What’s “normal” for productivity in your setting, specialty, and profession? A drill down survey and report needed to be done. Here are some excerpts and preview of new key sections as a result of the incredible narrative input our survey participants contributed.
Who Are The Participants?
| Profession | Setting | Percent |
| Physical Therapist | Outpatient | 62.18% |
| Physical Therapist | Acute Care / Hospital / Emergency | 13.26% |
| Physical Therapist | Inpatient SNF/LTAC | 11.31% |
| Physical Therapist | Home Health / Home Care | 4.68% |
| Physical Therapist Assistant | Inpatient SNF/LTAC | 4.29% |
| Physical Therapist Assistant | Outpatient | 1.56% |
| Occupational Therapist | Home Health / Home Care | 0.58% |
| Occupational Therapist | Inpatient Neuro Rehab | 0.58% |
| Occupational Therapist | Inpatient SNF/LTAC | 0.58% |
| Occupational Therapist | Outpatient | 0.58% |
| Occupational Therapist Assistant | Inpatient SNF/LTAC | 0.39% |
| Occupational Therapist | Acute Care / Hospital / Emergency | 0.19% |
| Physical Therapist Assistant | Home Health / Home Care | 0.19% |
| Physical Therapist Assistant | Inpatient Neuro Rehab | 0.19% |
Agree or Disagree?
| Question Asked | Average | STDEV |
| Productivity is a high priority in my workplace. | 8.80 | 0.45 |
| Quality of Care and Patient Outcomes are a high priority in my workplace. | 4.40 | 3.13 |
| I sense my workplace is doing well financially (aka, the company isn’t struggling). | 6.80 | 3.49 |
| Higher production means more revenue. | 8.20 | 4.02 |
| If my workplace generated more revenue as a whole, they’d be willing to pay me more or give me a raise. | 8.60 | 0.55 |
Voices That Need To Be Heard
The is a new section to our portfolio of industry reports at UpDoc. The truth of the matter is, there was so much input that we felt it was only right to dedicate a section to the colleagues whose voices obviously need to be heard as it was clear they neither felt valued nor attended to in their own workplace. Maybe there’s a disconnect. Maybe there’s a miscommunication. Maybe it’s completely true; they are being ignored. Whatever the case, here is a small sample of thoughts people shared on the survey — sentiments we felt deserved to be made openly (and anonymously) accessible.
- I’m working off the clock to finish documentation, often an extra 6+ hours per week off the clock so as not to be reprimanded for lack of “productivity”. Also spending off the clock time to distribute schedules, speak to caregivers over the phone, meetings, interdisciplinary communications for patient benefit, travel time from one patient to another, communications with supervisor, etc 🙁
- We get weekly emails with top productivity employees. In the 3 years with this company, there has never been the same with outcomes. We are required to get 60% of documentation in a home, and perform a complete PT visit. It is literally impossible to do both and perform any standing activities with the patient in their home. My solution is to do paperwork at home after my kids go to bed. I usually end up falling asleep on the couch with my computer in my lap trying to finish paperwork.
- I feel my company is fair. I work for a quality system. However I have worked for skilled nursing facilities with contract companies and those are unethical and value high productivity in my experience. I will never work for a contract company again because of this.
- I feel protected from these pressures at the moment. As an employee of a large non-profit academic center’s outpatient orthopedic clinic, I have 45 minutes with each patient and never see more than 10 in 1 day. I know this is not the norm, and I worry about others who are forced to compromise their patients in order to meet unreasonable productivity standards.