Patients report being satisfied with private musculoskeletal physical therapy when therapists educate effectively and facilitate shared decision making.

BACKGROUND: Overall satisfaction with physical therapy care can improve patient adherence and active involvement in their management. However, which individual factors most influence satisfaction with private practice physical therapy care is not well established. OBJECTIVE: To identify which aspects of the private practice musculoskeletal physical therapy experience best delineated "completely satisfied" and "dissatisfied patients". METHODS: The MedRisk Instrument for Measuring Patient Satisfaction with Physical Therapy Care (MRPS) was used in a cross-sectional design within 18 Australian private musculoskeletal physical therapy practices. The area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operator characteristic curves (ROC) was used to quantify the ability of the individual patient experience questions to classify the global impressions of satisfaction and likelihood to recommend to others. RESULTS: 1712 patients completed the survey (out of 7320 survey recipients - response rate 23%). High scores were identified for overall satisfaction (4.8/5 ± 0.61) and likelihood to recommend (4.78/5 ± 0.67). Individual items relating to education (AUC = 0.839 and 0.838) and shared decision making (AUC = 0.832 and 0.811) were the most accurate indicators of satisfaction and likelihood to recommend to others, respectively. CONCLUSION: Individual questionnaire items relating to education and shared decision making were the most accurate indicators of satisfaction and likelihood to recommend in patients attending private practice musculoskeletal physical therapy in Australia. Clinicians and educators should focus on developing these skills to encourage an effective therapeutic alliance and promote greater levels of patient satisfaction.

The first year of private practice - new graduate physiotherapists are highly engaged and satisfied but edging toward burnout.

BACKGROUND: A greater understanding of physiotherapists' work-life during their first year of work in private practice, and whether their experiences are mediated by personal traits, may provide valuable information to support their transition and retention. OBJECTIVES: Describe the first year of practice for graduate physiotherapists in terms of employee engagement, job satisfaction, performance, and burnout, and evaluate the relationship between these measures and personal traits (resilience, grit, mind-set). DESIGN: One-year longitudinal mixed-methods study. METHODS: Twenty new graduate physiotherapists completed questionnaires evaluating resilience, grit, and mind-set within 1-week of commencing employment. Engagement and job satisfaction were evaluated at 3, 6 and 12-months, and burnout evaluated at 12-months. Performance data (number of patients seen, revenue) were collected throughout the year. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted at baseline, 3, 9 and 12-months. RESULTS: Engagement and satisfaction were high at all time points. At 12-months, burnout was at a medium level. Resilience was positively associated with job satisfaction at 6 (ρ = 0.56, p = .019) and 12-months (ρ = 0.54, p = .027). Engagement (ρ = -0.57, p = .04) and job satisfaction (ρ = -0.56, p = .03) were negatively associated with burnout at 12-months. All participants remained passionate about their work although increasing administrative burden and patient complexity contributed to feelings of burnout. CONCLUSIONS: Resilience was positively associated with job satisfaction suggesting those with capacity to 'bounce back' were more satisfied and engaged with their job. Although moderate levels of burnout were reported at 12-months, those with higher job satisfaction and employee engagement had lower levels of burnout. Participants proposed practical strategies to help mitigate burnout.