Meet Tom Padilla of The Doctors of Physical Therapy in Scottsdale

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tom Padilla.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The real driver behind starting my company was that when I looked around, first as a personal trainer, and later as a physical therapist, I noticed a huge void between what is considered health, and what is considered wellness. Health and wellness seem like they should be so intimately linked, but when you take a look at healthcare, and the wellness industry, there’s a complete lack of continuity. That’s why I started DPT in 2016.

I graduated from the University of Southern California in 2014. After working around Los Angeles for a few years, a few colleagues of mine and I decided that we would open a practice in Scottsdale.

We opened in the 4th quarter of 2016. In the first quarter of 2017, we got wind that the gym that we were located in was quietly closing. Time to jump ship. We found another gym across the runway (where the company is currently located) called Scottsdale School of Fitness.

We moved in, then two months later my partners had family issues arise back in California and had to leave the company. This was now May 2017.

Fast forward to today, DPT has helped hundreds of people and we’ve been able to grow to four staff including myself, another full-time PT, an administrator/receptionist, and a marketing person.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
My company is not your traditional physical therapy company. We focus on tying together health and wellness, so we work with our patients and other providers to form a team around our patients. We focus on one on one care for the full hour and delivering a high-quality service that translates to getting our patients back to active lifestyles.

In order to achieve that, and make it a company that can scale so that we can help as many people as possible, we realized early on that we could not work with insurance companies. Long story short, they continue to squeeze payments to providers and dictate how to care for our patients.

That is our biggest hurdle. Many people want to use their insurance, and I get it, you pay for it. But it’s kinda like going to a restaurant and eating, then telling them that your uncle will come pay them later. Then they have to chase your uncle down and he gives them 50% of what they ask for. It’s simply unsustainable so they’ll continue to water down your beverages and serve you less quality food. It’s been a blessing in disguise though because the people who have already been to the watered down physical therapy experience really get it and love working with us.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with The Doctors of Physical Therapy – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
DPT is known for getting active adults in their 30’s-50’s back to their active lifestyle without painkillers or surgery. We specialize in low back and hip pain, and our success rate is 90%+.

We’re known for bringing quality to the healthcare experience, and being able to help our patients be able to go from injured to great accomplishments. We help people who have been to 5-10 other docs who haven’t been able to resolve their issues, and we get them back to sports like golf, marathons/triathlons, weightlifting, or just playing with their kids.

I’m most proud of the experience we offer our patients. From the moment they call in, we’re focused on providing them with a fully transparent and informative healthcare experience. We are focused on working with them as a team to accomplish their goals, and we have a strong team of other providers we can lean on in the especially tough cases. Not being reliant on insurance companies and MD’s for referrals has allowed us to become primary care providers for people’s musculoskeletal issues, which is how I believe it should be.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
DPT is one of the fastest growing out of network clinics in the country and I plan to keep it that way. Our company is focused on continuing to build quality relationships with quality practitioners and spread our way of practicing across the valley.

In the next few years, I’d like to see us have a couple more locations, and a wellness center, where someone could go see their medical provider, physical therapist, personal trainer, and other wellness providers all in one place. In this way, we could create some continuity from health, to wellness, where everyone is focused on helping the patient live their best life.

Contact Info:

• Address: 7399 E. Tierra Buena Ln. Suite 101
  Scottsdale, AZ 85260
• Website: www.thedoctorsofpt.com
• Phone: 480-482-0651
• Email: info@thedoctorsofpt.com

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