Private Practice Financial Summit – Strategies to Increase Wealth and Retirement Hosted by Econologics with Eric Miller

[00:00:00] I think another thing that's really important is checking your financial readiness across the board. Your financial life isn't just made up of your investments. You have debt, you have credit, you have taxes, asset protection, estate planning. You guys have a lot of things that you need to look at.

[00:00:22] Welcome. You've entered the Physical Therapy Owners Club podcast, where your host, Nathan Shields, and other successful PT owners and leaders share their experience and insights on how to build successful PT businesses.

[00:00:35] They'll share the stories of their paths to success and show you how you can also obtain greater freedom and more profits from your business.

[00:00:42] That's what the PT Owners Club is all about, greater freedom and more profits.

[00:00:47] There's plenty of room for you as well, so come on in and join the club.

[00:00:54] I think we're live.

[00:00:55] All right.

[00:00:56] Nathan, how are you?

[00:00:57] I'm doing great, man. How are you?

[00:00:59] Feels like I haven't talked to you forever and it's like been what, three days?

[00:01:03] Yeah, we talk occasionally, right? I just had you on the podcast talking about great things, how to prepare for 2025 and wrap up 2024 financially.

[00:01:12] But you know me, I love talking financials with you.

[00:01:15] You really do. You're probably one of the few PTs I've ever met that's just like this nerds out on the finance stuff.

[00:01:20] So I'm excited that we're going to do this together.

[00:01:23] And then we're just going to, you know, this is our first we call PT Financial Summit.

[00:01:26] And I think that it is something that I want to continue to do just because a very weird year that I've seen for a lot of PT owners where I think their business has been growing.

[00:01:40] But I still am seeing struggles on the finance lines.

[00:01:44] I'm seeing struggles on money coming in.

[00:01:48] I'm seeing struggles on controlling money.

[00:01:51] And we're just like, OK, we got to make sure going into 2025 that, you know, PTs aren't have a plan or doing something so that they can have a lot more success with money.

[00:02:02] So that's really where this came from.

[00:02:04] So they've had a lot of struggles this year.

[00:02:06] Now, change health care is a third party that disrupted a lot of payments.

[00:02:11] So reimbursement.

[00:02:12] That's right.

[00:02:12] We're in this year.

[00:02:13] And then the inflationary pressures.

[00:02:15] You can't discount that.

[00:02:16] Salaries are going up while everything, while reimbursements are declining.

[00:02:21] Yes.

[00:02:21] So it's becoming more and more difficult.

[00:02:23] That's the need for more and more of this content to educate owners on what to do and how to prepare financially.

[00:02:29] I love it.

[00:02:30] So for those of you guys that don't know me, my name is Eric Miller.

[00:02:33] I'm the chief advisor and co-owner of Econologics Financial Advisors.

[00:02:36] We are a registered investment advisor that caters only to health care owners.

[00:02:41] So we don't work with anyone else besides health care owners.

[00:02:45] And we learned pretty early on that if we were going to be good at giving financial advice, we had to know something about your industry and your business.

[00:02:53] So that's why we focus in on health care practitioners.

[00:02:56] And then Nathan Shields obviously is one of the owners of the PPO Club.

[00:03:00] You probably have a long list of things that you've accomplished, but maybe just give a brief introduction of what you're doing right now, Nate.

[00:03:07] Yeah.

[00:03:08] Nathan Shields of PPO Club, founder, co-owner of the Private Practice Owners Club podcast and coaching services.

[00:03:16] So being a physical therapist myself, PT owner for a number of years, sold my practices six years ago, decided to turn around and share some of the wisdom that I gained over the years.

[00:03:29] Plus, I have a great network of successful physical therapy owners, frankly, and influencers in the industry like yourself that I can connect with and put you in front of an audience to show these independent practice owners.

[00:03:40] Look, here are the resources.

[00:03:42] These are the people that have been there, done that, and do that through the podcast for a benefit to those owners.

[00:03:48] But I also do some coaching.

[00:03:50] I've started a coaching business.

[00:03:51] As you listen to the podcast, you'll hear my partner, Adam Robin, who is also a physical therapy clinic owner in Mississippi of multiple clinics.

[00:03:59] And together, our focus is to provide as much support as we can to these independent practice owners so that they can live the life they want to have, so they can achieve their dreams and they can be successful and grow and expand.

[00:04:12] And we're there every step of the way.

[00:04:15] Yeah, definitely.

[00:04:15] If you haven't, because your PPO club has definitely grown, I know, really in the last year tremendously from what I've seen.

[00:04:23] And you guys put on an event every single year, which was really, really awesome.

[00:04:28] So make sure you guys give a shout out to go to the, you have a Facebook group that you guys, if you're a PT owner, you can join.

[00:04:35] Yeah, if you want to really connect and see exactly what we're doing or a lot of what we're doing, it's on our Facebook group, Private Practice Owners Club.

[00:04:42] The website also has each podcast episode and also can put you in connection with us and tells you a little bit more about what we're doing and who we are and also the other coaches that are involved.

[00:04:53] Excellent.

[00:04:53] Well, let me just tell everyone what we're going to be going over in today's PT Summit, which is probably going to last about, I don't know, it's probably going to be about 70, 80 minutes, somewhere around there.

[00:05:02] First off, I'm going to go over what we really like to talk about, which are the strategies that you're going to need to build personal wealth and obviously make sure that you guys are on track for retirement.

[00:05:14] Nate's going to go into five things that he learned along the way.

[00:05:17] There's probably more than five, but we're going to try to restrict it to five things he's learned along the way.

[00:05:22] After that, then we're going to start bringing on what we call our financial dream team.

[00:05:27] And look, nobody is going to go at this alone and it'd be foolish if you're going to try to.

[00:05:32] You need to have a team, a very solid financial team around you that is competent, that knows your industry, and most importantly, knows exactly the direction that you want to go with your life.

[00:05:45] And you have to build a team around there.

[00:05:47] So from a financial perspective, one of the things that I think most people are missing is a very good relationship with not only their financial advisor, but with their CPA.

[00:05:59] And a lot of people have CPAs and a lot of people work with CPAs.

[00:06:03] But there's a difference between having a CPA that's doing your books and really having a relationship with a CPA that is helping you understand your finances, is strategizing with you.

[00:06:16] Not only tax strategies, but things that you're trying to do with your business to grow and expand.

[00:06:22] And you need someone that can do that.

[00:06:24] I'm very happy that we're going to bring on a CPA, Mark Martakovich.

[00:06:28] He is the president and owner of Business Advisory, and we've seen a lot of success with him working with private practice owners and a lot of other business owners.

[00:06:38] So he's going to really talk about what the relationship should look like with your CPA.

[00:06:42] And then, of course, we got to have him give a couple tax strategies because it's the end of the year and everybody loves tax strategies, that's for sure.

[00:06:49] And then I'm going to bring on Josh Abrahamson, who is one of my financial advisors.

[00:06:53] He's going to talk about some successful and unsuccessful things that people do with their money and their investments.

[00:07:01] Because, of course, we see the good, the bad, and the ugly of what happens when people try to invest their money.

[00:07:06] And then he's going to give you some success factors that we've seen amongst our best owners.

[00:07:11] And then we're going to bring on Daniel Stewart.

[00:07:12] We've got a big show.

[00:07:13] Daniel Stewart of Othellis.

[00:07:15] And he is the head of partnerships at Othellis.

[00:07:18] And Othellis seems to be taking the PT world by storm a little bit in terms of what they're doing right now in the billing, what they're doing in the technology department, and making it easier for owners for record keeping and providers for record keeping and just implementing AI technology so that people can get some of the things that you hear as an owner.

[00:07:39] I'm sure you heard from your providers complaining about like this.

[00:07:42] I don't like doing this.

[00:07:43] Don't like doing this.

[00:07:44] And, you know, OK, so how can we help with that?

[00:07:46] And I think Othellis is, like I said, they've really come on the scene and just are really saturating the market, which is good because I think what they do is important from a billing and a record keeping standpoint.

[00:07:58] What do you think about that?

[00:07:59] Oh, yeah, they're great.

[00:08:00] You know, Othellis was a sponsor of ours at the conference and getting to know them a little bit more.

[00:08:06] And actually, Adam Robin, my partner, has worked with them as well.

[00:08:09] Can't say enough about them because I really welcome their coming into our space.

[00:08:13] They've worked in other health care spaces before, but physical therapy needs some disruption.

[00:08:18] We need to be shoved into 2025.

[00:08:22] A lot of us are still living in 2015 and 2010.

[00:08:25] So we need a company like Othellis to show us the way to guide us a little bit more and introduce a better way of doing things.

[00:08:32] They are preeminent when it comes to leveraging AI technology in your revenue cycle management slash billing and collections.

[00:08:39] I'd probably go a step further in saying that if you do not adopt some of these things over the next two years, you are going to be rolled over by some point.

[00:08:49] Because not only your competitors, but the insurance companies are going to be utilizing this technology to do what they seem to do that frustrates so many PT owners.

[00:08:59] So you're going to have to fight fire with fire when you're doing this.

[00:09:02] Of course, we don't want to get tangential here.

[00:09:04] But I just saw an article yesterday that UnitedHealthcare was found to leverage AI to deny 90% of claims right off the top.

[00:09:13] Yep. I mean, it's a real thing.

[00:09:16] So if these insurance companies are using it, you're going to have to utilize it and integrate into your practice so that you guys can make sure that you get paid.

[00:09:24] Part of the cycle of running a business is money coming in the door.

[00:09:28] And if money's not coming in, then you're going to have a tough time doing anything else.

[00:09:34] So we got to get the money in the door.

[00:09:36] And I think he's going to give you guys some descriptions and a good story behind looking at Othellis for helping you out.

[00:09:42] So I think that's the agenda right there.

[00:09:44] I'm going to start with what I'm going to go over today.

[00:09:47] So, look, I know that there's a lot of things going on in the outside economy right now.

[00:09:54] And I always try to be sensitive to the fact, because you had mentioned a couple of these things, you know, reimbursements and inflation and all these things that seemingly we don't have much control over, which is true.

[00:10:05] But my experience in working with PT owners and looking at their finances and really kind of digging down into why it is that you are not solvent, why it is that you're not able to pay yourself what you should be paying yourself.

[00:10:21] Why is it that you don't have a ton of money to invest and create other income sources?

[00:10:27] It has more to do with internal systems than anything else.

[00:10:32] And it is an inside job to this degree.

[00:10:36] And I think if you can solve this problem, if you can solve the problem of having a good financial internal financial system of how when money comes in, where it's being allocated for what purpose and really understanding financial planning to that degree.

[00:10:51] Financial planning isn't just some boring thing that you do to make sure that you have a few bucks in your pocket.

[00:10:58] It is the allocation of resources that will allow you to expand.

[00:11:03] And that's something that's really important that I think most people have to really grasp and understand.

[00:11:09] So I'm going to go over what we call three proven strategies to build personal wealth and make sure that you can retire.

[00:11:14] And these are going to be your panels.

[00:11:15] Look at these pictures.

[00:11:16] I mean, these are beautiful pictures for crying out loud.

[00:11:18] You know, I can't believe how young we look in these pictures right here, but it's OK.

[00:11:25] And this is sponsored by, of course, Econologic Financial Advisors.

[00:11:28] We offer what we call premier financial advice, not only for practice owners, but for associates, which is something I'll talk about later.

[00:11:36] But for the longest time, we've worked with practice owners.

[00:11:39] We recently started to work with providers as well internally, because I find that if providers have a really good plan for themselves on money,

[00:11:48] they know how much they need to make, they know where it's going, they're going to work just a little bit harder to make more money so that they can pay off debt.

[00:11:56] They can save for a down payment on a house.

[00:11:58] And they're really now more in like there's a good relationship between them and the owner.

[00:12:03] It isn't adversarial.

[00:12:04] It's like we're trying to get to the same place here.

[00:12:07] We're both trying to win financially.

[00:12:08] But we'll get into that later.

[00:12:10] OK, so for me, I've talked about this a lot over the years, but there is a point in time where you as a PT owner has to have a light switch that goes on.

[00:12:23] And you're going to have to realize that at some point in time, we have to take a bit of a different view on how you're looking at your relationship between your household and your business.

[00:12:34] And when you are first starting out, when you first start your practice, I know that most of your time, attention, money, whatever it is, is in the practice because that's where you spend the majority of your time.

[00:12:46] And that's OK.

[00:12:47] But there has to be a point in time.

[00:12:50] And I don't really know when that is.

[00:12:51] You know, if it's two years in, three years in, five years in, maybe right away where you are looking at the fact that my household, we call it the parent company, and I need to treat this household like a business.

[00:13:04] And I need to make sure that the strategy that I have set up is ensuring that my practice profits are going to my household so that I can create other income sources.

[00:13:19] Because I think the worst thing that you can do is just rely on one income source for the rest of your life.

[00:13:24] No one wants to do that.

[00:13:25] But that is not going to happen by itself.

[00:13:28] You actually have to get a strategy and a plan in place to be able to do that.

[00:13:33] So that's the first concept is that when you really start grasping that, it's like, yeah, you're right.

[00:13:38] I got to do something so that I don't feel like this practice is just taking every bit of energy and all my resources and everything like that.

[00:13:47] So one of the ways that I think we can start that journey in doing that and really going into 2025,

[00:13:55] one of the things I think is most important for every owner to really understand is that by and large,

[00:14:04] I would say 95% of PT owners are underestimating the amount of money they need to bring into their practice

[00:14:13] to live the life that they want to live.

[00:14:16] And I probably even say it's probably closer to about 98% of owners.

[00:14:20] Okay.

[00:14:21] And why is that?

[00:14:24] And we can go through a mountain of reasons of why that is.

[00:14:29] But I think the primary reason is that you are not looking at what I would call necessary expenses

[00:14:39] and incorporating them into your make break number of your practice.

[00:14:46] Yes.

[00:14:47] Okay.

[00:14:47] Now, when I say what's a necessary expense, like what is a necessity?

[00:14:52] Most people would think, well, payroll is a necessity, right?

[00:14:56] Most people would think that rent is a necessity.

[00:14:59] Most people would think that marketing is a necessity.

[00:15:02] Okay, great.

[00:15:03] Those are, right?

[00:15:04] You can't run your business if you're not making enough money to cover those things.

[00:15:07] But what about your profits?

[00:15:10] Are those a necessity?

[00:15:12] And by and large, when I ask somebody how do they gauge their profits, they'll say, well,

[00:15:17] you know, we look at the end of the month and see what's left over.

[00:15:20] And that's how we target what our profits are going to be.

[00:15:22] And I'm like, that is a short road to insolvency.

[00:15:26] It's a short road to insolvency.

[00:15:28] The only way you're going to have a profit, okay, is that you have to make it look like an

[00:15:34] expense.

[00:15:34] You have to treat it like an expense, like anything else that you do.

[00:15:39] And once you understand that concept and treat money differently when it comes into your

[00:15:44] organization, then I think the game changes.

[00:15:47] So the first thing that everyone needs to do is really start looking at, am I incorporating

[00:15:53] every quote unquote expense that I need?

[00:15:56] And to us, there's generally four profit accounts that we see people are not accounting for.

[00:16:03] And once you get them in place, what it's going to do, it changes what your target is.

[00:16:08] And I'll go briefly through what these are.

[00:16:10] We have a lot of other material on this and we probably know we can do a whole webinar just

[00:16:14] on this alone.

[00:16:15] But the first, of course, is your owner, your, your owner compensation, your risk, the risk

[00:16:20] premium or ROI being paid back to you is the first 10% of the practice revenue should

[00:16:27] be going to you as an owner in a separate account called the wealth storage account.

[00:16:31] Okay.

[00:16:32] That's separate from your pay as a practitioner, separate as your pay as an executive.

[00:16:37] This is your owner compensation, 10% of the revenue.

[00:16:40] Revenue should be going into a separate account for the benefit of you, your household and

[00:16:45] creating other income sources.

[00:16:46] You have a tax account, obviously, so that you can have money to pay your taxes every quarter.

[00:16:52] And then of course, work with your CPA to try to get that number down.

[00:16:55] A business savings account so that you have at least two months of business savings so

[00:17:00] that you can manage better.

[00:17:02] You have buffers in the organization.

[00:17:04] If you have a bad month, if you have a bad month of collections, it doesn't crush the

[00:17:08] organization.

[00:17:09] And then a business expansion development account, because you have to reinvest back into the

[00:17:13] business to make sure that you have good facility, that you have, I mean, a number of other things

[00:17:21] that you would need, good equipment, whatever it is to make it easier for your business to

[00:17:26] operate and expand.

[00:17:27] These are, to me, are the four most important accounts that most owners do not account for

[00:17:31] when they're doing their make break number.

[00:17:33] And what ends up happening is that you underestimate how much you need.

[00:17:37] And I think that is where you can really see what your deficit is once you recalibrate

[00:17:44] your numbers.

[00:17:46] And then it'll give you a target.

[00:17:48] Oh my gosh, I thought I needed 100,000.

[00:17:50] I really need 123,000.

[00:17:52] And then you can work with someone like Nate that can say, okay, let's work backwards and

[00:17:56] say, all right, well, how many patient visits do we need to do at your reimbursement rate to

[00:17:59] get to that number?

[00:18:00] I think that's the first thing everyone should do.

[00:18:03] Know your numbers, know your numbers and you have to know them cold and they have to be

[00:18:08] correct for you guys to be able to win.

[00:18:11] So know your make break number.

[00:18:12] After that, then it gets into, all right, well, what do I do with the money?

[00:18:18] Okay, Eric, you just said, I need to increase my pay by 10% of the practice revenue, which

[00:18:23] you're going to thank me later by doing that.

[00:18:25] And then what do I do with that money?

[00:18:28] Okay.

[00:18:29] Well, look, it's pretty simple.

[00:18:31] When it comes to having wealth, you have to invest and you can't just sit there with,

[00:18:38] you know, and I've seen this happen.

[00:18:40] People just have two, three, $400,000 just sitting in their bank accounts.

[00:18:43] And I'm like, okay, it's great.

[00:18:45] But what are you doing with it?

[00:18:46] It's great to have cash and liquidity, but we have to keep money in motion and you need

[00:18:51] a strategy.

[00:18:52] You need an investment strategy to win.

[00:18:54] So the first action though, is that you guys, if you want to have money to invest, you cannot

[00:19:00] leave it in your business account.

[00:19:03] You have to rip it out, physically remove it.

[00:19:06] And that's what that 10% owner compensation is designed for.

[00:19:10] It gets removed from the business, goes into a separate account.

[00:19:13] And then that money then is used for an investment strategy for your household.

[00:19:19] And we put this together for owners every single day where we're showing them, look,

[00:19:25] your practice is a asset of your parent company, which is your household.

[00:19:30] It needs to compensate you enough in salary and profit distribution to pay for your lifestyle,

[00:19:35] your taxes, and your personal debt.

[00:19:37] Okay.

[00:19:38] And I think by and large, and Nate, I think you'd agree with me.

[00:19:41] I think it would be advisable for everyone if they can to get their practice building at

[00:19:46] some point in time in their career.

[00:19:47] It's not always possible, but I think it'd be an advisable asset to acquire at some point

[00:19:51] in time, long-term investment strategy wise.

[00:19:54] Well, yeah, a huge opportunity for diversifying your investments, if you will, but also establishing

[00:20:00] a source for wealth in the future.

[00:20:02] It's that real estate, you're going to pay rent to yourself.

[00:20:05] And so that's going to take down the principle that real estate more than likely is going

[00:20:09] to appreciate.

[00:20:10] And so this is a wealth building account and you can do so much with that, whether you decide

[00:20:16] to sell your practice or not, to eventually buy other real estate opportunities and continue

[00:20:21] to diversify that real estate portfolio.

[00:20:23] Yeah.

[00:20:24] Because long-term for most of you, if you're going to sell your practice, you don't have

[00:20:27] to sell the building and keep the building and it'll be, it'll generate a rental income

[00:20:30] source for your household for infinity or however long you want to hold it on.

[00:20:34] And qualified plans, again, I know most of you guys probably have 401ks, IRAs, and I think

[00:20:39] by and large, it's a benefit for you, your employees.

[00:20:42] I take advantage of them.

[00:20:43] I just would not depend upon just them alone and your practice, quote unquote, retirement,

[00:20:49] which is why we want to make sure that we have a strategy of taking the 10% of the revenue

[00:20:54] out.

[00:20:55] It goes into a separate account called the wealth storage account.

[00:20:57] And then from there, that money can be invested either into traditional stock and bond portfolio,

[00:21:04] there's insurance-based products that you can utilize, or any other alternative investments

[00:21:08] in real estate.

[00:21:09] The point is, is that you want to keep money in motion.

[00:21:13] You want to keep money in places where they have a proven history of returning your money

[00:21:19] to you in some form or fashion, which real estate has done, which insurance products has done,

[00:21:25] which buying large stocks and bonds have done, okay?

[00:21:27] Where you've gotten your money back.

[00:21:29] And that's going to produce cashflow for the household so that at the end of the day, whenever

[00:21:35] it is that you are ready to transition, you have one, two, three, four, five, six different

[00:21:44] income sources, all for the benefit of the household.

[00:21:47] And when you sell your practice, however it is that you sell it, you're not dependent on

[00:21:52] just the proceeds of the practice to satisfy your life, okay?

[00:21:56] Look, guys, I know that there's other strategies out there to create multiple income sources.

[00:22:02] I'm not saying this is the best.

[00:22:04] I'm just telling you, this is a very workable strategy, but it will not happen by itself.

[00:22:09] By and large, I think you guys need to have someone working with you that understands this

[00:22:14] strategy, that can show you how to allocate the money.

[00:22:17] And that's obviously what myself and our advisors do on a day, day in, day out basis.

[00:22:22] I think another thing that's really important is checking your financial readiness across

[00:22:26] the board.

[00:22:27] Your financial life isn't just made up of your investments.

[00:22:30] You have debt, you have credit, you have taxes, asset protection, estate planning.

[00:22:38] You guys have a lot of things that you need to look at.

[00:22:42] And you're like, I don't have time to look at all these things.

[00:22:45] Well, great news for you.

[00:22:47] We've done it for you because we have a financial prosperity index that all you have to do is

[00:22:53] answer the questions.

[00:22:54] You can go to financial prosperity index dot com.

[00:22:56] It's a hundred question assessment and it will give you a score akin to a credit score

[00:23:02] that will allow you to see where you stand in these areas.

[00:23:06] And then from there, you can develop a plan of what you're going to do to fix it.

[00:23:12] OK, it's very akin to having business statistics.

[00:23:14] What's my patient visits?

[00:23:16] What's my retention rate?

[00:23:17] What's our cancellation rate?

[00:23:19] If you can see those things, then you know you can fix it.

[00:23:24] So this was another tool that we created that can really check your financial readiness.

[00:23:29] And I would encourage a lot of you guys, you just go to financial prosperity index dot

[00:23:32] com.

[00:23:32] It's simple, easy.

[00:23:33] It's a hundred question assessment.

[00:23:35] It will probably rock your world while you're taking it because you're going to be like,

[00:23:38] oh, my God, I don't even know what that means.

[00:23:40] But at the end of the day, you'll feel good when you see that there are things that you

[00:23:47] can do to improve.

[00:23:49] And by and large, I think a lot of people have very good wins when they take that.

[00:23:52] But then the last thing, which is going to lead into where we're going to go after Nate

[00:23:56] talks is make sure you have a financial dream team.

[00:24:00] And what does that dream team consist of?

[00:24:03] So when I say a financial dream team, this is what I'm talking about.

[00:24:06] I see a lot of value in the fact that we understand the PT industry better than any other

[00:24:14] financial advisor out there.

[00:24:15] And I can say that with a high degree of confidence because, quite frankly, I've been dealing with

[00:24:19] PTs for the last 15 years.

[00:24:21] So I know the nomenclature.

[00:24:23] We know where your profit margins are.

[00:24:25] We know where your big expenses are.

[00:24:27] And we can take a look at your business finances and say, you got problems here, here, and here,

[00:24:32] and here.

[00:24:32] Now, that's not my job to fix that, though.

[00:24:35] My job is just to make you aware of that and to make sure that you're paying yourself

[00:24:39] correctly so that we can take care of the household financially.

[00:24:42] Which leads me to the fact that you don't want to drop down to four.

[00:24:45] Or it's very, very advisable that you have a practice management consultant, some kind of

[00:24:50] coach that understands your industry and someone that actually has done it.

[00:24:54] Someone that's done it and has been through it and knows what works and what doesn't.

[00:25:00] Okay.

[00:25:00] And as a management technology that they rely upon, but I think most importantly has done

[00:25:06] it.

[00:25:07] Okay.

[00:25:07] I see a lot of coaches out there that just say, well, you know, I'm a coach.

[00:25:11] Well, I was like, well, were you a PT?

[00:25:12] No.

[00:25:13] Well, I owned a car wash business.

[00:25:14] So I figured I can give coaching advice to PTs.

[00:25:16] Come on now.

[00:25:17] So let's stay in the industry.

[00:25:19] I think that's very advisable.

[00:25:21] And then obviously a good CPA and a good legal advisor would round out the financial

[00:25:26] dream team.

[00:25:26] But this to me is like, you need people that you can rely upon that are going to help you

[00:25:31] because you know it day to day.

[00:25:34] You have a ton of things that you have to make decisions on.

[00:25:36] And that's something that we all need to make sure that we have people around us that

[00:25:41] know what the heck they're talking about.

[00:25:42] So that's what I have.

[00:25:44] These are going to be the people that we're going to be talking to for the rest of the

[00:25:47] time.

[00:25:48] I'm going to turn the ball over to you.

[00:25:50] So I'm going to stop the share right now.

[00:25:52] If you want to bring up your presentation.

[00:25:55] Oh, sure.

[00:25:56] Yeah.

[00:25:57] And I feel good about my presentation now because you covered a couple of the things

[00:26:01] that I'm going to cover.

[00:26:02] And if I know that Eric Miller is backing me up on some of this stuff, then I have all

[00:26:06] the confidence in the world.

[00:26:07] Oh, dude.

[00:26:08] Makes me feel so good.

[00:26:09] I got your back.

[00:26:10] No doubt.

[00:26:17] If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

[00:26:21] Hey, it's Q4 2024.

[00:26:24] It's time to put your foot on the gas.

[00:26:26] It's busy season, guys, and your goals are within reach.

[00:26:30] But if you're feeling unclear on what to do next, it's likely due to a lack of planning.

[00:26:36] Listen, if you want to be a great company, you have to do what great companies do.

[00:27:09] Host an annual strategic plan with your team.

[00:27:10] Purpose and focus.

[00:27:12] Imagine waking up knowing exactly what to do and how that clarity would impact your team

[00:27:18] and your work.

[00:27:20] We're only taking 10 businesses for 2025 and spots are first come first serve.

[00:27:25] This promotion runs to the end of the year.

[00:27:27] So if you're serious about growing in 2025, check the show notes and claim your spot today.

[00:27:32] This could be the most important decision you make next year.

[00:27:36] Think about it.

[00:27:41] Eric invited me on to the webinar.

[00:27:44] And I feel, first of all, thankful, grateful that you think I have something worthy to offer

[00:27:49] and valuable to share.

[00:27:50] So thanks, Eric.

[00:27:51] Eric, I'm excited about sharing what I've learned over the years.

[00:27:55] So as I was putting this together, I thought, okay, what does my journey look like?

[00:28:00] What do I really want to share with these, the people that are listening?

[00:28:03] And I'm just making some assumptions because the avatar that I speak to on my podcast

[00:28:08] is probably similar to the people that I'm talking to right now.

[00:28:12] And so you're a private practice owner, probably physical therapy,

[00:28:17] because that's where it was focusing is advertisements.

[00:28:19] I also am a physical therapist.

[00:28:21] And back in the day, I didn't know where to turn to, to get support and resources.

[00:28:27] There's so much more now than when I opened up my clinics in 2002.

[00:28:31] And so I thought, what do I want to share?

[00:28:33] What have I learned that would be valuable for the people that are listening?

[00:28:36] Because I'm assuming you're like me, maybe you have a clinic,

[00:28:38] maybe you are the sole provider.

[00:28:40] There are other providers with you.

[00:28:42] And you don't have a lot of business acumen.

[00:28:44] You're a great physical therapist.

[00:28:45] You're a high achiever.

[00:28:46] All physical therapists are, in my opinion.

[00:28:48] We are high achieving people.

[00:28:50] And we decided to open up a clinic and find out that we're a little bit underwater

[00:28:54] when it comes to the business side of things.

[00:28:55] So I wanted to share some of the things that I learned along the way.

[00:28:59] Here's where we are, where I am.

[00:29:01] We're at ppoclub.com on multiple podcast outlets.

[00:29:04] I've been a physical therapist since the 1900s and a practice owner since 2000.

[00:29:12] So a little bit about my journey as an owner.

[00:29:14] And I wanted to share my experience simply because I think some of people who are listening

[00:29:19] can relate.

[00:29:20] And because it's also a very typical owner's journey based on my coaching experience.

[00:29:24] And from my experience, I pray that other owners will be able to avoid the things that

[00:29:29] I had to struggle with over the years.

[00:29:31] So opening my practice in 2002, within a few years, you know, I had no business acumen,

[00:29:37] just a physical therapist who frankly wants to have some autonomy and make a lot more money

[00:29:42] than I could as a staff physical therapist.

[00:29:43] I'm a little bit greedy in that way, and that's okay.

[00:29:46] But a few years into practicing, I found a location and a part of town that was growing.

[00:29:50] There was an empty space.

[00:29:51] And I caught the vision.

[00:29:53] My wife said, let's do this.

[00:29:54] And I thought, man, if I could just have my own space and get to about 150 visits a

[00:29:59] week between me and another PT and some support staff, I'd be satisfied.

[00:30:03] I could treat the rest of my life.

[00:30:04] I'd be fine.

[00:30:05] Well, two years into it, I'm making pretty good money, but I'm already like close to burnout.

[00:30:11] I'm handling all the administrative responsibilities myself.

[00:30:13] I'm handling unhappy front desk people who are not only managing the front desk, but doing

[00:30:19] my billing as well.

[00:30:20] Not a good combination.

[00:30:21] I know I was treating 50 hours a week and I just thought if I could get someone to run

[00:30:25] the business for me and I could live my life as a physical therapist, I'd be totally happy.

[00:30:30] So what did I do about it?

[00:30:32] Well, frankly, nothing.

[00:30:33] And then move forward 10 years later, still in the same space.

[00:30:38] I actually, well, physically had moved spaces to a bigger space and I'd actually grown and

[00:30:42] even opened a second clinic.

[00:30:43] Now making more money and still wishing someone would rescue me from the administrative burden

[00:30:49] that I had to look at.

[00:30:51] Every day, looking back while I was making all this money, it wasn't as much as I wasn't

[00:30:56] making as much as I could have, frankly.

[00:30:58] And that's where my partner and I, Will Humphries, look back and we're like, man, we lost hundreds

[00:31:02] of thousands of dollars because we were losing money by not tracking it appropriately, by not

[00:31:08] holding ourselves or people accountable.

[00:31:10] I was doing everything myself between treating, hiring, HR management, marketing, property management.

[00:31:17] I'm probably cleaning the toilets when we have issues and I've got all my administrative duties.

[00:31:23] And thus I was a jack of all trades and a master of none.

[00:31:26] Everything was handled with mediocrity and by the seat of my pants.

[00:31:30] Even though I was providing good physical therapy by myself and the other providers around me,

[00:31:36] the business side of things just kind of went along and I was fortunate that we continued to survive.

[00:31:44] And although I was making good money, I also didn't have a life that I wanted.

[00:31:47] Like I had no life.

[00:31:49] I missed time with my kids.

[00:31:51] I had no time for hobbies.

[00:31:52] My vacations were interrupted by clinical emergencies, which is when all clinical emergencies tend to happen.

[00:31:59] Right.

[00:32:00] I was get those calls in the middle of my vacation or the doctor had called upset about something.

[00:32:05] And frankly, I'd missed time with my newborn babies because I was up at four doing notes out the door to the clinic at six or seven.

[00:32:12] And I wouldn't be home till seven or eight at night.

[00:32:14] And there were days at a time where I wouldn't see my newborns awake.

[00:32:18] So that wasn't a life that I was envisioning or hoping for.

[00:32:21] And so finally, 12 years into ownership, I confronted the fact that I wasn't living the lifestyle that I wanted as an owner and that nothing was changing until I invested in myself.

[00:32:32] I had to improve myself as a business owner and nothing was going to change until I did that.

[00:32:38] So I ended up paying a lot of money to get some coaching, someone to tell me, show me, guide me on how to organize my business and frankly, organize my life.

[00:32:49] And get what I really wanted, take real ownership of my lifestyle and not be at the mercy of the schedule of patients that I had before me.

[00:32:59] And what I really wanted was time for myself, time for my family, space to do more for my clinic and my team members and guidance on how to grow all while maintaining my financial income.

[00:33:10] That was a possibility.

[00:33:12] I just didn't know how to get there.

[00:33:14] And so I invested in a coach and frankly, it's paid off for me in spades.

[00:33:18] I've had a coach now for at least a decade, some kind of coach or mentor, not always the same one.

[00:33:23] I've switched them up over the years, but that those coaches have taught me how to take time for my administrative duties, where to focus my attentions during my administrative time, how to manage and grow my team.

[00:33:33] And how to manage by statistics objectively and how to plan for growth.

[00:33:37] It's paid off in spades.

[00:33:39] And the amount of money that I put into it, I've more than gotten that return.

[00:33:42] So of course, over the course of a few years of coaching, our clinics went from $1.4 million in revenue to over $4 million in revenue.

[00:33:53] While I wasn't treating at all.

[00:33:55] I was better.

[00:33:55] Yeah, right.

[00:33:57] I was a relatively, I can't say minor cog in the company, but I wasn't boots on the ground treating patients anymore.

[00:34:02] I was looking over reports, talking with a leadership team and really looking at high level things and looking forward into the future at the helm of the ship, right?

[00:34:13] Instead of being down in rowing the boat, essentially, right?

[00:34:17] So I had achieved a level of freedom and wealth that I had never experienced in the previous 12 years.

[00:34:21] And six years ago, me and my partner sold our clinics for three times the market average.

[00:34:28] And since that time, I've been podcasting, coaching and investing in real estate ever since.

[00:34:32] A plan or a path that I never foresaw during that initial opening the clinic period when I was like, oh man, if I could just treat patients all day, I'd be so happy.

[00:34:41] Never foresaw that I could actually find fulfillment outside of patient care.

[00:34:46] So I want to talk about some of the things I learned along the way.

[00:34:50] And we'll start with the first one.

[00:34:52] I looked at these like, what would I tell my younger self to do?

[00:34:54] Right.

[00:34:55] And especially in the current environment of therapy, what would I tell other practice owners if I had a platform and now I have a platform to do to navigate the challenges and obstacles that they're dealing with?

[00:35:05] Right.

[00:35:06] And so the first one, I don't want to say it's self-serving, but it's obvious to me that we all need some kind of business training by investing in yourself and hiring a coach.

[00:35:18] I know that if I had an own, some kind of coach or support system like a coach 10 years earlier, I would have accelerated my growth and had a totally different trajectory that would have included a lot more personal time, a lot more family time, a lot more fulfillment, and frankly, a lot more money.

[00:35:34] So the payoff for me has been a hundred times what I put into it.

[00:35:37] When I consider the knowledge that I gained, the freedom that I achieved, the experience I had with my wife, children, my friends, and the opportunities that have opened up for me since that time.

[00:35:45] And the result from that, frankly, is because I took on that mindset.

[00:35:51] I am the owner.

[00:35:52] Like if nothing's going to happen, it all starts and ends with me.

[00:35:55] If I don't fix it, create it, address it, fund it, et cetera, nothing's going to happen.

[00:35:58] I thought naively that I could passively sit by, treat patients, and things would naturally grow around me because I'm a great physical therapist.

[00:36:06] Until I got the understanding that I'm a business owner and finally took ownership, that's when things changed, right?

[00:36:13] Coaching showed me that.

[00:36:14] And the sooner I would have understood that, the better my journey would have been financially, frankly.

[00:36:18] And in order for independent private practice owners to move forward, they've got to take on that same business ownership mindset and be leaders and change agents first in their clinics, then in the industry.

[00:36:30] The second thing I would recommend or coach myself on doing is to gain clarity on the purpose of the clinic.

[00:36:37] And Eric alluded to this as well.

[00:36:39] And that is essentially just making sure that I focus on meeting my current and future financial goals.

[00:36:47] I never took the time before opening the clinic to do a pro forma like I should have done.

[00:36:51] And I coach owners to do that now.

[00:36:53] I never took the time to see how much I needed to make in order to cover my current and future financial goals.

[00:36:59] And having that clarity can drive so much more of the decision-making process.

[00:37:06] And that's a question that I would ask anyone in this current situation is, are you completely clear?

[00:37:11] Eric talked about it just a few minutes ago.

[00:37:13] Do you know how much your household needs to both support the lifestyle you want to live and save for future expenses?

[00:37:20] This number that you come up with should be a guiding light for the direction of your company.

[00:37:25] Very important number.

[00:37:27] I can't emphasize that enough.

[00:37:28] Yeah.

[00:37:29] I'm glad you brought it up and I'm happy to reiterate it, right?

[00:37:32] Because having this clarity can really cascade into a lot of other decisions and targets.

[00:37:39] Like directly, how much do you need to produce from your clinic to meet these expectations?

[00:37:45] What size of clinic do you need?

[00:37:48] How many providers do you need?

[00:37:50] How many patients do they need to see in order to meet that goal?

[00:37:54] What size is your support team?

[00:37:55] It leads to a whole cascade of business decisions based on that one financial goal, right?

[00:38:01] And if we don't have that, we're just kind of flying by the seat of the pants and okay with whatever the bank account balance says, right?

[00:38:08] And so I'd rather see owners working from a place of intention versus randomness, right?

[00:38:14] I'd rather see you take control.

[00:38:16] And that's part of that ownership mindset, right?

[00:38:18] Yep.

[00:38:18] So now that you have that number, you can cast a vision of where you're taking this business, right?

[00:38:24] That this is going to be a guiding principle to exactly how you want to move and grow.

[00:38:28] Step three is frankly, know your numbers.

[00:38:31] Dude, I'm so glad you said some of these same things so that I'm not like out in the woods.

[00:38:35] Nope.

[00:38:36] And just so you guys know, Eric and I did not pre-plan any of this stuff.

[00:38:40] We came up with this information on our own and I'm glad we agree on some of these things.

[00:38:45] But know your financials and plan for a profit.

[00:38:48] You know, margins are squeezing clinic owners.

[00:38:51] And in fact, in the last year, the publicly traded physical therapy companies have dipped into single digit profit margins for the first time in decades.

[00:38:58] So in order for independent owners to avoid the same fate and survive, they need to take on a profit focus.

[00:39:04] And I would have said, personally would have set a stronger mindset too.

[00:39:07] And this is to use Eric Miller's verbiage is demand profit from there.

[00:39:12] There you go.

[00:39:12] I love it.

[00:39:13] While commitment to like your overall purpose of treating patients better is important and that's imperative and establishing values of an organization is super important.

[00:39:23] It has to be equal to the commitment that you make to the stated financial goal.

[00:39:27] So when you know your numbers and demand your clinic generate the profit that you need, that's a huge place of power that you can come from.

[00:39:37] Like I said before, it brings a cascade of decision making forward and you can then really run your organization powerfully.

[00:39:45] I've quoted or recommended Mike Michalowicz's book, Profit First.

[00:39:49] And that ties back to what Eric was talking about.

[00:39:52] And that at a minimum, your clinic should be generating 10% of revenue for your household.

[00:39:56] It's an expense line item.

[00:39:58] And setting that aside in a wealth building account is the minimum you should be compensated for the sacrifice and work that you put into things.

[00:40:04] Amen.

[00:40:05] The next step, man, really just starting to act like an owner and build your team.

[00:40:10] I mean, in order to do the first three things, like implement all the stuff that we're talking about or the coach wants you to do, live out the purpose of the organization and focus on profit.

[00:40:18] You actually need time to do these things.

[00:40:21] There needs to be a time to maintain clarity and commitment.

[00:40:24] And I would tell myself, get out of patient care as soon as possible so you can focus on your business.

[00:40:29] It's easy for me to say that now.

[00:40:31] But the best thing you can do as a clinic owner is to have a leader, as a clinic owner, is to have a leader that is creating a vision and supporting that vision with policies, procedures, staff trainings, etc.

[00:40:43] to achieve the vision and the stated goals.

[00:40:44] That clarity to your higher purpose gets obfuscated by technical performance of the therapy.

[00:40:51] And your commitment to patient care can be a counterfeit to the proper end goals, which as an owner is a commitment to the business objectives first and then patient care second.

[00:41:03] And it's hard for owners to wrap their minds around that.

[00:41:05] It was hard for me to wrap my mind around that.

[00:41:07] That all these years I spent working on improving my patient care becomes secondary to the business.

[00:41:13] Yeah.

[00:41:14] Once you're a business owner, you've got to commit to the business.

[00:41:17] That's the first and foremost.

[00:41:19] The business comes first.

[00:41:20] And if you run your business well and give it the proper attention, patient care will be better.

[00:41:26] You will be able to coach your team on how to treat patients better.

[00:41:29] They'll get better results.

[00:41:30] That will improve the community reputation that you have, which will drive more patients.

[00:41:34] And they'll refer family and friends.

[00:41:35] You'll grow.

[00:41:36] You'll train more providers.

[00:41:37] So now your influence is a thousand times instead of one-on-one with patient care.

[00:41:43] Lastly, simply run your clinic by objective statistics.

[00:41:47] Keep performance indicators, stats, you name it.

[00:41:50] Have KPIs for every position in the organization and challenge and support your team to meet the objective goals and the desires.

[00:41:57] As I did this, this again requires time.

[00:42:00] You have to have the time to review your stats and know what your stats are.

[00:42:03] And if you don't know what your stats are, that's why you have a coach because they tell you, these are your stats that I want you to follow and try.

[00:42:07] But the results were not totally unexpected when you look at number three, but number one and two.

[00:42:14] When I run my clinic by objective statistics, our culture improved.

[00:42:17] Our motto was we took from, I think it was L. Ron Hubbard that said, production is the basis of morale.

[00:42:24] Yep.

[00:42:24] Right.

[00:42:25] And that was one of our mottos.

[00:42:27] Like we know when morale was low, productivity was suffering.

[00:42:32] When people are busy and producing, they're happier.

[00:42:35] Our culture showed it.

[00:42:36] Right.

[00:42:36] And as our statistics improved, the patient experience was better.

[00:42:40] We were tracking arrival rates and stuff like that and getting patients in more often to actually meet their plan of care and they got better results.

[00:42:47] And lastly, of course, the higher profits.

[00:42:50] I mean, yes, we made more money.

[00:42:52] There you go.

[00:42:53] In summary, like Jordan Peterson recommended in his 12 rules for life is the first rule is clean your room.

[00:42:59] Like in order to create change in your immediate environment first, you got to place that focus on your immediate environment.

[00:43:05] Then you can work out to external factors.

[00:43:07] So you have to focus on your business first and then move out.

[00:43:11] Right.

[00:43:13] He's right.

[00:43:13] Get some business training and coaching, claim your ownership mindset, recognize that everything starts with you.

[00:43:18] Right.

[00:43:19] Really take that on.

[00:43:20] Take it to heart.

[00:43:21] Clarify your goals and priorities.

[00:43:23] Know that break, make break number.

[00:43:25] That's going to cover all your expenses and future expenses for your household and cast a vision.

[00:43:30] What does that look like in order to achieve it?

[00:43:32] Generating profit with purpose.

[00:43:34] Know your numbers and knowing your numbers will help you build your dream life.

[00:43:38] Yes.

[00:43:38] So the future of PT ownership in this world isn't just about surviving, which it could be when we're squeezed like this.

[00:43:45] It's really about thriving.

[00:43:46] Right.

[00:43:47] And we really need to take the opportunity to improve our business acumen because now is the time to step into our roles as a leader by embracing and stepping into ownership, investing in yourself and creating clarity for your future.

[00:44:00] By doing this, we can really redefine what it means to be a PT clinic owner and lead the way to a thriving, impactful future for our profession.

[00:44:08] As we work on ourselves, as we work on our business, then we can extend that influence out into our profession.

[00:44:14] No doubt about it.

[00:44:15] And we need to because, you know, we need PTs in our communities and we need you guys to continue to have thriving businesses.

[00:44:21] And because what you do is like such a valuable service to the community.

[00:44:27] But you have to think like a business owner if you're going to survive and expand because that's what's going to keep the practice there.

[00:44:34] And solvency is really one of the big priorities that a lot of us have to really confront and make sure that we're keeping the practice solvent so that we can expand that we want to expand.

[00:44:46] So very cool.

[00:44:47] All right.

[00:44:47] Well, I think we're going to bring everybody else on right now, Nate.

[00:44:51] And so we're going to bring on Mark.

[00:44:53] We're going to bring on Josh.

[00:44:54] And there's Daniel.

[00:44:56] Look at him.

[00:44:57] They all look so good.

[00:44:58] So I'm going to be on the side.

[00:45:00] So if anybody has any questions, they want to ask a question, you can totally do that.

[00:45:03] I think we're going to start with Mark in terms of asking him a couple of questions from a CPA perspective.

[00:45:08] I do want to make sure that like if you guys have questions, if you want to connect with any one of the panelists on here,

[00:45:15] we're going to make sure that there's an offer at the end.

[00:45:17] So that you can connect with them.

[00:45:19] You can talk with them.

[00:45:20] Schedule a time with them.

[00:45:21] So that if you have questions that have come up in this presentation, that you get them answered.

[00:45:26] But why don't we start with Mark?

[00:45:27] Because, I mean, of course, we're at the year end.

[00:45:30] CPAs are like they're busy people right now.

[00:45:32] So why don't we go and start with Mark?

[00:45:34] How about that?

[00:45:35] Great.

[00:45:35] Well, thank you, gentlemen.

[00:45:37] And Nathan, Eric, I love that you guys tell your practice owners that they need to know their numbers, right?

[00:45:44] That's something that we preach to because you've got to be able to make good decisions and you have to have good information to make those decisions.

[00:45:50] So knowing your numbers is so critical.

[00:45:52] And I'm the managing partner of a firm based in Clearwater, Florida.

[00:45:56] I name the firm's business advisory and accounting partners.

[00:45:58] And we take a different approach with our clients in that we're proactive planners versus reactive, as most of my industry tends to be.

[00:46:07] And so we love your approach, Eric and Nathan, love all the things you should tell.

[00:46:12] Practice owners very much aligns with what we do.

[00:46:14] Eric and I did an episode a couple of years ago about what to expect out of that relationship with a CPA.

[00:46:20] And so what are some of the main factors to know if I want to have a good working relationship with my CPA?

[00:46:25] What are some of the things I should expect?

[00:46:27] What should I know?

[00:46:28] Yeah.

[00:46:29] So there's a number of things I think that you need to think about when you're thinking about that relationship with the CPA.

[00:46:34] Number one is accessibility.

[00:46:35] Do you have access to that person?

[00:46:36] Are they responsive?

[00:46:38] And I like to frame it in this way.

[00:46:40] You think of the accountant versus advisor.

[00:46:44] And so an accountant or tax practitioner prepares tax returns.

[00:46:49] A trusted advisor uses tax returns as a verification of a plan and opportunity to do future planning.

[00:46:56] An accountant may just answer clients' questions when they come up, but an advisor will anticipate the questions and answer those in advance of that person having those questions.

[00:47:06] Typically, and oftentimes people think about their tax accountant and they think that they just provide pain because here's the tax bill.

[00:47:13] Here's what I owe.

[00:47:13] A trusted advisor, though, removes that pain and provides solutions to make it better or find ways to minimize taxes or be more tax efficient.

[00:47:23] And the last area that I think you should consider is when you write that check to your accountant, do you view that as an expense or as an investment?

[00:47:31] It should be an investment.

[00:47:33] So that investment in that relationship with your trusted CPA advisor is valuable and it's something that you want to do and it's not something that you have to do.

[00:47:43] And so when you think about your relationship with your current accountant, what is that relationship like?

[00:47:47] Is it an accountant or is that person an advisor?

[00:47:51] And it really should be an advisor.

[00:47:53] And people look to us as CPA firms and practitioners to be there.

[00:47:57] And I frame it in such that I tell people that think of us as a board member, not somebody that's a CFO.

[00:48:03] We're not going to be in your business all day long or several times a month, but we're there for you to answer questions.

[00:48:09] We have a lot of experience with working with multiple businesses and we can be that person that brings a different perspective and provide solutions.

[00:48:16] When you think of that relationship, is it an advisor relationship or is it just a tax accountant relationship?

[00:48:22] Yeah, I love that you brought it up and framed it like that because I would love to be able to pay my money to a CPA knowing,

[00:48:27] yeah, I paid him X amount of dollars, but it paid off because I saved or planned or saved so much on my taxes, right?

[00:48:36] Because they advised me and gave me some great advice.

[00:48:38] But I also, what I love about CPAs that I've worked with, the ones that I really like and what I recommend my coaching clients find in their CPAs,

[00:48:47] simply someone who is going to communicate with you.

[00:48:50] Absolutely.

[00:48:51] Absolutely.

[00:48:51] Because there's many CPAs who are not hard, that are kind of hard to find and get pinned down, aren't willing to talk to you,

[00:48:57] just want to send you the reports, when you need the reports, and that's about it.

[00:49:00] One of the first things I did when I recognized that I really needed to be a business owner is I told my CPA, frankly,

[00:49:07] I need to meet with you once a month for an hour.

[00:49:09] I don't know how to read a profit loss statement.

[00:49:11] I don't know how the sheet is.

[00:49:13] And so I need you to teach me.

[00:49:15] And gratefully, I had a CPA that was willing to do that.

[00:49:17] I had to pay him for his time, of course, but that's valuable, right?

[00:49:21] We need someone to not just advise us and help us with the reports, but teach us.

[00:49:27] Yeah, and I think it's important that they can connect with you at the right level, too.

[00:49:31] Very often, and this is indicative of my profession, we tend to be back office people.

[00:49:36] We tend to be very technical.

[00:49:38] And sometimes it's hard for CPAs to communicate with a business owner in terms that they can relate to.

[00:49:43] And so we pride ourselves on making a connection at a level where they can understand us and understand what we're trying to tell them.

[00:49:51] And tax law is not simple by any means.

[00:49:54] There's a lot of applications to it, and we study it.

[00:49:56] But to have the ability to take that and translate that into terms that you as a business owner can understand and that we can teach you,

[00:50:03] that's very important in that relationship as well.

[00:50:06] I agree.

[00:50:06] As we're coming into the end of the year, are there a couple tax strategies that owners need to have available or they need to know about but don't know about?

[00:50:15] Whether it's to wrap up 2024 or even to plan into 2025.

[00:50:20] Yeah, so timing in those conversations is important.

[00:50:24] And I like to have those conversations starting in October into the end of the year, before the end of the year, so we can get ahead of the various strategies.

[00:50:31] So a couple things that come to mind, especially for people in the physical therapy profession, you know, maximizing retirement contributions.

[00:50:38] You know, you can do the 4Ks, but there's some advanced strategies.

[00:50:42] If you want to kind of tuck away more money or take some of that money and put it away for the future,

[00:50:46] you can do defined benefit planning, profit sharing plans that are tax deductible for the business.

[00:50:51] It's tax deferment to the individual.

[00:50:53] So those are areas that we kind of look at.

[00:50:55] If we have people that have lots of discretionary money, we tend to kind of steer them toward that.

[00:51:00] Certainly implementing an accountable plan where you're reimbursing yourself as a business owner for things like home office, auto expenses, cell phone expenses,

[00:51:09] the things that you have that are ordinary and necessary that might be coming out of your pocket that you're not deducting as a business owner.

[00:51:14] So having all that buttoned up and defined and documented is important because we see a lot of misses there.

[00:51:20] People don't deduct all the things they can.

[00:51:23] It's important that they understand it.

[00:51:24] And then the last thing I would think of, and this one maybe requires a little bit more planning,

[00:51:28] but practitioners that have the opportunity to own real estate instead of lease,

[00:51:32] there are some advanced depreciation strategies that can be very beneficial in tax planning.

[00:51:37] You cost segregations on the buildings and accelerate some of that deduction that you can take for that real estate asset.

[00:51:43] Or if you have equipment, certainly there's other opportunities to take bonus depreciation or Section 179 depreciation.

[00:51:49] So in effect, that's taking the cost of that purchase of the equipment or asset and deducting more of it in earlier years or taking all of it in one year.

[00:51:58] So those are things you can make a decision after the fact.

[00:52:01] We've already made purchases.

[00:52:02] We can then, before we file a tax return, choose whether or not we take that deduction now or spread it out over time.

[00:52:08] So those are the type of things that we're doing with our clients now is planning for that.

[00:52:11] And again, knowing your numbers, making sure that everything's captured, everything's right,

[00:52:15] so that you can plan and forecast for the tasks that you've got to pay on profits that you're making.

[00:52:20] And hopefully there's a lot of profits there.

[00:52:21] I love the idea of the wealth creation account and peeling money out and funding that.

[00:52:26] I do that personally, and I tell all my clients to do that.

[00:52:28] And we have a lot of common clients with the Econologics team.

[00:52:30] And I love that we're very much aligned in that strategy because you've got to have money set aside for profit,

[00:52:35] because otherwise, why are you doing it, right?

[00:52:37] Yeah.

[00:52:38] So I love everything that you guys talk about.

[00:52:40] And again, very much aligned with the way we work with our clients.

[00:52:44] Yeah, I think the cost segregation opportunity is definitely there.

[00:52:47] And for those owners who have done really well this year, it seems like it's more appropriate in that situation.

[00:52:53] If you haven't made a significant profit this year, you're relatively new, but you also have a real estate.

[00:52:58] Maybe that's not the best strategy this year.

[00:53:01] But as you grow and you do make a lot of money and have a lot of money set aside in your wealth savings account,

[00:53:06] that's a really great opportunity to save on taxes, right?

[00:53:10] In those years particularly.

[00:53:12] Absolutely.

[00:53:12] And it's not something that has to be done in the year you buy the real estate.

[00:53:15] It can be done subsequent to purchase, so you can time that whenever it makes sense.

[00:53:19] Right, right, right, right.

[00:53:20] Thank you so much.

[00:53:21] So Josh is our Econologics financial advisor, man.

[00:53:25] We're talking about how to save money on taxes, where to invest your money here at the end of the year

[00:53:30] with some of the retirement accounts that you have access to, especially as a business owner.

[00:53:35] Taking it a step further, what are some of the common investment mistakes that you see in people

[00:53:40] that have money set aside in the wealth savings account, that are funding their IRAs and 401ks

[00:53:46] and self-directed IRAs, etc.?

[00:53:48] What are some common mistakes that you're seeing once they have this money?

[00:53:51] Thanks for bringing me on, by the way.

[00:53:52] But yeah, I think the biggest mistake that I've seen a lot of times is people invest without an

[00:53:56] overall strategy or plan at the end of the day.

[00:53:59] A lot of times clients will come to us, hey, I got X amount over here, X amount over there.

[00:54:04] That's great.

[00:54:05] I'm glad you're being proactive.

[00:54:06] You're investing.

[00:54:07] I love it.

[00:54:08] But what was the main purpose when you first started this account?

[00:54:12] Does it fit in with your risk tolerance, your timeline, like your overall goals?

[00:54:17] Because when you invest, people love big returns.

[00:54:20] They get, I want biggest return the quickest way possible, right?

[00:54:23] But is that in alignment with the stage of investing you're at?

[00:54:27] Is that in alignment with the timeline that you have set up?

[00:54:29] The goals that you want to accomplish for your family or your business?

[00:54:32] So I think sitting down, actually crafting a plan with someone that understands like,

[00:54:38] hey, I'm a business owner.

[00:54:39] Okay, well, do they understand your business?

[00:54:41] What does that mean as an asset to you in the overall portfolio?

[00:54:44] As you're taking that cash, I mean, your business is risky.

[00:54:48] Do you want to throw it into another risky asset?

[00:54:50] Is there different avenues to look out for investing?

[00:54:53] So that would be one of the main ones.

[00:54:56] And then to tie into the whole planning is that they

[00:54:58] underestimate how much they need for retirement.

[00:55:01] So like, what is that ultimate number for you?

[00:55:04] I mean, if you want to maintain a certain lifestyle,

[00:55:06] you might be shocked at the number you might need.

[00:55:08] So are we planning accordingly ahead of time for that?

[00:55:11] And then because of those goals and those timeline,

[00:55:15] that's where we got to pick the right investments.

[00:55:16] Yeah.

[00:55:17] As you talk about risk tolerance,

[00:55:18] I think most owners would think that their businesses

[00:55:21] is not a risky investment

[00:55:24] because they're betting on themselves essentially

[00:55:26] and assuming they're not going to fail.

[00:55:27] So I'm glad that you framed it that way that,

[00:55:30] hey, what you are owning and running,

[00:55:33] it's a small business and small business in America

[00:55:35] has a small percentage that is really successful

[00:55:37] for a long period of time.

[00:55:39] So what are you going to do to counteract that?

[00:55:42] How are you going to diversify your portfolio

[00:55:43] so that you have some things that are less risky, right?

[00:55:47] Well, yeah, like ET industry,

[00:55:48] I mean, reimbursement rates, right?

[00:55:50] Every year they want to cut your rate.

[00:55:51] So suddenly the paycheck,

[00:55:53] you thought you were getting your average reimbursement rates

[00:55:55] cut by $5.

[00:55:56] Now maybe Daniel can help us with that,

[00:55:57] maybe at the end of this call,

[00:55:58] but things that you're dealing with for this risk,

[00:56:01] I like betting on myself or sharing yourselves,

[00:56:02] but yeah, there's a lot of factors at the end of the day.

[00:56:05] Yeah, you find it often,

[00:56:06] and maybe I'm generalizing here,

[00:56:08] it's stereotypical that those physicians out there

[00:56:12] that make a lot of money

[00:56:13] tend to waste their money on risky investments.

[00:56:16] You're the only one that's seen that,

[00:56:17] but I don't know if,

[00:56:18] do you see that in the physical therapy space as well?

[00:56:20] Well, for sure.

[00:56:21] I think every industry has their certain people in there

[00:56:24] that want to go the extra mile, right?

[00:56:25] Crypto's had a lovely run,

[00:56:27] so everybody wants to put every dollar they have in crypto now.

[00:56:30] So things like that's on the way,

[00:56:31] but I don't think you guys are by any means

[00:56:34] like an outlier or anything.

[00:56:36] So every industry does it.

[00:56:38] At the end of the day,

[00:56:38] it's just making sure that you're not trying to chase those,

[00:56:41] you know,

[00:56:42] just those huge returns that are always there.

[00:56:44] Like, you're not going to double your money every week, guys.

[00:56:46] I'm sorry.

[00:56:47] Why?

[00:56:48] Why not?

[00:56:50] Yeah.

[00:56:50] But you work with a lot of successful PT clients, right?

[00:56:53] As a member of Econologics.

[00:56:55] And what do you see a lot of them are having success with

[00:56:58] either in their performance of their business

[00:57:01] or in their investment strategies?

[00:57:03] Yeah.

[00:57:03] I think the biggest thing that like me

[00:57:05] and a lot of my PTs are all in sync with

[00:57:08] is production targets

[00:57:09] and actually communicating that with your practitioners,

[00:57:13] with your different departments,

[00:57:15] because everybody comes in,

[00:57:18] they get paid a certain amount.

[00:57:19] But unless you set the expectations

[00:57:21] of what they're supposed to do then

[00:57:22] from a production standpoint,

[00:57:24] everybody always wants to get paid more.

[00:57:26] So next year when they come for a raise

[00:57:28] and they're already underperforming,

[00:57:29] you can't then pull the magic rug out

[00:57:31] and say, well, you're not hitting your targets

[00:57:33] if that wasn't told them ahead of time.

[00:57:35] So that could be,

[00:57:36] what's your visits per discharge?

[00:57:38] Are you having people fulfill their treatment plan

[00:57:40] at the end of the day?

[00:57:41] Right. What's your units per visit

[00:57:43] for each individual practitioner?

[00:57:45] Making them also input their stats

[00:57:47] has been a really successful thing

[00:57:49] is having the actual practitioners input those stats.

[00:57:52] Like they're responsible then.

[00:57:54] They're kind of putting it in.

[00:57:55] They might be embarrassed by the number

[00:57:57] and kind of give them a little fire

[00:57:59] to hit the goal then at the end of the day.

[00:58:00] So it's really tracking those KPIs.

[00:58:02] I know you touched on a lot of them,

[00:58:03] but yeah, reimbursement rate,

[00:58:04] payer mix, clinic utilization,

[00:58:07] all those fun things at the end of the day.

[00:58:09] So I'm so glad you're using

[00:58:10] some of the same terminology

[00:58:11] and you're not a physical therapist

[00:58:13] or a physical therapist owner.

[00:58:14] Like know the terminology

[00:58:16] because I love having a quote unquote outsider

[00:58:19] say the same thing that I say.

[00:58:21] You got to know these numbers,

[00:58:24] your skilled units,

[00:58:25] your plan of care completions,

[00:58:27] these kinds of things.

[00:58:27] And to the cherry on top for having them report,

[00:58:31] it reminds me of a quote

[00:58:32] and I wonder if I have it correctly,

[00:58:33] but that which is monitored improves,

[00:58:36] that which is monitored and reported

[00:58:38] improves exponentially.

[00:58:40] And I know I messed that up,

[00:58:41] but you get the idea.

[00:58:42] I was playing.

[00:58:43] I was playing.

[00:58:44] Yeah.

[00:58:44] Yeah.

[00:58:45] But when going from,

[00:58:46] okay,

[00:58:47] I as a leader,

[00:58:48] I'm looking at my KPI dashboard,

[00:58:50] making sure things are going

[00:58:52] in the right direction.

[00:58:52] If something falls off,

[00:58:54] then I go and talk to that provider.

[00:58:55] Whereas if they are reporting it up to you,

[00:58:58] they are seeing the numbers

[00:58:59] and you can even add the expectation.

[00:59:02] Hey,

[00:59:03] if you,

[00:59:03] that number,

[00:59:04] if that expectation is below

[00:59:06] what is agreed upon

[00:59:08] or the standard of production,

[00:59:09] you need to give me a battle plan

[00:59:11] as to how you're going to improve it.

[00:59:12] Right.

[00:59:13] That level of ownership

[00:59:14] just instills accountability

[00:59:16] and instills productivity

[00:59:17] within the group.

[00:59:18] Now we can have a whole discussion

[00:59:20] on how to bring this to your team

[00:59:23] because they're going to be like,

[00:59:24] well,

[00:59:24] you're all about the numbers.

[00:59:25] So you do have to couch it appropriately

[00:59:27] and bring in values

[00:59:29] and purpose

[00:59:29] and all that stuff

[00:59:30] and remind them of our purpose

[00:59:31] and values

[00:59:32] and how we track our statistics

[00:59:33] as a way of showing us

[00:59:35] if we're meeting our purpose

[00:59:36] and our values.

[00:59:36] Right.

[00:59:37] And so I love that you bring

[00:59:38] all that information in

[00:59:40] or remind them

[00:59:41] that it's important,

[00:59:42] especially,

[00:59:42] and that what you're seeing

[00:59:44] is in line with what I'm seeing.

[00:59:46] And that is,

[00:59:47] man,

[00:59:47] the successful owners

[00:59:48] know their numbers.

[00:59:50] They use those

[00:59:51] as a guiding principle

[00:59:52] to guide their businesses

[00:59:53] and they manage their businesses

[00:59:56] according to those numbers,

[00:59:57] objective measures,

[00:59:58] not just emotional.

[00:59:59] How are we feeling?

[01:00:01] What's the feeling

[01:00:01] in the clinic today?

[01:00:03] Or looking at the bank account balance

[01:00:05] and saying,

[01:00:05] oh,

[01:00:05] I guess we're doing well this week

[01:00:07] or,

[01:00:07] oh crap,

[01:00:08] we don't have any money in the bank

[01:00:09] so I guess we're doing poorly.

[01:00:10] That's not how to run a business.

[01:00:12] So I'm glad that you're saying that.

[01:00:14] Very cool.

[01:00:15] Well,

[01:00:15] Daniel,

[01:00:15] hey,

[01:00:16] we finally got around

[01:00:16] to the guy

[01:00:17] with the smartest software

[01:00:19] in the room.

[01:00:21] Like Eric said,

[01:00:22] Daniel Stewart over at Othellis

[01:00:24] is using AI

[01:00:26] and leveraging AI

[01:00:28] to significantly improve

[01:00:29] the backend systems

[01:00:30] and especially

[01:00:31] the revenue cycle management

[01:00:32] of physical therapy practices

[01:00:34] out there.

[01:00:34] And we're taking

[01:00:35] kind of a left turn here,

[01:00:36] but how do you see technology

[01:00:38] improving

[01:00:39] the field of physical therapy

[01:00:41] as a whole?

[01:00:41] Because you're a physical therapist,

[01:00:42] you've got experience

[01:00:43] in the field

[01:00:44] and now you're a part

[01:00:45] of the Othellis group.

[01:00:47] You've been exposed

[01:00:48] to the technology

[01:00:49] now that you're in it,

[01:00:51] right?

[01:00:51] So where do you see

[01:00:52] how do you see

[01:00:53] technology improving

[01:00:54] the field of physical therapy?

[01:00:56] Yeah.

[01:00:57] Awesome,

[01:00:58] Nathan.

[01:00:58] Appreciate you guys

[01:00:59] been willing to have me on.

[01:01:00] Like Nathan said,

[01:01:01] as a PT myself,

[01:01:02] I had a number of years

[01:01:03] where I managed

[01:01:04] and ran

[01:01:05] a physical therapy company.

[01:01:07] So I loved

[01:01:07] listening to Eric

[01:01:09] in your presentations

[01:01:10] about profitability

[01:01:11] and what to do

[01:01:12] from a retirement perspective,

[01:01:14] right?

[01:01:14] One of the things

[01:01:15] that you talked about,

[01:01:16] Nathan,

[01:01:16] is learning how to even

[01:01:17] read a profit

[01:01:18] or loss statement.

[01:01:19] I think there's a lot

[01:01:19] of PTs out there

[01:01:20] that I know how to do that.

[01:01:21] And one of the most

[01:01:23] important things

[01:01:23] about learning

[01:01:24] how to read

[01:01:25] a profit or loss statement

[01:01:26] is then realizing

[01:01:27] that you need more profit

[01:01:28] than you have loss,

[01:01:30] right?

[01:01:30] And so we live

[01:01:31] in an industry now

[01:01:33] where technology

[01:01:34] has to be a part

[01:01:35] of our future.

[01:01:36] We have a lot

[01:01:37] of constraints

[01:01:38] when it comes

[01:01:39] to reimbursement rates

[01:01:40] like Josh mentioned

[01:01:41] when it comes

[01:01:42] to physical therapists

[01:01:44] coming out of school

[01:01:45] with $150,000

[01:01:46] to $200,000

[01:01:46] in student loan debts

[01:01:48] and expecting

[01:01:49] to see eight patients

[01:01:50] a day

[01:01:50] and get paid

[01:01:51] $120,000

[01:01:52] a year.

[01:01:53] And if you are

[01:01:55] not using technology

[01:01:56] to help maintain

[01:01:57] the profitability

[01:01:58] of your practice,

[01:01:59] you're soon going

[01:02:00] to go the way

[01:02:01] of what we're seeing

[01:02:02] a lot of other

[01:02:03] medical professions

[01:02:04] doing nowadays,

[01:02:06] which is being bought

[01:02:07] up by private equity,

[01:02:08] being bought up

[01:02:09] by hospital systems,

[01:02:10] or worst case scenario,

[01:02:12] UHC is now

[01:02:13] the largest employer

[01:02:15] of physicians

[01:02:15] in our country.

[01:02:16] So technology

[01:02:17] and how it's impacting

[01:02:19] the physical therapy

[01:02:20] space is super important

[01:02:22] because the more

[01:02:24] we can utilize AI,

[01:02:25] the more we can

[01:02:25] maintain profitability

[01:02:26] and that gives guys

[01:02:28] like Econologics

[01:02:30] and Mark

[01:02:31] to really know

[01:02:32] and invest

[01:02:33] in your future

[01:02:33] as a business owner.

[01:02:34] So the ways

[01:02:35] that technology

[01:02:36] is going to play

[01:02:37] the biggest impact

[01:02:38] is in systems

[01:02:40] that are manually

[01:02:42] required by insurance

[01:02:43] companies, right?

[01:02:44] So I'm talking

[01:02:44] eligibility checking,

[01:02:46] I'm talking

[01:02:46] prior authorizations,

[01:02:48] I'm talking

[01:02:48] documentation requirements,

[01:02:50] I'm talking

[01:02:50] coding requirements,

[01:02:51] I'm talking

[01:02:51] everything that

[01:02:52] has to do

[01:02:53] with the billing

[01:02:53] and finally

[01:02:54] sending out

[01:02:55] and collecting

[01:02:55] patient responsibility.

[01:02:57] The more that

[01:02:58] we can automate

[01:02:58] those processes

[01:02:59] via AI

[01:03:01] or other

[01:03:01] automation methods

[01:03:02] is how

[01:03:03] the profession

[01:03:03] is going to

[01:03:04] continue to thrive

[01:03:05] or go back

[01:03:06] to thriving

[01:03:06] in my opinion.

[01:03:07] Like actually

[01:03:08] bringing in a system

[01:03:09] that doesn't require

[01:03:11] your front desk

[01:03:12] person or someone

[01:03:13] in a back office

[01:03:14] to sit on the phone

[01:03:15] for 40 minutes

[01:03:16] and get insurance

[01:03:17] verification

[01:03:18] or authorizations.

[01:03:19] You mean there's

[01:03:19] systems that will

[01:03:20] help us do that?

[01:03:21] There's systems now

[01:03:22] that will automatically

[01:03:23] go,

[01:03:24] there's a couple

[01:03:24] companies,

[01:03:25] ours being one

[01:03:26] of them,

[01:03:26] that just launched

[01:03:27] like an AI call center,

[01:03:29] right?

[01:03:30] Where they now

[01:03:31] can have technology

[01:03:32] call payers

[01:03:33] to get eligibility

[01:03:34] insurance information

[01:03:35] and oftentimes

[01:03:36] those payers

[01:03:37] don't even know

[01:03:38] that it's a technology

[01:03:38] calling them,

[01:03:39] right?

[01:03:40] So there are

[01:03:41] game changing

[01:03:42] technologies coming

[01:03:43] out and having

[01:03:44] a system that

[01:03:45] interacts with all

[01:03:46] of those technologies

[01:03:47] together is super

[01:03:49] important for the

[01:03:49] future of our

[01:03:50] profession.

[01:03:51] Yeah,

[01:03:51] and when we're

[01:03:51] talking specifically

[01:03:52] about cash flow,

[01:03:53] I had Will Humphries

[01:03:55] on the podcast

[01:03:56] just a couple

[01:03:57] days ago and he

[01:03:58] was talking about

[01:03:59] how with AI

[01:04:01] you can establish

[01:04:02] if then situations

[01:04:03] and so when we're

[01:04:04] talking about cash

[01:04:05] flows and potentials

[01:04:06] for claims getting

[01:04:06] denied,

[01:04:07] you could say

[01:04:08] if this claim

[01:04:09] gets denied for

[01:04:10] this reason,

[01:04:10] which tends

[01:04:11] to be a usual,

[01:04:12] a very common

[01:04:13] reason for

[01:04:14] particular insurances

[01:04:15] than this

[01:04:16] and it will

[01:04:17] handle all that

[01:04:18] stuff for you

[01:04:18] instead of getting

[01:04:19] the email

[01:04:20] or the letter

[01:04:21] sitting on the

[01:04:22] biller's desk

[01:04:23] and when she

[01:04:24] gets to it,

[01:04:25] she'll open up

[01:04:26] and do the work

[01:04:26] if she's available

[01:04:27] then or not.

[01:04:28] Automatically

[01:04:29] in real time,

[01:04:31] the AI will

[01:04:32] process that

[01:04:33] appeal to the

[01:04:34] denial,

[01:04:34] right?

[01:04:35] And cash

[01:04:35] will significantly

[01:04:36] improve it.

[01:04:37] I think that's

[01:04:37] a great example

[01:04:38] of what you're

[01:04:38] talking about

[01:04:39] where that would

[01:04:39] have been a

[01:04:40] manual effort

[01:04:41] before is now

[01:04:42] simply automated

[01:04:43] and significantly

[01:04:44] improves profits

[01:04:45] quickly.

[01:04:45] I'll even take

[01:04:46] that a step

[01:04:46] farther, Nathan.

[01:04:47] The system

[01:04:48] as those

[01:04:49] denials come

[01:04:49] back,

[01:04:50] not only has

[01:04:51] those if-then

[01:04:52] statements,

[01:04:52] but then actually

[01:04:53] creates new rules

[01:04:54] on the front end

[01:04:55] to prevent that

[01:04:56] denial happening

[01:04:56] again.

[01:04:57] So we should

[01:04:58] almost never see

[01:04:59] the same denial

[01:05:00] every single time

[01:05:01] if it's something

[01:05:02] that's a repeatable

[01:05:03] pattern because

[01:05:04] the AI will learn

[01:05:05] from that individual

[01:05:06] denial,

[01:05:06] suggest a new

[01:05:07] rule to be built

[01:05:08] on the rules

[01:05:08] engine,

[01:05:09] and then you

[01:05:09] never see that

[01:05:10] denial again.

[01:05:11] I think that

[01:05:12] frankly leads

[01:05:13] into the next

[01:05:14] question,

[01:05:15] which was,

[01:05:16] what can partnering

[01:05:17] with a technology

[01:05:18] company like

[01:05:19] yourself,

[01:05:19] you're more than

[01:05:20] a billing

[01:05:20] company,

[01:05:21] you're a

[01:05:21] technology company

[01:05:22] first,

[01:05:23] what can partnering

[01:05:24] with a technology

[01:05:25] company like

[01:05:26] you do to

[01:05:27] improve the

[01:05:27] profitability of

[01:05:28] a practice?

[01:05:29] I think that's

[01:05:30] just one example.

[01:05:31] Absolutely,

[01:05:32] absolutely.

[01:05:32] And just for

[01:05:33] anyone who's

[01:05:34] watching this,

[01:05:35] the company is

[01:05:36] not personally

[01:05:36] my company,

[01:05:37] right?

[01:05:38] To give you a

[01:05:38] little bit of

[01:05:38] background,

[01:05:39] we're based

[01:05:39] on the Bay

[01:05:40] Area,

[01:05:41] we're evaluated

[01:05:41] at around

[01:05:42] $6 billion,

[01:05:43] and we're putting

[01:05:44] a lot of our

[01:05:45] investments into

[01:05:46] the PT space

[01:05:47] right now.

[01:05:47] While we do

[01:05:48] billing for all

[01:05:49] professions,

[01:05:50] PT is near and

[01:05:51] dear to our

[01:05:51] heart because a

[01:05:52] lot of our

[01:05:53] team are physical

[01:05:54] therapists.

[01:05:55] And one of the

[01:05:56] things that's an

[01:05:56] issue in our

[01:05:57] industry is that

[01:05:58] you have billing

[01:05:59] companies and

[01:06:00] you have EMR

[01:06:01] companies and you

[01:06:02] have verification of

[01:06:02] benefit companies and

[01:06:04] you have sending out

[01:06:05] patient statement

[01:06:05] companies.

[01:06:06] But one of the

[01:06:07] things that's

[01:06:08] unique about our

[01:06:09] company that's

[01:06:10] different from any

[01:06:11] other company is

[01:06:12] that we consolidate

[01:06:13] all of those

[01:06:14] tools into a

[01:06:16] platform that we've

[01:06:17] built ourselves.

[01:06:18] So instead of

[01:06:18] Frankensteining a

[01:06:19] bunch of third

[01:06:20] party partners into

[01:06:22] a platform that

[01:06:23] gives you your EMR

[01:06:24] and your billing

[01:06:24] company, all of

[01:06:25] our platform,

[01:06:26] because we're a

[01:06:27] technology company,

[01:06:28] is built by the

[01:06:29] same people.

[01:06:30] And what that

[01:06:30] allows us to do is

[01:06:32] basically integrate

[01:06:33] AI into every

[01:06:34] aspect of the

[01:06:35] cycle.

[01:06:35] It also allows us

[01:06:37] to consolidate

[01:06:37] costs, right?

[01:06:39] So when companies

[01:06:40] come to me and

[01:06:41] say, hey, this

[01:06:42] percentage for my

[01:06:44] billing and I pay

[01:06:45] this fee for my

[01:06:46] verification of

[01:06:47] benefits and I pay

[01:06:48] a virtual assistant

[01:06:49] to do this for me and

[01:06:50] I pay an EMR,

[01:06:52] right?

[01:06:52] We can oftentimes

[01:06:53] with consolidation

[01:06:54] make more efficient

[01:06:56] your guys'

[01:06:56] processes and that

[01:06:57] improves the bottom

[01:06:58] line of the

[01:06:58] business.

[01:06:59] Gotcha.

[01:07:00] Very cool.

[01:07:01] Very cool.

[01:07:02] Let's bring Eric

[01:07:02] back in and Eric,

[01:07:04] what I want you to

[01:07:05] think about, I've

[01:07:05] got another question

[01:07:06] for these guys.

[01:07:07] Let me just say,

[01:07:08] think about what

[01:07:09] came up here in the

[01:07:10] talking to Mark,

[01:07:11] Josh, and Daniel that

[01:07:12] you wanted to

[01:07:13] highlight or dig a

[01:07:14] little bit deeper

[01:07:15] on.

[01:07:15] But I wanted to

[01:07:16] kind of ask the

[01:07:16] same question to

[01:07:17] Mark, if that's

[01:07:18] okay, Mark, is

[01:07:19] like, what are

[01:07:19] some of the things

[01:07:20] that you're seeing

[01:07:21] in your physical

[01:07:22] therapy slash

[01:07:25] healthcare businesses

[01:07:26] that, because we

[01:07:27] asked this question

[01:07:28] of Josh and we

[01:07:28] kind of asked it of

[01:07:29] Daniel as well, but

[01:07:30] what are they doing

[01:07:30] to be more

[01:07:31] profitable than

[01:07:32] others?

[01:07:33] Are you seeing

[01:07:34] any trends?

[01:07:35] Yeah, I don't

[01:07:35] know that I'm

[01:07:36] recognizing anything

[01:07:37] in particular in

[01:07:39] the way of trends

[01:07:40] relative to the

[01:07:41] physical therapy,

[01:07:42] but just in

[01:07:43] business owners,

[01:07:44] they're more in

[01:07:45] tune with the

[01:07:46] staffing costs and

[01:07:48] really trying to

[01:07:48] manage that.

[01:07:50] It's been the

[01:07:50] biggest challenge

[01:07:51] over the last

[01:07:52] several years.

[01:07:53] First it was

[01:07:53] finding staff.

[01:07:54] Now it's like,

[01:07:55] okay, you got to

[01:07:56] pay for the people

[01:07:57] and how do you

[01:07:58] manage those and

[01:07:59] control those costs

[01:08:00] and how do you

[01:08:00] get people that

[01:08:01] are qualified for

[01:08:03] your practice?

[01:08:04] That's the biggest,

[01:08:05] biggest challenge that

[01:08:06] we see and I think

[01:08:07] it's where we see a

[01:08:08] lot of attention.

[01:08:09] Well, that's our

[01:08:09] biggest expense,

[01:08:10] right?

[01:08:11] Percentage-wise is

[01:08:12] going to be our

[01:08:13] payroll expense,

[01:08:14] i.e.

[01:08:14] people.

[01:08:15] And how do we make

[01:08:16] them most productive?

[01:08:17] How do we get the

[01:08:17] most out of them?

[01:08:18] How do we find the

[01:08:19] best?

[01:08:19] How do we make them

[01:08:20] aligned, right?

[01:08:21] And so what you're

[01:08:22] saying, and I saw

[01:08:23] this as well, when I

[01:08:24] had the best people,

[01:08:26] that's when we were

[01:08:26] most productive,

[01:08:28] right?

[01:08:28] And really running

[01:08:30] things by statistics

[01:08:31] made a huge difference.

[01:08:32] Now, I love Daniel's

[01:08:34] approach.

[01:08:35] You know, I'm a big

[01:08:35] proponent of using AI.

[01:08:37] In my firm, we use it

[01:08:39] quite frequently.

[01:08:40] And I love that you're

[01:08:41] bringing solutions,

[01:08:42] Daniel, that are going

[01:08:43] to harness that

[01:08:44] technology.

[01:08:45] People should not be

[01:08:45] afraid of AI, right?

[01:08:47] Those that can harness

[01:08:48] it and use it to their

[01:08:50] benefit are the ones

[01:08:51] that are going to be

[01:08:51] well ahead of their

[01:08:52] peers.

[01:08:53] And so when looking

[01:08:54] forward and seeing

[01:08:55] where people, I hope

[01:08:57] people are going to go,

[01:08:58] it's toward that space.

[01:08:59] You can be more

[01:09:01] productive in getting

[01:09:02] responses on these

[01:09:03] denials and just even

[01:09:05] using it in general.

[01:09:06] That's where I see some

[01:09:07] big strides coming in the

[01:09:08] future.

[01:09:08] So I'm really excited

[01:09:09] about that technology and

[01:09:11] excited to hear that

[01:09:12] you're helping or

[01:09:13] finding ways to help

[01:09:14] practice owners use it

[01:09:16] in some sort of

[01:09:17] fashion, harness that

[01:09:18] technology because that's

[01:09:18] going to be significant.

[01:09:21] It's really, we're

[01:09:22] really at a flexion

[01:09:23] point like we were

[01:09:24] about what, 15, 20

[01:09:25] years ago, Daniel, we

[01:09:26] were going from paper

[01:09:27] notes to EMRs and now

[01:09:30] we're going from not

[01:09:31] just the EMR, but AI

[01:09:33] infused EMRs and all

[01:09:35] the capabilities that go

[01:09:37] along with it.

[01:09:37] And so there's going to

[01:09:38] be early adopters.

[01:09:39] There's going to be

[01:09:40] mid adopters and there's

[01:09:41] going to be late

[01:09:41] adopters.

[01:09:42] We're just saying if

[01:09:43] you're going to be a

[01:09:43] late adopter, you're

[01:09:44] playing with fire, especially

[01:09:46] with the inflationary

[01:09:47] pressures that are around

[01:09:48] right now.

[01:09:49] Absolutely.

[01:09:50] So do you have any

[01:09:51] questions for these guys?

[01:09:53] I've been asking these

[01:09:54] guys all kinds of

[01:09:55] questions, Eric, but what

[01:09:57] did you take from it?

[01:09:58] What more questions do

[01:09:59] you want to ask?

[01:10:00] Well, I think I want to

[01:10:01] kind of tie it into what

[01:10:02] I want everyone to do

[01:10:03] next, which is you see

[01:10:05] your little resources

[01:10:06] tab at the bottom.

[01:10:07] I want you guys to click

[01:10:08] that.

[01:10:08] You're going to see an

[01:10:09] offer there.

[01:10:10] By doing that, you're

[01:10:11] going to be able to

[01:10:11] connect with anyone on

[01:10:12] this panel to be able to

[01:10:14] talk to.

[01:10:14] What I'll say is this,

[01:10:16] you know, I heard

[01:10:16] someone say once that

[01:10:17] show me your friends, I'll

[01:10:18] show you your outcome.

[01:10:19] And when it comes to

[01:10:21] your financial readiness,

[01:10:23] when it comes to your

[01:10:24] financial expansion,

[01:10:26] whatever you want to call

[01:10:27] it, show me your

[01:10:28] financial team and I'll

[01:10:29] show you how close or far

[01:10:30] you are away from there.

[01:10:31] And I think what we've

[01:10:33] done right here is put

[01:10:33] together a pretty awesome

[01:10:35] team of people that in

[01:10:37] any aspect that relates to

[01:10:39] your business finances or

[01:10:40] your personal finances,

[01:10:41] you need to make sure that

[01:10:42] you have a good team of

[01:10:44] people around you that are

[01:10:45] competent, that know what

[01:10:46] they're doing, that have

[01:10:47] seen it before and can

[01:10:50] put you in the right

[01:10:51] direction with a plan and

[01:10:53] a strategy that will get

[01:10:54] you to where you want to

[01:10:56] go.

[01:10:56] And that's been the

[01:10:57] struggle that I think a

[01:10:58] lot of PT owners have is

[01:10:59] they just kind of piecemeal

[01:11:00] this together.

[01:11:01] Maybe I get a

[01:11:01] recommendation from a

[01:11:03] friend here or who did

[01:11:04] you use?

[01:11:05] And it's just not a

[01:11:06] cohesive team.

[01:11:08] And I think that's the

[01:11:09] biggest thing that I've

[01:11:10] seen today is really make

[01:11:11] sure that you develop

[01:11:13] and have a good

[01:11:15] financial team.

[01:11:16] And look, at some point

[01:11:16] in time, you guys may

[01:11:17] outgrow the people that

[01:11:19] you've been working with.

[01:11:20] You know, I've had three

[01:11:21] people in the last week

[01:11:23] say, you know what?

[01:11:23] My CPA, he's a great guy.

[01:11:26] I hear this all the time.

[01:11:27] He's a great guy, but he's

[01:11:29] just not giving me

[01:11:30] anything other than a

[01:11:32] standard thing.

[01:11:33] And I'm like, yeah, I

[01:11:34] mean, it's time that you

[01:11:36] upgrade from where you're

[01:11:37] at right now.

[01:11:38] Same thing with their

[01:11:39] financial advisor.

[01:11:40] It's like, well, they're

[01:11:40] just not telling me

[01:11:41] anything new.

[01:11:41] They meet with me once a

[01:11:42] year and go over my

[01:11:43] portfolio review.

[01:11:44] That's it.

[01:11:45] Like you guys need to

[01:11:46] demand more out of your

[01:11:48] financial team.

[01:11:49] So that's why I highly

[01:11:50] recommend hit that

[01:11:51] resources tab.

[01:11:52] You'll see the link for

[01:11:53] the offer right there

[01:11:54] and you can connect with

[01:11:56] any one of us.

[01:11:57] And I would encourage

[01:11:57] you to do so because

[01:11:59] let's face it, the

[01:12:00] decisions that you're

[01:12:01] making right now are

[01:12:02] going to affect your

[01:12:03] next two to five years

[01:12:05] and getting these

[01:12:05] things implemented,

[01:12:07] getting them integrated,

[01:12:08] getting them to the

[01:12:09] point where they become

[01:12:10] systematic and

[01:12:11] automatic.

[01:12:12] Your life's going to be

[01:12:13] a lot easier in five,

[01:12:14] 10 years from now.

[01:12:15] It just will.

[01:12:16] So don't wait, do

[01:12:18] something and I promise

[01:12:19] you, you'll be better

[01:12:20] off in the long run.

[01:12:21] Amen.

[01:12:22] Yeah.

[01:12:23] It's probably a good

[01:12:23] place to close right there,

[01:12:24] isn't it?

[01:12:26] Nice job, man.

[01:12:27] I think that's it.

[01:12:28] You guys, thanks so much

[01:12:29] for being on.

[01:12:30] Again, you guys go to

[01:12:31] anyone that's on

[01:12:32] watching, go to the

[01:12:33] resources tab, click a

[01:12:34] link for the offer.

[01:12:35] You can schedule with

[01:12:36] one of us or all of

[01:12:37] us and we would be

[01:12:39] more than happy to

[01:12:40] talk to you.

[01:12:41] Again, like I said,

[01:12:42] PTs are more

[01:12:44] important now.

[01:12:45] People are in pain

[01:12:46] mentally and physically.

[01:12:48] Okay.

[01:12:49] And there's not a lot

[01:12:50] of people out there

[01:12:51] helping them.

[01:12:52] So we need this

[01:12:53] industry to survive

[01:12:54] really, really well.

[01:12:55] And we need you guys

[01:12:56] to thrive really,

[01:12:57] really well.

[01:12:58] And I think we have

[01:12:59] people here that can

[01:13:00] help you do that.

[01:13:01] So thanks guys for

[01:13:02] being on.

[01:13:02] I really appreciate it.

[01:13:04] Thanks for having us,

[01:13:04] Eric.

[01:13:05] It was great.

[01:13:05] Yeah, we'll do it

[01:13:06] again.

[01:13:06] Be well.

[01:13:10] Thanks for joining us

[01:13:11] today in the Physical

[01:13:12] Therapy Owners Club,

[01:13:13] the resource for

[01:13:14] stability and freedom

[01:13:15] in your PT practice.

[01:13:17] Reach out and join

[01:13:18] the network today.

[01:13:19] Subscribe to our

[01:13:20] podcast, get links to

[01:13:21] social media, and

[01:13:22] access all of our

[01:13:23] episodes with show

[01:13:24] notes at ptoclub.com.