Will Humphreys (speaker) presents a short advisory YouTube video identifying five common habits that make physical therapists "bad": (1) gossiping (undermines company culture), (2) failing to bring concerns to one’s direct report (avoiding confrontation), (3) underbilling (devalues the profession and increases patient costs), (4) becoming comfortable and stopping skill development (avoid stagnation; keep learning), and (5) burning out (industry risk; choose workplaces that support you). He emphasizes communication, accurate billing, continuous learning, and personal/professional boundaries; closes by inviting viewer comments.
Chapters
You know, as we're coming out of physical therapy school, it's very common to suffer from imposter syndrome. That idea that, like, I don't really know what I'm doing and I don't want my employer to find out about it. And so as a result, when we think about becoming a poor physical therapist, we often focus on our skill set. But do you know that that's not where most people fall? I will say that there's something to be said about people who don't develop their skill set, but they're very few and far between. Unlike these other habits that, that I'm going to review with you that I've seen across the country in practices that I've consulted in. So the very first habit I want you to avoid is gossiping. I know that sounds simple, but let me tell you, gossip is cancer to a company's culture. If you have any questions or concerns, you don't bring them to anyone other than your direct report. And if that direct report isn't getting it done, you go to their direct report. And that can be scary because you don't want to be seen as like a complainer or, or have any issues. So it's easier to talk to your co worker and to see if they feel the same way that you do about it. But it always results in both parties losing. So always go to your direct report if you have any issues. The second habit of a poor physical therapist is someone who doesn't bring their concerns to their direct report. That's different than gossiping. When I've had pts in my own company, who I found out later quit, and I had no idea they were unhappy, it made me so sad that I didn't create an environment safe enough to where they could feel like they could share that with me. What I've learned is that in my professional world, if I'm complaining to my spouse or my friends about something at work, that means I'm falling into that same habit and I need to speak up and talk and confront the person that's causing the problem or the issue and get it handled. It's only until we communicate that we can solve all of our problems. The third habit of a poor physical therapist is under billing. I do not see a lot of physical therapists overbilling, but I see many, the vast majority who under Bill, which is one of the worst things we can do as a professional. The second we under Bill, we devalue our service so that we have decreasing reimbursement, which increases the out of pocket cost to our patients. So if you're in a place where you're worried about over billing because your school or university is telling you your license is your livelihood or whatever it is, you need to realize that your job is is to bill accurately, not over bill, not under bill. The other habit I want you to avoid is this thing called getting comfortable. When PTs do finally get comfortable in their environment, what they tend to do is stop developing their skill set. So yes, I know I'm going back to skill set, but this is a mindset piece because once that fear is gone and you have some great skills, it is vital for a physical therapist to remain good by learning. Always learning. Going to continuing education courses or watching YouTube videos like these. All of these are steps that are going to help you develop your skill set and prevent you from falling into that trap of being comfortable and just letting it go. The fifth habit of a bad physical therapist is burning out. You don't want to become a burnout statistic and our industry is actually poised to create that for the majority of you. But I want you to not feel like a victim about it either. You have a choice when it comes to burning out. Not every company burns their pts out. Not every company or industry wide is going to put you in a position where you have to sacrifice you you as a person so that you have nothing left to give to your family. Please remember that you are a leader and as a medical professional, it is your job to work for companies that are going to promote you professionally and personally. So guys, are there other habits that poor physical therapists fall into? I'd love to hear about them in the comments below. Thank you for watching. Until next time.
