solidarity.

I think every physical therapist should join PPS, but it's only valuable if you use the membership benefits. Try going to a conference and get involved or hop into the easily accessible webinars. It only adds value to an already very valuable membership. You get out what you put in!

I own Total Motion Physical Therapy with 4 locations in the South Western Va. I also own Total Motion Performance that trains youth athletes and young adults in their 20s. Owning these two companies has allowed me to gain experience with using both cash-based and third-party payor payment systems for my businesses.

Through my years of being a PT, I had heard about the benefits of being a APTA Private Practice member from friends who were members especially for those interested in owning their own practice. They talked about how much APTA Private Practice and their membership benefited them and their practices, and that a APTA Private Practice membership would help me avoid making the same mistakes they made when they first opened their private practices. After going to one APTA Private Practice meeting, I was sold on becoming a member. I have been a member for 15 years now, being part of APTA Private Practice made it possible for me to have others stand with me as I opened my practice. It gave me confidence that I had a community to help me along the way. One of the biggest benefits of APTA Private Practice membership has been the comprehensive tools to help run a practice and the interactions of like-minded folks you make that ultimately become life-long friends. Moreover, then many resources such as the monthly marketing toolkits have been a tremendous help with the social media strategy for my practice. Furthermore, we also include the Fit Factor on my company website.

Moreover, I am part of Peer2Peer Networking, which allows me to constantly have access to the masterminds of private practice business owners. It's invaluable to have a community with which to share ideas and get awesome feedback that assist in success of my clinics.

On another note, physical therapy advocacy has been a passion of mine too. I am part of the APTA Private Practice Key contact committee. This has helped create a grassroots network that has allowed me to developed contacts and relationships with more PTs across the country to get involved with meeting local and federal government representatives that work on important issues involving physical therapy, small business, and patient access to care. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, through that grassroots network, APTA and APTA Private Practice helped push a bill through Congress that allowed telehealth and telemedicine to be paid for through Medicare. That was just an instance where the efforts of APTA Private Practice members and advocacy made a huge difference.

When a physical therapist is looking at wanting to open up their own practice and asks me about my APTA Private Practice membership, I tell them to go to one meeting, listen to the speakers and take in all the information and content. If they're like me, they'll see the value of membership after just that one meeting. However, the real learning comes from when members interact with each other at these meeting and the life-long friends/relationships that are created. One is able to build a PT network of private practice owners that can assist with ensuring your private practice continues to thrive and your business grows. Thera are no words that can express the value of APTA Private Practice membership.