There's a lot of noise around AI in
healthcare right now.
You can't get away from it.
Now, some people see efficiency,
others see risk,
and most just aren't sure where to start.
But behind the scenes,
there are people working directly with
clinics,
helping them figure out what actually
works,
and what doesn't when it comes to applying
AI in real operations, not theory,
not hype execution,
the kind that actually impacts patient
follow-through outcomes.
And yeah, I'll say it, revenue.
And if you've ever said,
I just wish I had somebody who could
explain this clearly, I got a guy.
You better call Sal.
And that's why he's here.
Sal, welcome to the show, man.
Hey, thanks for having me, Jimmy.
Love the intro.
All right.
So you're doing this every day and you
see a lot of the emotion behind why
people either adopt or don't.
Automation, AI, all those things.
So when you talked about operators doing
this,
what's the first reaction you usually get
on that call?
Well, I'm over here with Flagler Health.
I'm the senior account executive and the
director of PT integrations at Flagler
Health.
And what Flagler Health is,
it's an AI operation system that
primarily, but not exclusively,
works with MSK clinics.
So from PT to ortho and pain and
then beyond,
but that's who we usually work with.
And quite honestly,
like what I usually get
is half the room thinks it's gonna replace
their entire front desk team by Tuesday.
And the other half thinks it's just
another overhyped tool that's gonna get
put into the patient portal and no one's
gonna log into it and check it out
or just have to be constantly reminded to
do that.
That's some of the major things that I'm
hearing when I first speak to some of
my prospects around AI integrations.
But that's where we lean in here at
Flagler is because if AI feels more like
work, it's already failed.
Sure.
Yeah.
It sounds like people are saying like,
number one, does this work?
Yes or no?
And I have to see it to believe
it.
And number two,
am I actually going to use it?
Because if I buy it,
we've all had that buyer's remorse.
You buy something and then six months
later you realize, man,
I'm not using this.
It's not in my workflow.
So what did I actually get my money
out?
So what are clinics getting wrong about AI
operations right now?
You mentioned a few things.
Some people think this.
Some people think it's going to do this.
So what are they getting wrong about AI
operations beyond that?
And then also maybe we'll flip that.
What are they getting right?
Well,
I feel like what they're getting wrong is
that they're treating it more like a
feature instead of a workflow that could
optimize their current operations.
For instance,
what I mean by that is clinics will
say they want to bolt,
they want to put AI onto tiny parts.
They want to maybe get AI call right,
or they want to do billing right,
or they want to do scheduling better, etc.
But they're not thinking of that like
continuity, right?
So when we like to work with clinics,
We understand that the patients,
they don't experience clinics in silos,
right?
So when they do call and if the
AI interaction,
they don't think that was the part of
the AI interaction.
Now,
let me think about the human interaction.
they think about the overall experience of
that practice and sometimes the friction
that lies within when it's not done right.
Where we spend most of our time is
stitching that journey together, right?
So when it's done right,
AI isn't just like answering the phone,
it's actually moving a patient forward
into their system and getting them into
their program
as fast as possible so if they're doing
it right that's how they're doing it
they're optimizing the workflow and
they're thinking of us more as just a
part of their to enhance their operations
not get in the way of their operations
um but not just be a band-aid for
certain little fixes that they want we
could help with anything you want but i
think that's the best way to do it
and that's yeah
Whenever someone's going to adopt
something into their business,
I feel like it rivals the decision-making
process for your kids.
There's got to be an element of trust
there.
What does building trust actually look
like when introducing something as new and
emotionally impactful or emotionally
stirring as AI into something personal
like a clinic?
yeah i mean that's a great question jimmy
i mean trust is so critical in any
relationship whether personal or business
um because we're asking to be part of
their operations we're asking to get into
their system and optimize it and working
it so if you go into there and
just say hey this is ai we're great
we're going to solve all your problems i
think it has the adverse effect and you're
going to lose trust with that right so
um when i look at trust i'd look
at as like three layers into the system
um so for trust it's more first it
comes with staff trust
Right.
So so like if the front desk feels
that in any way this is here to
replace them,
they're going to quietly resist that and
you're not going to get complete buy in.
But if they feel like it's something
that's going to protect their time and
help them work more efficiently,
then they'll be a champion.
Right.
So so first thing is trust with the
with the staff.
The second is patient trust.
If a patient picks up a call and
they feel that it's very robotic or just
leading me in a different place and it's
it's it's not it doesn't seem like it's
part of the culture of that of that
clinic that we're trying to work with.
They're not going to have buy in and
they're not going to have trust as well.
And they might just hang up the phone
and you lose a patient right there.
And the third part of trust,
the third layer, I like to say,
is the most important because it's
operational trust.
Right.
So
Clinics trust what they can measure.
If we work with a system and an
operation sees that AI is consistently
reducing the no-show rate,
it's consistently increasing touches,
and then it's leading to increased
revenue, then adoption is a no-brainer,
and then trust is gained that way.
So those are the three layers of trust
that come with.
But it is a real barrier in getting
it because there's so much noise around AI
right now.
So I go into it understanding that and
totally hearing what they're saying
instead of kicking it.
Don't worry about it.
We're going to be great.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Let me hear about what you think,
your perceptions,
and how can I gain your trust?
So those three ways, you know,
you got to go staff first, patient second,
operations third.
You get those, you're going to get buy-in.
Let's talk about something that, I mean,
I don't know if I heard of this
term three years ago, four years ago,
definitely hadn't, RTM.
You've said it's underutilized.
Why do you think remote therapeutic
monitoring is so underutilized,
especially in the profession of physical
therapy as we record now in twenty twenty
six?
Yeah, another great question, Jim.
I love that question because I have over
twenty years experience working in the PT
space as an athletic trainer.
So I'm constantly thinking of why it's
slow to get adopted by by some PT
clinics or falls off when they do have
it.
I feel it's in like a dangerous middle
ground in health care with RTM
specifically for for PTs.
Everyone agrees it's valuable.
Everyone sees that part of it,
but no one wants to own it operationally,
right?
Because clinicians are focused on visits
and care,
front desk is focused on scheduling,
and then billing is focused on claims and
revenue there.
So RTM lives in between all three of
those, right?
So when it's viewed as extra work,
the buy-in is poor and it often gets
dropped.
So that's where they're getting it wrong
with RTM that I could see right now.
And over at Flagler,
we definitely offer a different way
because in reality,
it's only extra work if the system isn't
doing the heavy lifting, right?
If the platform for RTM isn't identifying
and enrolling those patients, right?
Or the support team or, you know,
It's just not working efficiently.
That's when the buy-in is poor.
So if the AI identifies the candidate and
then our support team reaches out and does
all the work on the back end,
which is our business model,
a little different than most RTMs,
and then we send over the codes,
the only thing that's there is for the
clinic to do is collect newfound revenue
and then increase outcomes.
How about your hot take, right?
Why should clinics not take all the risk
themselves?
You're talking about spreading out and
deferring the risk.
It feels like that's your hot take,
but it actually feels like a safe take.
yeah i if the ar partner isn't willing
to to stand behind outcomes and share the
risk with you and just be a fee
for service sort of a program um the
outcomes are going to lag and and it's
just not going to be as efficient as
it as it needs to be i mean
we partner we take the risk with all
of our clients we grow as you grow
so that's why it's so important
smart and probably is a pretty big step
into building trucks uh how about this
walk us through what done right actually
looks like for rtm in a clinic six
twelve months after it started because i
imagine the transfer period everybody
expects that there's some work involved
but when it's done right what does that
look like or feel like for a clinic
Done right, I mean,
it should feel like a program,
just another service that's getting added
on to your current program as a concierge
sort of a service.
It should feel like the clinic never
forgot about the patient, right?
So it just helps them along their journey.
There's a hundred and sixty eight hours in
a week.
i worked in pt for for a long
time i know that you're lucky if you
get three visits a week usually you get
between one and three and it's for an
hour and you know they they what's
happening in between what's happening in
between the other hundred and sixty
hundred sixty five hours of the week that
the patient's not really getting followed
up with that's where rtm done right really
comes in um
You know, from the patient's perspective,
done right is it's simple.
There's no app to download.
They leave a visit and communication
continues, right?
And it just seems like it's seamless and
it's just, they feel more valued.
That's where it's done right on that side.
So from the patient perspective,
I feel that if you're using an RTM
platform and the first thing you're asking
a patient to do is download an app,
you're ready to find the eight ball a
little bit there.
Another way done right looks great is the
check-ins are based around the care that
the patient's getting.
It shouldn't feel like a survey,
like they're taking a survey.
One to ten,
how do you feel about this,
and check this box, or check this box,
and then check this box.
It should feel more intimate.
It should feel more personal.
And that's where we come in over here
at Flagler is that our software is FDA
approved as a service software as a
service where you don't need to download
an app.
You just need to have one of the
smartphones or a computer and you can
interact with one of our care takers and
get honest feedback in real time.
The another way if it's done right is
you get nudged if you get a patient
who's enrolled,
but they're not really compliant.
You know,
are they giving a little friendly nudge to
the patient just to see what's going on
there so you can report back to the
therapy clinic?
You know, and then behind the scenes,
if it's done right, like I said,
the heavy lifting is done on our part.
We track all the interactions.
If it ties back to billable activity,
we build the codes that are feasible and
can get you the best return on revenue.
And most importantly,
it doesn't rely on someone else to do
it.
We do it for them.
So they can focus on the care.
And then us on the backside,
we focus on bringing in that extra
revenue.
So we want it to be a quiet
revenue engine that also improves
outcomes.
And that's our goal here.
Yeah.
If a clinic owner is listening right now
and still unsure about AI, right?
Maybe they're fearful.
What's one thing they should do next to
move forward without feeling overwhelmed,
without messing things up in their mind?
What's the first step?
I would say, you know, look us up.
Look up Flagler Health, flaglerhealth.io,
or I'm on LinkedIn.
You can come slide into my DMs,
say what's up, ask me a question.
It costs absolutely nothing to get on a
ten to fifteen minute discovery call.
So understand that I get physical therapy
and I get apprehensions to your team and
your workflow.
I get that totally.
So I want to talk to you.
I want to get over any of those
objections you may have.
and maybe build that trust where we could
just grow together.
That's what I say to them.
Yeah.
We'll drop your information in the show
notes below, but Sal,
appreciate you doing this.
Thanks for sort of pulling back the
curtain on these things in healthcare
right now.
Absolutely.
Love to do it.
All right.
Hot take.
What do you got for me, Sal?
What's the hot take that you want to
leave the audience with?
all right well before the hot take jimmy
i just want to first uh as the
kids say today give you your flowers and
as we said back in my day our
day is give you your props i i
really like your show i really enjoy what
you're doing here um and just bringing in
all these different ideas and i i watch
it often on on linkedin and i think
it's just a great job you guys are
doing there not brown nose and the host
i just think you're doing a great job
so i wanted to give you props on
that um
My hot take is basically AI is often
overhyped and underdelivered when the risk
is not shared.
We talked about that before.
So if your AI partner isn't willing to
stand behind outcomes and share the risk
with you, we are.
I would love to chat.
Perfect.
And we'll drop your information,
as I mentioned, in the show notes below.
Sal, appreciate what you're doing.
Thanks for making things that are
confusing and overwhelming clear and
concise and understandable and digestible
as we sort of proceed into this new
world that we're in.
Yeah, absolutely.
Let's go.
Thanks, Jimmy.
That's it for this one,
but we're just getting warmed up.
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And legally, none of this was advice.
It's for entertainment purposes only.
Bullshit!
See, Keith?
We read the script.
Happy now?