Pelvic PT Rising

The promise of "passive income."  Being able to reach people beyond your own walls.  The chance to diversify your income. There's a lot of reasons to like the idea of online courses....but are online courses more sizzle than steak? In this episode we go through pros and cons of making an online course, the challenges you'll run into, the reason everyone's online course loo...

I have a patient who has __________...... IC.  Endo.  Vulvodynia.  Pudendal Neuralgia.  Vaginismus.  Dyspareunia.  Chronic Prostatitis. Why do all of our patient descriptions start off like this? Do we really care about their medical diagnosis?  Do we treat patients any differently if they are diagnosed with IC or with vulvodynia? In this episode, we explore medical diagnoses and what they mean (a...

Greedy.  Elitist.  Might be great for California, but could never work in my community.  Unethical. Those in the model love it, but there's a lot of criticism in certain circles about "cash physical therapy." In this episode we explore the ethics behind cash-based and insurance-based physical therapy and address the most common criticisms. We live and work in a highly imperfect medi...

Would you send a family member or close friend to your clinic? Over the years, we've had several pelvic PTs and physicians send their family members to us - even if they'd never referred us another patient! So.....gut check time. If you work for someone else - are you confident enough in your skills and in the environment where you work you'd recommend someone you care about come in...

What you wear to work shouldn't matter.  But it does. You'll be judged by your patient before you even open your mouth. We all want to be comfortable and express our own style.  And we should be able to do that! But we also need to understand how our choices affect how our patients view us and whether it helps or hurts our ability to get them better. Trust me, I never thought I'd be...

Do your patient's ever make life choices you disagree with? All.  The.  Time. Does that mean we can't help them get better? Absolutely not. We are not the arbiter of our patient's life choices.  We've had avid bicyclists with pudendal nerve irritation who are adamant they won't stop riding.  New mothers who want to get back to running before they are truly ready.  Women wi...

There seems to be a lot of anxiety around data security, privacy and HIPAA - it's one of the questions we get asked a lot! You can spend hours or days getting sucked into online forums, articles and opinions. But what do you actually need to worry about? In this episode we go through data security, whether you even are covered by HIIPA (you may not be!) and what we really need to do in order...

Have you ever explained away a patient not getting better because they were 'non-compliant' with their home program? We've all been there - it's tempting, but I want us to get the negative, judgmental term of 'non-compliant' completely out of our vocabulary. If your patient isn't doing what you're asking, it's on US to take responsibility and get them b...

How do you find balance? Between work - whether you own your own place or are employed by someone else - and home life.  How to maintain a social life, exercise and take time for everything we know we need. Sometimes it feels impossible.  And that's ok! "Work-Life Balance" is an unachievable ideal.  It's something we can strive for, but not a place we can stay.  And sometimes e...

Ever have a patient who wasn't in for the 'right reasons?'  (Yes, a Bachelor reference, y'all!). Maybe a patient who cared more about the appearance of their stomach than about the function of their core or pelvic floor with a diastasis? Or someone just wants to get off their medications?  Or to be able to get back to riding a bike?  Or wants to have pain-free anal sex?  Those...

What predicts the success of a pelvic PT business? There's a TON of different factors that go into success.  In a recent survey, we looked at the answers provided by more than 130 business owners to see the patterns. We saw the same struggles - challenges marketing, bringing patients in the door, feeling overwhelmed or knowing where to start. But we also saw two factors that were indicative o...

Ever found yourself worried about your patient's time? How much time they are spending each week, how far they are driving? What about how they spend their time at home doing their home program? This is another hang-up that can get in the way of providing the best possible care to our patients.  In this episode we dive into some of the common ways we try and act as the guardian of our patient...

Do you know what phase of business you're in? (Here's a hint: Most pelvic PT owners owners are stuck in Phase 2.) This is critical to know for your practice.  Your goals, your role and your outcomes change depending on what Phase you're in.  Understanding this both helps you grow faster but also removes some of the anxiety around "am I doing things right?" We dive into the...

Have you ever let your own assumptions or hang-ups about money affect your patient care? We aren't the arbiter of our patient's finances!  It's our job to provide our honest clinical opinion. That doesn't mean we don't take their limitations into account.  Of course we do!  But we DON'T let our own assumptions get in the way. Learn how to remove your own biases about...

Nicole is always asking the next question....."why"? In this episode, we dive into the different reasons for starting your own business. We had sent out a business survey to all our members who are either have or are interested in starting their own practice.  We asked why, and got a lot of great answers.  Most of them fell squarely into one of six different reasons. When we looked at ou...

Think of a patient who wasn't ready to do something.  To come to PT, to take a medication, to commit to their own health. Just because they've committed to coming to physical therapy does not mean they're ready to do everything you say or make major life changes. In Part 1 of this series, we talk about how you aren't the arbiter of your patient's WHEN.  We don't get t...

Are you putting unrealistic expectations on your patient?  Your patient should never feel like they're "running out of time!" In this episode, we dive into a case report from a patient who contacted us after being treated for vaginismus at another facility.  There's a lot to unpack in her letter, but it's a really interesting - and sometimes heartbreaking - patient perspec...

Are you getting in the way of your patient's success? Despite our best intentions, we do this ALL THE TIME. We need to understand how our own biases, experiences, and attitudes are impacting our patients. We got really excited about going through this - we're going to be spending the next 6 episodes talking about different ways we get in our own way, and how to break that cycle. We need...

METRICS - If you're familiar with the word, you probably hate it! Metrics is an overused, misunderstood buzzword for measurable things about your business.  What should you be tracking?  What should you care about? Every business generates an INCREDIBLE amount of information.  At PelvicSanity, we track close to 100 different metrics each month!! It can be overwhelming to separate the sound fr...

Now we've busted the top 8 myths of IC (see episodes 25 and 27 for the first two parts of this series), but how do you actually break these to your patients?  When do you insert yourself, and when do you allow them to hold false beliefs? In this episode we go through the practical applications of this knowledge and how to use it in your clinical practice.  Enjoy! Shout Out! If you're enj...

Marketing your services is a huge challenge, whether you run your own place or are part of a larger program.  You have to let others know about what you do and how you can help. Traditionally in the PT world, that has meant going to physicians and asking for referrals.  But is that the best way? In this episode we dive into how marketing works in different settings, from large hospital programs to...

In Part 1 (if you missed it last week, check it out!) we went over the first 4 myths preventing patients from seeing improvement. In this episode, we give you the tools to debunk these myths for your patients (and even their physicians in some cases!) and provide the highest quality of care. Shout Out! If you're enjoying the podcast, please take a few seconds to take a screenshot and put it u...

Coronavirus updates are back!  This is a wide-ranging discussion, and we hit some important (and some not-so-important) topics.  The title comes from a conversation we had to have with our staff on how to tell patients to properly wear their mask - anyone else dealing with that? We discuss: The future of telehealth in PT How to handle cleaning breaks in the day Trying to have fun at the office dur...

Are you perpetuating any of these IC myths with your patients? There's a ton of misinformation out there about interstitial cystitis (that's why we wrote the book!).  Despite that, many physicians continue to ignore their own AUA guidelines and fail to recommend pelvic PT and other interventions that can help. As pelvic PTs, we need to know what our patients are hearing and the truth to...

Feel like you're putting time, effort and money into your marketing, but you aren't getting the calls that you'd like?  You can be doing the best marketing in the world, but if potential patients reach your website and don't call you'll be hearing crickets at your clinic. In this Business Shorty episode (a new feature!), we go through the 3 biggest reasons that pelvic PT w...