Measuring Clinical Excellence, One FOTO at a Time

By Greg Turner, PT, Center Manager – Lancaster Pennsylvania Center

How do you measure clinical excellence? Is there any proof that we excel at the art and science of PT?

Within the physical therapy profession, everyone wants to tout that they provide great care. But what does that mean? What proof do they have? In this competitive race, separating competitors could come down to a FOTO finish.

FOTO is short for Focus on Therapeutic Outcomes Inc., a Knoxville, Tenn.-based company that has been measuring and reporting patient outcomes for the rehabilitation industry for 20 years. FOTO the product is an online questionnaire each patient fills out at their initial evaluation and throughout their course of care. FOTO’s database of approximately 8 million patient assessments gives us a predicted outcome over a predicted duration of care.

My center in Lancaster, Pa., was the first within Drayer Physical Therapy Institute to use FOTO, which now has been rolled out to more than 40 Drayer locations. Our center was recently recognized by FOTO for exceeding the national average in orthopedic outcomes for exceeding the national average in orthopedic outcomes in the first two quarters of 2016.

FOTO has helped us improve as clinicians, identifying our weaknesses (and strengths); the weaknesses become growth opportunities.

As the healthcare field continues to change, it is vital that we demonstrate clinical excellence in our outcomes and efficiency in attaining them. These measures will continue to set us apart from our peers and objectively show our referral sources, third-party payers and patients that we are the best choice for rehab services.