Knowing when it’s time to hire additional physical therapy staff is a challenge we hear about a lot from the practices we work with. If it’s not well thought out, you could wind up paying more in payroll than you are getting in return for the services being delivered. This is especially true when you are a new startup practice just starting out; you cannot afford to spend more money than you make. To combat this, you need a proven hiring system that tells you when and who you should hire based on the numbers. You should never be guessing or hoping that your new patient numbers will sustain the new physical therapist you just hired. You should be driving those numbers and hiring based off a sequential plan of growth that you are in control of. This week, we’ll dive into the strategy to know when to hire the next therapist that your practice can sustain that will contribute to the growth of your practice.
Episode at a glance:
- Weekly patient visits will not only tell you if you are over-staffed but also if you are disproportionately staffed between clinical and admin.
- Why your annual marketing program and marketing campaigns need to be in place to drive the number of new patients necessary to grow your practice.
- Why your first clinical hire should be a DPT, not a physical therapy assistant.
- It should be the owner/DPT who rides the ups and downs of the schedule, not the clinical staff.
- It’s important that the owner holds the mindset of they are a CEO and owner first and licensed physical therapist second.
Brian Gallagher, PT is the founder and CEO of MEG Business Management, LLC. He has more than 27 years of experience in the field of rehabilitation and 19 years in business and specializes in Physical Therapy practice management and executive coaching nationwide. As a licensed business management consultant, Brian has helped hundreds of business owners nationwide improve their business operations through proper restructuring to achieve improved systems of efficiency and productivity as well as marketing and sales with effective public relations which have proven results for double-digit growth year-over-year with businesses around the country.
