TAI Marketing Director Scott Wick recently passed along an APTA press release from June that announces that the President’s Council projects growth for the Physical Therapy profession in the years ahead. It makes sense, given that the need for PTs already outweighs the number of licensed professionals out there. If/When health care expands to meet the needs of a national plan, that will mean that many more people will presumably be seeking medical care, including physical therapy services. Good news for the profession and those of you considering a career inPT!
This topic already is, and will continue to be, discussed thoroughly within and outside of the PT profession (e.g. here is a recent article from TodayinPT.com). In fact, Scott has already been asked by some media sources to comment on it from our company’s perspective. Here’s an excerpt from one of his recent discussions:
Are there more practitioners now than ever before?
Scott: According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 173,000 Physical Therapists employed in the US in 2006. That number is expected to increase to 220,000 by 2016, or increase by 27%. For our company alone, we have seen PT employment increase over the last five years by about 56%.
Is there a greater demand for PT than ever before? Why?
Scott: I believe there is a much greater demand for PT services for a number of reasons:
- Increased Awareness of our Profession: This profession has come a long way since WWI and we have been evolving to become more of a mainstream medical provider. Patient and Consumer awareness and understanding of the scope of practice and services provided by Physical Therapists is at an all time high and continues to grow through the efforts of the APTA, other state and local associations, and the efforts of individual companies like ours.
- Push for wellness: With the epidemic in Diabetes and Childhood Obesity, awareness of “wellness” has increased across the country. Examples of this include Washington State’s “Healthiest State in the Nation Campaign”, new Physical Activity Guidelines developed by the CDC, the “Exercise is Medicine” campaign asking all primary care doctors to focus on physical exercise during routine examinations, etc.
- Baby Boomers: 76 Million strong are now reaching Medicare age starting in 2010. That is important not only because of the Medicare issue, but also to acknowledge the huge number of active adults in their mid 50’s to early 60’s. This group is trying to stay active as they age. Physical Therapists have been treating this group for decades already and they have a better understanding of our profession and how we can help to maintain and even improve their physical health.
- Shortage of Primary Care Physicians: There is a shortage of primary care doctors in our markets and not many entering this specialty. Their training on the Musculoskeletal System is limited and due to the volume of patients they are seeing, they tend to rely more on Physical Therapists to diagnose and treat Musculoskeletal Issues than ever before.
How has TAI grown in the recent past?
Scott: Over the past five years, our company has certainly grown. Our growth rate of New Clinics is about 16%. We have seen an increase in New Patient volumes of about 18%. Visits have gone up by 21%. We expect these trends to continue in the years ahead.
If you’re considering a career in PT but don’t know where to start your investigation, APTA has some excellent resources. If you are a PT (or on that path) and would like more information on career options with TAI, visit our website.
