Shows / Future-Proof PT
Future-Proof PT
Want to stay ahead of the curve in physical therapy? Future Proof PT brings you straight-talking, no-nonsense conversations about what really matters in healthcare today. From dissecting policy risks and opportunities to exploring innovative practice and payment models to practical ways to accelerate your career growth, we're your go-to source for understanding the forces reshaping our profession and the healthcare industry at large.
Through candid dialogue and real-world perspectives, we're…
Episodes
Future-Proof PTEpisode 39: Dr. Robert Pearl: Why Healthcare Undervalues PT, and What Could Change That
How value-based payment, integrated care, and AI could expand physical therapy’s role and reward the outcomes that matter to patients. Find the full transcript…
Future-Proof PTEpisode 38: What Makes Physical Therapy Worth Paying For?
Finding the physical therapist's moat, and proving our value to patients, employers, payers, and other providers in an AI-enabled healthcare system. Find the…
Future-Proof PTEpisode 37: Can Technology Really Change Health?
Alex and Dana explore AI, patient behavior, and the gap between technological innovation and meaningful health outcomes. Technology may transform how care is…
Future-Proof PTEpisode 36: | Grown Up and In Demand, with APTA President Kyle Covington
The momentum behind physical therapists, the payers still holding on to an old picture of PT, and what new grads need to stay in the profession. (subscribe to…
Future-Proof PTEpisode 35: AI Was the Boogeyman. A Year Later, Everyone Was Using It.
Chris Hoekstra watched PT's AI panic flip in twelve months at the same annual meeting, and he explains what that reversal says about how this profession…
Future-Proof PTEpisode 34: PT Has a Capacity Problem. Hybrid Care is the Answer
Net Health's Ben Barron on the 12,000-therapist shortage, what CMS' proposed RTM changes would mean for rural practices, and how to create access to physical…
Future-Proof PTEpisode 33: How Physical Therapists Prove Their Value in Value-Based Care
VA Leader Brian Westlake, PT, DPT, Cert MDT on how to impact total cost of care, what it means to control healthcare spending in a fixed budget and how primary…
Future-Proof PTEpisode 32: The Physical Therapist, The Big Cycle, and The Age of AI
Plus, Ray Dalio's framework for how systems break, applied to the profession's financial reckoning and its AI future (note: this episode was published before…
Future-Proof PTEpisode 31: Physical Therapy is the Swiss Army Knife Profession
Duke's Dr. Chad Cook on the 5 things MSK therapists obsess over, and what we should be doing instead A VA physician once told a colleague of Dr. Chad Cook's…
Future-Proof PTEpisode 30: One Bad Experience with PT Loses Patients Forever with Dr. Trevor Lentz, PT, PhD, MPH
And the active ingredients in PT often aren't even physical "We have the capacity to provide a level of care that nobody else in the healthcare system does…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 29: Build a PT and OT Clinic Where Therapists Want to Work
Why content follows culture, and practical actions clinic owners can implement within the next 3 months. Find the full episode transcript here. Posting more…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 28: Skin in the Game: How PT Wins in the ACCESS Model
How RVUs (Not the Conversion Factor) Quietly Squeeze PT and OT and the Practical Blueprint to Shift From "Minutes" to ACO-Ready Value (read the full transcript…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 27: The $900 Billion Problem | Can AI Actually Fix Musculoskeletal Care?
A reality-check on what works today, what is hype, and what must improve before digital-first MSK care earns trust We sit down today with Sergei Polevikov…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 26: The PT Identity Project | The Problems Causing PTs Patients, Pay, and Progress
We are tackling physical therapy's brand crisis head-on. From pop culture portrayals (yes, we're talking about that "Land Man" stripper scene) to CMS policy…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 25 | Pain Science, Manual Therapy, and the Economics of PT with Paul Ingraham
Explore the intersection of evidence-based practice, healthcare economics, and pseudoscience in rehab, plus practical strategies for clinicians who want to do…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 24: The Economics of PT-First | Real Data on Cost Savings and Outcomes
How crazy is it that proven interventions in healthcare take so long to spread, even when they show clear economic and clinical benefits? Innovation in…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 23: The Alchemist and Healthcare | Why Your Journey is the Treasure
Check out the You Tube version of the podcast here. In this episode, Dana and Alex review the research articles Alex shared with Future Proof PT newsletter…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 22: Redefining Our Worth | How Physical Therapy Professionals Fit Into the Future of Value-Based Care
Fee-for-service PT reimbursement isn't viable. It's just math. In this episode, we bring our second physician guest to the Future Proof PT studio to explain…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 21: What's In It For Me Right Now?
How to Benefit from Value-Based Care Strategies While Treating in Fee-For-Service "Why should I care about value-based care TODAY?" If you're not in a risk…
Future-Proof PTEpisode 20: Expertise, Delegating, and Team-Based Care in Physical Therapy
Alex and Dana met on LinkedIn, started a podcast, and only met in person in October of 2025. They use their milestone 20th episode to issue an urgent call…
- Future-Proof PT
PT as Quarterback, with Dr. Marc Gruner, DO, MBA, RMSK
Why your best play is calling the shots, not running them all Alex and I recently talked about the physical therapist income floor and ceiling. And in this…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 18: The PT Education ROI Crisis with Jon Lee, PT, DPT, MBA
Drowning in student debt? Feeling undervalued as a PT? Here's why: You're trapped between an artificial floor and a glass ceiling. The floor? PT school costs…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 17: PT Without Walls | A Conversation with Dr. Drew Contreras, PT, DPT, SCS
What happens when the only physical therapist to serve two U.S. Presidents shares his unfiltered blueprint for transforming PT into a primary care powerhouse?…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 16: The PT Explorer's Mindset | Bridging Research, Disruption, and Innovation
Explorers, Innovators, and the Future of Therapy Practice What distinguishes an explorer from a maintainer in the therapy profession? Why are outside…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 15: Beyond the Treatment Session | Physical Therapists who Dare to Look Up
Episode Summary: In the latest episode of Future Proof PT, hosts Dana Strauss and Alex Bendersky, along with special guest Jerry Durham, tackle the critical…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 14: How Precise is your Prognosis?
Dana and Alex explore the Therapy Value Quotient, an objective framework for measuring clinical impact that goes beyond subjective reasoning. Learn a practical…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 13: Is "Make American Healthy Again" the Next Big Opportunity for Physical Therapists?
Physical Therapists, listen up! "Make America Healthy Again," or MAHA, is a chance to improve the professional identify of PTs regardless of politics! It's a…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 12: Digital Meet Physical: The Next Era of Physical Therapy
Ready to revolutionize your PT career? Think of it like Wayne Gretzky's famous quote - skate to where the puck is going, not where it's been. In today's…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 11: PT Professionals, Stop Limiting Yourself | AI, Autonomy, Advocacy, and Action
In Episode 11 of Future-Proof PT, we're joined again by Cody Lee, a dynamic early-career PT who's revolutionizing physical therapy practice in Alabama. Get…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 10: Early Career Excellence | A Fresh Perspective on Value-Based Physical Therapy
Join Dana and Alex as they sit down with rising PT star Cody Lee, PT, DPT, to explore how the next generation of physical therapists is reshaping healthcare…
- Future-Proof PT
The Practitioner Paradigm | The Most Critical Health Policy Issue
For Episode Nine, we welcome back guest Ben Galin, PT, DPT, for a deep dive into the evolving landscape of physical and occupational therapy, using the role of…
- Future-Proof PT
Transforming Physical Therapy Practice | The Time is Now
In Episode 8 of Future Proof PT, hosts Dana Strauss and Alex Bendersky engage in a deep discussion with veteran physical therapist Ben Galin about the critical…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode 7: Intro to the TEAM Model and PTs as PCPs in the Military
In this episode of Future Proof PT, we dive deep into two game-changing models of care provision that could reshape physical therapy practice: First, we…
- Future-Proof PT
Beyond the Clinic: The Real Price of Musculoskeletal Disorders
Summary: In this episode of the Future Proof PT podcast, Dana and Alex delve into the economic implications of healthcare with a focus on musculoskeletal…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode Five: The Rules and Roles of Value-Based Musculoskeletal Care
Below by Notion AI from the transcript: A detailed discussion exploring the complex dynamics of value-based care in the musculoskeletal health sector. The…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode Four: The Government as Policymaker and Payer
AI Show Notes by Riverside FM: Summary In this episode, Dana and Alex discuss the complexities of budget resolutions, government spending, and their…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode Three: The PT Supply Chain that Works: Building a Referral Network Centered Around our Clinical Value
Sign up for our newsletter and get exclusive, subscriber-only access to our Resources Database! Please subscribe to our YouTube channel and if you like an…
- Future-Proof PT
Episode Two: Post Combined Sections Meeting 2025
Subscribe to our newsletter and your welcome email will include a subscribers-only link to a growing Resources Database for you to bookmark! Courtesy of…
- Future-Proof PT
Inaugural Episode of the Future Proof PT podcast
Note to listeners: We are building this podcast in public. We uploaded the raw episode and copied and pasted Riverside's AI show notes. Thank you for giving…