Virtual Therapy and soft skills

When we were 5 years old someone taught us to say thank you.

When we were 12 we earned our first five, banked it, and spent it wisely on bubble gum and baseball cards.

High school triggered first dates, juggling jobs with studies, while college stretched us to manage time and build relationships.

Hundreds of years ago, life's hard lessons taught us the skills they call soft.

You learned them the first cold french frie order you served to a customer.  Bartending and serving warm beer?  Yup, you learn to read body language quickly.

Maybe we sheltered the next group of workers, coddled them through childhood, believing there was a shortage of second place trophies.

Berkeley University offers a soft skill course called "Adulting", helping today's college students manage time, physical resources, and nurture relationships.  The parents that coddled our kids pay the unintended consequences of tuition.

The good news is, Physical Therapists learn soft skills fast with their first rotation.  Just try out one virtual care visit to see how well they communicate and connect; there is nothing soft about their great skill set!

Better yet, with intention, Physical Therapists utilize soft skills better than all other healthcare providers.



Robert Babb, PT, MBA
An IvyRehab company, PTW is staffed with Physical Therapists who have earned the Direct Access Privileges (no prescription needed).  Helping folks achieve, The Physical Therapy and Wellness Institute has 12 locations open early and staying late;   Lansdale, Quakertown, Montgomeryville, West Norriton, Glenside, Harleysville, Souderton, Hatfield, Horsham, Collegeville, Royersford, Newtown Square, PA.  

Since 2002, PTW has helped folks achieve higher levels of function or performance providing evidence-based care with industry best experiences.

Refer yourself today at 215 855 9871 to see any of our PT providers for preventative the proven safe help with your aches and pains, no prescription is needed.

Artificial Intelligence in Physical Therapy; stops with engagement

An Orthopedic doctor can do surgery on your knee from 3000 miles away or at the local coffee shop. 

Siri or Alexa will get you a ride, in a few hours a driverless car will take you home, where an intelligent symptom checker will monitor your recovery from anesthesia, alert you to take your medications, and beep twice for your every 30-minute range of motion leg slides.

Two weeks later, you go to Walmart for Physical Therapy for biometric for your first biometric follow up.  Standing on force plate to measure your balance, when a robotic arm reaches out from the wall to measure your range and your strength.  Doing well? Do these exercises, come back next week for the next level of exercise.

Artificial intelligence has made it into the surgery room.  Artificial Intelligence in Physical Therapy?  It seems like it might work, unless Physical Therapists remain committed to an experience AI cannot provide, like a look in the eye instead of more screen time.

The Disengaged Decade is over

Its the end of the Disengaged Decade

Do you remember the beginning of the decade, the start of Instagram?  

A time when the technology gurus added another tool to disengage, listen less, and talk more with our thumbs

Or in 2012 when you got the first glimpse of Venmo, an easier way to forget the physical exchange of money, and in turn, maybe lose some handshakes.

In 2014, you were maybe greeted by a Kiosk at your local deli or some restaurants, where they made a decision to trade off engagement for speed of a sale.  

Disengagement happened in healthcare in 2015, a time when doctors and medical providers were mandated and penalized for not submitting bills electronically.  We saw most adopting an act first, think later approach for the sake of speed.

What we learned is not so much in the software, the revenue cycle improvements, or the seamless communication possibilities, but rather the loss of human interaction and the cost of doing this type of business.

Emergency room nurses confirmed your address as you were bleeding, Doctors asked questions through the computer screens, Physical Therapist did a first time meet evaluation with head down typing subjective responses to keep up with demands. 

If a Physical Therapist is tasked with setting up individualized programs, teaching condition related lessons, while collaborating with the key stakeholders (Physicians, family, work, etc), then maybe we are just perfectly positioned to end this disengaged decade with best practice, forget computer habits.

In 2020, let's end disengagement.  Take a moment to look up and greet, get to know the person before the patient.  

Only then we should start to type.