The healthcare industry is changing due to the evolution of technology and insurance models. Emerging new patient-centered reimbursement models are shifting the way healthcare providers are delivering patient care. As a result, entrepreneur-minded healthcare professionals are using technology and innovative ways to invigorate their practice. Providers are relying on health-preserving measures and analytical tools to anticipate the healthcare needs in a community and deliver healthcare more accurately and efficiently. As healthcare shifts from the traditional healthcare model to a technology-centered model, companies are forced to embrace the entrepreneurial mindset/skillset to remain competitive. Insurance reform and rising high-deductible plans are making consumers more sensitive to healthcare cost. Therefore, providers with the ability to make a direct value proposition (why a customer should buy a product or use a service) have the competitive advantage. To survive this changing market, healthcare professionals, regardless of sector, need to have entrepreneurship education so they can utilize business concepts as they enter and navigate to and through the healthcare system.1
Entrepreneurship education is seldom found in Physical Therapy schools yet many graduating Physical Therapists express a desire to own their own private practice. For this reason, adding entrepreneurship education to the curriculum is a must. According to APTA’s vision for 2020, physical therapists will be practitioners of choice in patients’/clients’ health networks. With this come the privileges of autonomous practice, and allows for direct access to physical therapists in all environments for patient/client management, prevention, and wellness services.2 To achieve APTA’s 2020 vision, PTs need to be equipped with tools to be Entrepreneurs, Innovators and Enterprising PTs. Becoming a healthcare provider is not sufficient, PTs need to be active in the destiny of our profession by being forward-thinkers and change-makers. We need to change how the healthcare system views physical therapy. We can make a significant impact on our patients and society, by being providers of choice. Embracing entrepreneurship, innovation and advocacy, is the only way Physical Therapy can stay competitive in the health care environment. Who better to build the next fitness app., ambulatory apparatus or pain reliever technology than our fellow Physical Therapists.
If you have a passion for Entrepreneurship, want to be an Entrepreneur and/or have an interest in Entrepreneurship Education, please connect with me at https://outofblocks.com or at jtoalemanji@outofblocks.com.
Written by:
Dr. Jessica To-Alemanji, PT, DPT, Ph.D., PMP
VPTA Communications Committee Chair
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