The Process of Continuous Improvement: Q&A with MovementX, Ascend Innovator of the Year

Rehab therapy remains in constant conversation about innovation, but there aren’t nearly enough practices living that idea in their day-to-day work. That’s what makes this year’s Innovator of the Year winner so special. 

MovementX has spent years forging a new path for therapists—one that goes against the grain of industry trends by creating a model that works for their providers just as much as it does for their patients. Now, they’ve embraced innovation once again to upend the way they do business, and the results of that massive change were enough to help them bring home the Innovator of the Year award in Chicago.      

To get a better understanding of MovementX’s transformation and how its underlying philosophy of kaizen encourages constant improvement and innovation, I spoke with Co-Founder and CEO Josh D’Angelo, PT, DPT, OCS.    

For those who aren’t aware, tell us a little bit about the last year or so at MovementX and some of the changes you’ve undergone.

At MovementX, we have been deeply focused on building an innovative model of care and a world-class culture. That led us to exponential growth, including being named in back-to-back years to the Inc 5000 list. As a team, we established a big vision - 100 Thrive in ‘25 - which described our hopes and aspirations of how we would better support our team with more stability, further elevate the ceiling of earning potential, and offer even more community support. 

To reach our vision, we made a challenging decision to change our employment structure from one based around independent contractors to one centered around employees. It was the biggest challenge we have encountered to date—extremely costly, extraordinarily complex, and massively time-consuming—but ultimately the right decision for our people. Although it was challenging, we knew it was the right decision, and we are now seeing our vision come to life before our eyes. 

What have you learned about yourself and your team throughout the process? 

Know yourself, keep your values close, and trust your team. The process of change was more challenging than we ever envisioned, but we stayed resolute that if we were to achieve our vision, the change had to be made. Keeping our ‘why’ close in mind and knowing who we are at our heart helped us remember the importance of doing it right. When times got particularly tough, we’d lean on our values system as our guiding light. Ultimately, we were positively surprised. While our team had a lot of questions, over 90% responded positively, including some who simply asked, “How can I help?” 

Do you think that the innovative attitude and spirit that’s part of the DNA of MovementX made it easier to consider making such a big change?

You bet! Two big areas that helped lay the foundation were trust and our value of kaizen, or the process of continuous improvement. Even if our team didn’t immediately understand the transition or the rationale for it, they trusted it was in the best interest of the organization and needed to happen. We also clearly communicated the process we took before announcing the change, alongside how it was tightly connected to the vision we set together. Clear and concise communication is a critical component of effective change management. Our core value of kaizen also helped communicate the why behind the change, that we are always trying to improve and get better. It’s a deeply held belief in our community that we can both appreciate the progress we have made and also strive to do better for those who come after us. 

What sort of things are you doing on a daily basis to foster innovation? How do you encourage your team to think outside the box?

Whether it be a marketing event, treatment session, or simply a meeting, we encourage self-reflection. If you’d give yourself an 8/10, the question is: how can you get a 9/10 next time? And once you get the 9, how can you get a perfect 10? Even if you rate yourself a perfect 10, how can you get an 11/10 and do better than you ever thought was possible next time? 

Kaizen is further operationalized by having mechanisms for feedback and suggestions in the community. From a ‘suggestions box’ channel on our internal messaging system to an always-open anonymous feedback form to frequent surveys, we have built a culture of feedback and growth into our culture that every provider lives, breathes, and acts upon. And of course, once you have the feedback as a leadership team, you need to effectively listen and act upon the change! 

What advice would you give to a practice trying to break out of the traditional practice mold—or those considering a big shift in the way they operate?

Start with a clear vision and an empowered team. Change needs to have a compelling vision that drives the team towards a better future. Having clarity on where you want to go and a team that is aligned with that clarity is critical in successful change. One of the biggest realizations we had through the process is that change, no matter how big or small, can be scary. It threatens people who like the status quo. So, if you want to change, you better be able to clearly describe the better future you are pursuing and stay laser-focused on that vision. 

Are there any goals you have for the next year you want to share?

Our big goal next year is to officially reach our Vision of 100 Thrive in ‘25. One hundred speaks to the breadth of how big we hope to grow, thrive speaks to the depth we hope to go with every single provider, and the end of 2025 is our deadline. After we set the vision, we invited our entire community to paint a picture of what we look like and what we feel like when we hit that big milestone. Much of that vision has already come to fruition, and the team is fired up to bring it fully to reality in the coming year. 

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A well-deserved congratulations are in order for Josh and the entire MovementX team. It’s a great lesson for practices everywhere that innovation isn’t limited to new services or new ways of delivering service — it can be as fundamental as how your business operates.  You can visit MovementX’s website or check them out on LinkedIn or Facebook.  

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