The Better Outcomes Show

The Department of Education’s proposed loan cap changes have sparked strong reactions across healthcare, including within occupational therapy and physical therapy circles.

Much of the conversation has focused on whether these degrees should be classified as “professional degrees” versus “graduate programs.”
But that may be the wrong fight.

In this episode, we zoom out and ask three deeper questions about the economics of certain healthcare education programs— questions that matter far more than federal loan labels.

Whether the DOE calls us “professional” or not doesn’t change the structural issues facing our professions.

What we cover in this episode:
-Why Has the Cost of Healthcare Education Become So Disconnected from Salary?
-The gap between education cost and earning power continues to widen.
-Why Have Clinical Salaries Been Flat (or Declining) in Real Terms?
-How tightening margins have forced productivity demands higher in clinical settings. 
-Why we need to focus on making healthcare degrees a valuable financial investment, rather than career fields with negative ROIs 

Full episode note: https://rehabupracticesolutions.com/better-outcomes-165

Podcast: https://www.betteroutcomes.show
Get the Book: https://amzn.to/3M2UZ6x
Book a call with me: https://calendly.com/rehabu/discovery
Connect with Me: https://www.rafisalazar.com

If you'd like to learn more about Strata EMR & RCM and achieving a 99.99% reimbursement rate for your PT, OT, or SLP Clinic head over to stratapt.com and book a demo with their team!

What is The Better Outcomes Show?

Exploring the possibilities of a new healthcare.



Let’s get real: Healthcare is broken. You know it. I know it. Every clinician who came into this field from a desire to care for others, knows this to be undeniably true. We feel it everyday when we enter our clinics, hospitals, and practices. We feel the burden of time-based productivity metrics, utilization rates, and the expectation to behave like cogs in a giant, soul-crushing machine aimed at extracting revenue from our patients in exchange for “units” of treatment.



Healthcare should be about one thing: PEOPLE! Yet how many clinics, organizations, or healthcare professionals live their lives by the numbers? Metrics & spreadsheets drive most of our healthcare decision makers and administrators. That leaves patients -the people we serve- lost in the mix. Patient’s feel lost, forgotten, and ignored by a system that prioritizes efficiency & productivity over their own personal experiences, priorities, or goals.



It’s time for clinicians to finally stand up and say what we’ve all been thinking for so long: enough is enough!



It’s time for healthcare organizations to commit to serving the individual needs of each unique patient that they are charged with serving.



Join Rafael E. Salazar II, MHS, OTR/L (Rafi), principal of Rehab U Practice Solutions and host of The Better Outcomes Show as he explores the possibilities of a new healthcare. Guests range from clinicians trying new techniques and treatments to executives and entrepreneurs exploring new service delivery methods, business models, and organizational structures.