Will Humphreys argues physical therapists need to stop seeing themselves as a referred service and start acting as community health leaders. Insurers and other professions are taking over PT's scope, and therapists must claim their power to save the profession. He'll cover money, the doctor title, and unifying ideas in upcoming videos.
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2 weeks ago I sent out a video where I was really feeling the weight of our industry's implosion on my shoulders and I didn't know if I was the only one seeing it. I sent the video out, so many of you responded as I've already acknowledged. But what came with it were hundreds of ideas of how we're going to fix the industry. And so I'm working on a video right now to help compile some of the best ideas. But one of the things I needed to say before I show that video is that none of them are going to work unless we start thinking differently about who we are in the industry. We have to occur to ourselves differently than we've been occurring to ourselves. We have this mindset problem in physical therapy where for some reason we think we're just a service that gets referred out to and not doctors in the community changing people's lives. Look, like many of you, I became a physical therapist because I had a PT when I broke over 20 bones in my body through a mountain climbing accident. Who showed up and gave a crap about me as a person. She loved me, she cried when I walked. And that's who I'm doing this for, is for her. And I'm doing it for that 17 year old kid inside of me who wanted to kill himself but decided to keep fighting because there was someone there who understood a lot about what they were going through and taught him how to walk. And so I really want to call to each of you who are watching this, who feel what I do, which is that the implosion of our industry is going to make this thing go away in some way who are not willing to let it go. I want you to start owning your power. We have to start occurring to ourselves as leaders, not just physical therapists, but like health care leaders that we have the potential to not just make a huge impact on our patients lives, but effectively change the system that we are in. We've got a lot of forces battling against us. Insurance companies are just whittling away at us, so are other healthcare industries like athletic trainers, like chiropractors. Groups are starting to take away what's ours and we're so busy we're letting it happen. So yes, I'm going to share with you ways that I have seen from this group how we can stop it. But you and me and all of us have to start recognizing that we are powerful, that we can come together in strength and start taking a stand against these forces of suppression to preserve this industry. That means so much to so many millions of human beings across this planet. And so as you go through your busy day, I would just ask you to remember why you're doing it, who you're doing it for. For that family at home that you work and strive so hard to be enough for. Why don't we change this profession to allow us the space and the profits to be able to impact our patients lives and our family's lives without sacrificing our souls.
So please start thinking about yourself a little bit differently and I will send more videos on that topic because I want to talk about money. I want to talk about the title of doctor. I don't think that's going to be a long video. I want to talk about these things and then I'll start presenting these ideas of how we can unify. And again, I don't have the answers. And I'm not trying to sell you anything, not trying to teach you anything. I'm just trying to be a voice. And so many of us feel the same way that I know I'm not alone. Thanks for watching.
