WebPT, the leading rehab therapy platform for Practice Experience Management (PXM), has officially published results from its 2024 The State of Rehab Therapy report. which focuses on findings from an industry-wide survey of more than 5,000 professionals in physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology.
Going by the available details, WebPT’s report entertains responses from professionals in varying specialties, clinic sizes, and locations, something it does to deliver a comprehensive analysis of the rehab therapy industry. We call that comprehensive because of the way it covers demographics, operations, financials, technology, staffing, and compensation.
More on the given report would reveal how it informs the reader on critical trends, from the troubling persistence of burnout and staffing shortages to the positive developments of cash-pay models and increased advocacy efforts for better reimbursement.
Talk about the published results on a slightly deeper level, we begin from the challenges related to burnout and wider workforce. In fact, with 85% of clinicians being asked to take their document work to home, burnout has swiftly become a top concern for the industry. Now, while resignations across the board have surely dropped from 11% in 2022 to 9.2% in 2023, there remains a need for organization to cut down on administrative burdens, if they are to retain experienced professionals and address workforce shortages.
Next up, the stated report dug into the declining insurance reimbursements and an increasing prevalence of cash-pay. To expand upon this, financial pressures from declining insurance reimbursements have led 56% of mid-sized practices to negotiate with poor-paying insurers, with nearly 50% of respondents going out-of-network. On the other hand, cash-pay and alternative payment models are being increasingly seen as paths to financial stability.
“Our report makes it clear that the vision for the future of rehab therapy is bright–one that fully embraces innovation, technology, and patient-centered care,” said Heidi Jannegna, PT, DPT, ATC, co-founder and chief clinical officer of WebPT. “By leveraging tools like AI, expanding into cash-pay models, and advocating for better reimbursement, we can create a resilient, forward-thinking industry. It’s equally important that we focus on better equipping our workforce and further diversifying the profession, giving clinicians proper support while preparing them to meet the growing demands of patient care.”
The lowdown in question even leverages the given opportunity to issue a status update on advocacy and public awareness efforts. Here, it was revealed that more than 61% of survey respondents have participated in advocacy efforts under some capacity or the other. The report shares that, during these efforts, the focus has been on increasing public awareness of rehab therapy and pushing for congressional action on reimbursement cuts to secure fair compensation. WebPT would then go on to document various technological advancements, covering in the process technologies like AI, telehealth, and integrated software, and others that are being deployed, more and more often, to streamline workflows and enhance patient outcomes.
Rounding up highlights is the report’s take on education preferences and clinical readiness gaps. For instance, it discovered how, despite the rise of hybrid education programs, 74% of students still prefer traditional in-person instruction. Apart from it, concerns regarding new graduates’ preparedness, particularly in non-clinical areas like salary negotiation, business practices, and clinical software use, also emphasize the need for improved training.
Founded in 2008, WebPT’s rise up the ranks stems from providing robust and end-to-end solutions that cover the entire rehab therapy business cycle, including the tools and knowledge necessary to maximize performance, revenue, and patient outcomes. The company’s excellence in what it does can also be understood once you consider it enjoys, at the moment, market-leading retention and a 99.9% uptime rate across its entire platform.