2. PT as a Consultant
Consultation is the rendering of professional or
expert opinion or advice by a physical therapist.
The consulting physical therapist applies highly
specialized knowledge and skills to identify
problems, recommend solutions, or produce a
specified outcome or product in a given amount
of time on behalf of a patient/client.”
3. PT as a Consultant
Consultation is the practice of providing advice for
a fee.This is a two-way interaction,
• A process in which a person or an organization
seeks help, which the consultant provides.
• The ultimate outcome of the process is a change
in the way the person functions or an
organization operates.
The person or organization seeking help is the
client, who may also be known as the customer,
patient, or advisee.
4. PT as a Consultant
Regardless of the label applied to the
interaction (advising, coaching, counseling,
consulting),this helping process is a key
function of all professionals, including
physical therapists.
Given the nature of their work, most physical
therapists (PTs) are familiar with the process
of consultation.
5. PT as a Consultant
The patient/client management role of the PT
is a for the power of the advice given depends
on two factors:
(1) how much the consultant helps clients use
their own knowledge, experience, and
expertise to arrive at a decision or solve a
problem, and
(2) how much the client participates in the
proposed course of action.
6. PT as a Consultant
Fuller suggested another framework that
consultants could use to clarify their
responsibilities.This model identifies types of
consultation in terms of client demands for the
following continuum of services:
● Specialized services
● Administrative skills
● Problem solving
● Investigative studies
● Assessments
● Advice
7. Client Needs Met by Physical
Therapy Consultants
Inadequate human resources
Make up for a shortage of a particular expertise among
existing personnel
Serve as an alternative when hiring restrictions are in
place
Help to manage a sudden increase in expectations or
demand
Provide services when time limits prevent existing
personnel from completing the work at hand
Work on a new project that does not warrant the
hiring of full-time personnel
8. Objective point of
view
Provide guidance or insight on a particular
patient or management problem
Present new ideas for revitalizing the practice
Devise fresh approaches for overcoming
barriers to successful treatment outcomes
9. Periods of change
Serve as a catalyst to help generate change in a health care
organization
Lend credibility to a change already determined to be
necessary
Provide seminars for or coaching of personnel to provide
information and new skills to improve clinical practice
Provide rapid access to latest technology and its application
Serve as an independent mediator to resolve differences
when two health care organizations merge
10. Business management
Improve referrals to the physical therapy service
Research sources of capital funding to initiate a physical
therapy practice
Improve an organization’s efficiency and scope of practice
Ensure compliance with regulatory and accreditation
demands or third-party payer rules for reimbursement
Help with a complete turnaround in a practice resulting
from a change in mission or organizational structure so that
the practice remains competitive as health care changes
occur
11. Consulting Fees
Method 1
1. Calculate the amount you need to cover living
and business expenses for 1 year.
2. Calculate the number of billable days in a year:
●With 2 weeks of vacation, holidays, and
weekends, a year has about 245 billable days.
● Subtract 2 or 3 days per week for marketing
activities, networking, handling the
administrative aspects of the business, writing
proposals, and engaging in professional
development.
12. Consulting Fees
Typically 120 days per year are available for
billable work (this number is affected by the
scheduling of available days when clients are
available; for example, a client may find it
difficult to engage a consultant around the
holidays in December. Consider the following
example of estimated expenses and income
for 1 year:
13. Consulting Fees
Salary $50,000
Taxes $20,000
Retirement $7,500
Insurance $6,000
Overhead business expenses $25,200
Profit $10,000
Total $118,700
3. For this example, if you plan 80 billable days
per year, your daily consulting fee would be
about $1,500 a day.
14. Method 2
1. Determine the fee potential clients are willing to pay
(e.g., find out the fee paid to other consultants in the
area).
2. Determine your living and business expenses.
3. Calculate the number of consulting days per year
you need to break even. For example, let’s say the
current daily fee for PT consultants in your area is
$750, and your annual income goal is $118,700:
$118,700 ÷ 750 = 158.26
You will need to work about 159 billable days per year
to meet your income goal
15. The Consulting Process
The proposal should include the following
sections, which are based on an outline by
Hoyt13:
1. Purpose of the proposal [or an objective]: A brief
statement, couched in general terms, of what the
client wants.
2. Solution or action steps: Presented perhaps as a
bulleted list or a table, this section specifies the
sequential actions to be taken, including dates
for submission of periodic progress reports.
16. The steps may include information and data
gathering, design, content to be included,
materials needed, and the implementation
strategy.
3. Anticipated benefits:The improvements the
client can expect as a result of the
consultation.
4. Evaluation: A plan for measuring the
effectiveness of the consultation.
17. Phases in consulting
• Data Collection
• Identifying problems through diagnostic
analysis
• Setting goals and planning for action
• Taking action, cycling feedback, and
completing the project
• Evaluation
18. The Skills of a Good
Consultant
Respond to each item using a 1−4 scale.
1 = definitely true; 2 = possibly true; 3 = unlikely; 4 =
definitely false
1. I am willing to work sixty to eighty hours a week
to achieve success. 1 2 3 4
2. I love risk; I thrive on risk. 1 2 3 4
3. I have a thick skin. 1 2 3 4
4. I am good at understanding and interpreting the
big picture. 1 2 3 4
5. I pay attention to details. 1 2 3 4
6. I am an excellent communicator. 1 2 3 4
19. The Skills of a Good
Consultant
7. I am a good writer. 1 2 3 4
8. I like to sell myself. 1 2 3 4
9. I can balance logic with intuition and the big
picture with details. 1 2 3 4
10. I know my limitations. 1 2 3 4
11. I can say “no” easily. 1 2 3 4
12. I am compulsively self-disciplined. 1 2
3 4
13. I am comfortable speaking with people in all
disciplines and at all levels of an organization 1
2 3 4
