Happy Holidays! I hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving filled with food, family, floats, and football and that you’re feeling refreshed, excited for the holiday season, and ready to close out 2024 strong. As we approach the end of the year, it’s an opportunity for all of us to pause and reflect on what’s happened in our lives over the past twelve months. It’s certainly been an eventful year, to say the least, but we say that almost every year—which means we must live life to the fullest. That’s why I believe it’s critical to take note of the things in your life that fill you with joy and love and motivate you to keep going even on those days you’d sooner crawl back into bed. So, without further ado, here’s my annual holiday letter filled with gratitude for this year—and every year. 

Family is everything.

Of course, I’m always going to start with my family when I think about what matters most to me. We have much to celebrate this holiday season, as my partner Joe and I got engaged in June of this year. We’re planning for an August 2025 wedding!  My daughter Ava is now a teenager (how did that happen?!) and in her final year of middle school. She wears the same size shoe as me and is on her way to matching (or surpassing) my height in the next year or two. My ‘bonus’ twin daughters, Tegan and Rivers (19), are doing well in college, studying psychology and marine science, respectively. Our whole family, including my mom, who will turn 92 this year and is still going strong, will make our annual holiday trek to Mexico. We are excited to ring in the new year together!

The WebPT team is better than any elves.

And then there is my WebPT family.  I have to start by shouting out all our WebPTers for their continued rock-solid work ethic, true grit in managing a challenging year, and dedication to bringing back minty levels of service that will create raving fans with every interaction with our Members—and each other.  As you’ve undoubtedly heard by now, we’ve welcomed a new CEO, Andrea Facini, who is bringing a fresh approach to help us get back to our core priorities. I’ve also jumped back into a more hands-on role to help guide us back towards our North Star (not unlike a certain red-nosed reindeer.) It's been so impressive to see the tenacity and speed with which our teams have embraced these changes to get our course back on track. We’ve also welcomed a few other incredible leaders, including Rob Helton, our VP of Product; Uday Devalla, our new CTO; and Monte Sadler, who has moved into our COO role. The throughline of each one of these leaders is their willingness to fully embrace the WebPT culture, understand what has made us so successful, and make the necessary changes to continue our success in the future. 

The culture that we’ve built and nurtured over the last 16 years has been the key to our staying power within the rehab therapy industry— but it isn’t easy, and we are not sitting on our laurels.  It takes a lot of hard work, being accountable for your mistakes, remaining determined in the face of challenges, and a willingness to occasionally do “mas with manos” to minimize wasted resources. So, I commend our leadership and team for living WebPT’s culture and values every day.  

Our team is only part of the equation, though. While WebPTers may be the engine that propels us forward, our Members are helping to guide the ship (sleigh?) by sharing what you all need to achieve greatness in practice. We’ve called our “customers” our “Members” since the business's inception because we were building a community where all stakeholders had a voice. You—our members—are our partners in everything we do and are the reason we put in the effort day in and day out. I will never take for granted that so many of you have put your faith in us to help you run your businesses every day. 

That’s why I’m so thrilled to rejoice in some of the success stories among our Members and so proud that we’ve been able to play a part in their journeys. One great example is True Sports Physical Therapy. True Sports has expanded to fifteen locations across three states (Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware), all while remaining entirely PT-owned and operated. They’ve also hit the milestone of adding their 50th treating clinician to the staff. More importantly, they’ve done this while never losing focus on the people they serve or their team. As they've revamped operations and infrastructure for future growth, they’ve looked hard at their fee-for-service mode and considered expanding into other wellness opportunities within their community. In today’s competitive environment, adding services like strength and conditioning, corporate wellness programs, and performance and injury prevention screenings is critical to meeting the needs and demands of the community and expanding your reach. 

They also launched True Sport University, a continuing education platform for their own team as well as outside clinicians to grow their skills and advance their career objectives — all while improving the care their patients get in the process. I love this idea because it combines so many of the qualities that make our profession special: the entrepreneurial spirit, the commitment to growth and improvement, and the passion for helping others, whether that’s our peers or our patients.      

Another success story worth celebrating has been Hartz Physical Therapy, winner of the 2024 Ascend Practice of the Year award. Hartz PT exemplifies the qualities that make physical therapists exceptional. They’re achieving their business goals by improving their KPIs and getting more efficient, yes, but they’re using those resources to invest in their team. As a result, they can boast incredible employee retention and engagement, which is, in turn, reflected in equally impressive patient retention and NPS scores. They’re also giving back to the community with more charitable efforts than I can list here. 

While we’re talking about serving the community, I have to shine a light on one practice that’s doing extraordinary work with patients who are very much in need of care. Founded by Sheree King, a LANA Certified Lymphedema therapist and Board Certified Oncologic Specialist PT in Tennessee, Ribbons Physical Therapy only treats patients suffering the effects of cancer and/or lymphedema. They’ve strived to provide for an unmet need when it comes to comprehensive cancer rehabilitation and lymphedema treatment while still providing a workplace that their team loves and where they can feel they’re making a difference in a cause greater than themselves.  

Everyone wants to root for practices like Ribbons PT to succeed — which they’ve been able to do despite the headwinds from constant Medicare payment cuts. They’ve expanded beyond their first location in Kingsport, TN, adding a second clinic in Johnson City in 2023, which provided them the chance to add to their team of PTs, OTs, and office managers in their mission to meet the diverse needs of their patients. And I’m incredibly proud that we’ve been able to help them in their journey; John King, Vice President at Ribbons PT, says that WebPT “has been instrumental to our success as the provider of their proven and robust EMR and related systems. They have built a program designed to meet the needs of private practices, and it continues to evolve with additional resources that allow us to add on as patient demand grows.” King also noted that, because of our position as industry leaders, “there is a high likelihood that new applicants have experience with WebPT, thereby shortening their onboarding process.”     

Ultimately, we want to empower all of our Members to reach their goals of growth, efficiency gains, and continued impact like True Sports, Hartz PT, and Ribbons PT. In short, we want everyone to achieve greatness in practice—whatever that looks like for you. 

Thank you to every Member who chooses WebPT and your trusted partner on this journey of excellence in entrepreneurship, clinical care, and patient experience. I wish I could thank each and every one of you personally, but I hope you’ll settle for a hug when we run into each other at the next conference. 

The rehab therapy community always gives me hope. 

Last but certainly not least, I’m grateful for our profession and the rehab therapy community, which continues to push forward with tremendous impact and even some regulatory wins this year. If you read our recap of the Final Rule or attended our webinar with Rick Gawenda, you’ll know that Medicare is finally moving to general supervision guidelines for PTAs and OTAs instead of direct supervision. 

And for those of you who have had to put a physician or ten on the naughty list for not signing a patient’s plan of care, CMS is offering some relief by allowing a signed and dated referral to meet their signature requirements—provided you’ve sent the POC requesting signature (and documented the efforts.) That, along with continued telehealth privileges and refinements to the MSK MVP, are worth celebrating—cheers to the small wins!   

I know that we tend towards doom and gloom a bit too often in rehab therapy—the sentiments reflected in the State of Rehab Therapy report bear that out—but I’m genuinely optimistic about the future of the profession. 

That’s why I love going to CSM, PPS, Ascend, and every other industry event I can: because it’s an opportunity to connect with so many incredible people who share my passion for PT. I’m truly lucky to have built so many friendships over the years and to be able to call myself a part of an incredible group of people. 

I’m also lucky enough to get a window into the future in connecting with the next generation of PTs who’ll be joining our ranks in a few years, whether that’s through my work with Rizing Tide or the opportunities I’ve had to speak at DPT program white coat ceremonies. Of all the things I've done in my career, maybe the most rewarding is helping these incredibly bright, talented young people pursue their goal of helping others. So, for those concerned about where the profession is headed, I’m here to tell you: the future is bright. Happy holidays, everyone—we will see you next year!