The Battle for MSK Care Is Already Underway

Musculoskeletal care is quietly becoming one of the most important battlegrounds in healthcare.
MSK conditions affect over 120 million Americans, account for roughly $420 billion in annual healthcare spending, and remain the leading cause of disability worldwide.
And because of that, nearly every major stakeholder in healthcare is moving into this space.
Digital health companies.
Employers.
Payers.
Orthopedic groups.
Health systems.
Wearable tech companies.
They’re all competing for one thing:
Control of the musculoskeletal patient relationship.
Because whoever controls the entry point into MSK care often controls everything that follows—from imaging and therapy to injections, surgery, and long-term outcomes.
In this episode, we take a step back and look at what’s really happening in the MSK space—and why this moment represents more than just innovation. It represents a fundamental shift in how care is delivered.

What we cover in this Episode:
-Why Musculoskeletal Care Has Become a $420B Healthcare Category
MSK is one of the largest drivers of healthcare spending, disability, and lost productivity in the United States.
-Why the Current MSK System Is So Fragmented
How disconnected care pathways create inefficiencies—and opportunities for disruption.
-The 4 Competing Models of MSK Care
Procedure-centric, therapy-centric, digital-first, and hybrid care models—and how they’re competing for control of the patient journey.
-Why Policy and Payment Models Are Beginning to Shift
How CMS initiatives like the ACCESS model and the expansion of RTM are beginning to support more coordinated, longitudinal care.
-Why Technology Alone Won’t Solve the Problem
The role of clinicians in guiding movement, behavior change, and long-term capacity building.
-Why the Future of MSK Care Will Likely Be Hybrid
How digital tools and clinical expertise are coming together to reshape care delivery.

Full episode note: https://rehabupracticesolutions.com/better-outcomes-166

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!

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!

RTM & Virtual Service Delivery Isn’t a Billing Add-On — It’s the Future of Healthcare Delivery

In this episode, I break down one of the biggest misconceptions in modern rehab: the idea that Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) and virtual service delivery is just a billing perk, a revenue booster, or a marketing gimmick. It’s not. RTM and virtual services represent the next era of healthcare delivery— a shift toward hybrid, patient-centered, digitally augmented care that extends the clinician’s impact far beyond the clinic walls.

In this episode, I explain why RTM and virtual matters, how it’s changing the role of clinicians, why patients now expect hybrid models, and why CMS is actively incentivizing it. If you’re a clinician, clinic owner, healthcare leader, or digital health innovator, this episode will challenge the way you think about care delivery.

What we cover in this Episode:

-Why RTM is NOT just a revenue strategy
-The shift towards hybrid care
-What today's patients expect from their care
-How virtual healthcare & RTM elevate clinicians into their highest-value roles
-Why CMS is incentivizing services like RTM and what it signals

Full episode note: https://rehabupracticesolutions.com/better-outcomes-164

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!