06/12/2025
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EWXmsivFZ/
I saw this post about some environments being too clinical and how that can affect the clients experience and I have to agree 💯. I have been to environments like this and as a colleague been asked to ensure that my phone is put away, the desk is clear, bed roll is lined up perfectly and not a thing is out of place. I remember feeling like I couldn't relax because everything had to be pristine and regimental and it made me reflect on how that would make a client feel. Now many of you who have been to me will know that my desk is an organised mess with my phone, note books, reminders, picture frame etc... and I can guarantee the towels are not aligned to absolute perfection... but NEVER, not once, has a client ever said to me..."goodness that desk is a bit too disorganised for me to be here', or "that bed roll is squewiff, I'm leaving immediately" 😄 because that's not why you're here. By not being regimented and being relaxed and welcoming my clients experience is a positive one (or so I hope!). However I'm always welcoming of feedback on how I can make your visit a more comfortable one because your satisfaction is more important to me than how my blummin desk looks 🙈
Have an awesome weekend!
THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH ABOUT OUTPATIENT PT: Your clinic’s vibe matters more than your clinical genius.
We hate admitting this. It feels beneath us. We trained too hard and read too many papers to accept it. But here it is anyway: The atmosphere of your clinic matters more than the skill inside it.
Not because skill doesn’t matter; it does. But skill without compliance is useless. And compliance lives or dies on how a patient feels when they walk into your space.
If patients hate being in your clinic, it doesn’t matter how sharp your differential is or how perfect your loading strategy is. People don’t return to places that feel sterile, silent, boring, or joyless. Rehab is already hard. Pain is frustrating. Consistency is difficult. If the experience is miserable too? Game over.
A clinic with mediocre skill but great energy, warmth, and engagement will beat a clinic full of superstars who treat like they’re working in a morgue every time.
Because here’s the truth no one wants to say out loud:
The #1 determinant of PT success is not clinical brilliance. It’s showing up.
Attendance. Consistency. Completing the plan of care.
If you don’t finish antibiotics, the infection doesn’t clear. If you don’t show up and actually do PT, it doesn’t matter how “evidence-based” the plan was.
Patients who drop out because the clinic felt cold or lifeless walk away saying, “I tried PT. It didn’t work.” Not because therapy failed, but because the environment pushed them out before it ever had a chance.
Decent therapy done consistently will beat perfect therapy done inconsistently 10 out of 10 times.
So ask yourself:
Is your clinic a place people want to be, or a place they’re trying to escape from?
Until we prioritize vibe, energy, culture, fun, music, human connection, and laughter with the same seriousness we give to technique and clinical skill… we’ll keep losing patients to experiences, not outcomes.
Skill matters. Absolutely.
But vibe determines whether that skill ever gets the chance to matter.
