When Bad Guys Drive Growth
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[00:00:00] No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's a word that does not get used enough in my home. ~Uh,~ largely in part because ~my, just,~ my wife just finds it hard to, ~to~ say no to my son. ~Um,~ but also ~'cause like~ my, ~my~ son throws a lot of tantrums and he knows he can get away with a lot. ~Uh,~ if he, ~if he~ goes to.
My wife for anything. So, ~uh,~ in the mornings he will say, I want chocolate milk. I mean, this is ~like~ for breakfast. He'll want a bowl of cereal. It has to be poured by her. ~Um,~ it has to be full, ~like~ filled to the brim, and he has to have two spoons. To eat the cereal. I don't know why, but he only uses one.
It's not ~like~ he's ~like~ using left and right hand, but he uses two spoons and he wants his, he wants his chocolate milk, he wants water. And if I'm around, he's gonna want to drink my orange juice. Right. And if he doesn't get any of these things, then he freaks out. And I [00:01:00] think this is because we have said yes to a lot of things and, ~uh,~ we're still saying yes to, ~to~ many things.
~Uh,~ but one thing I have to put my foot down with, ~um,~ Orson loves his snacks. And so let's say he wants Bombas, you know, these ~is like~ these peanut butter cup puffs. And my wife is ~like,~ Hey, in order to eat the Bombas, you need to eat your, ~your~ lunch or dinner. And he says, no, I want, you know, he has this fit.
And my wife says, okay, all right. If you eat just one chicken, I'll give you ~like~ five bombass. I'm ~like,~ what? ~Like~ you could say no to him. And in fact, it's, ~it's~ very, very healthy for you to say no to him. ~Um,~ you know, it's super healthy to have these sort of boundaries and, you know, have him work for, ~for, for~ these things.
And it got me thinking about some actors who, ~uh,~ will, ~will~ purposefully, ~uh,~ take on these villainous roles, ~uh,~ in order to, in a way ~like, like~ increase ~like~ their, ~their~ working [00:02:00] contract or their, ~um.~ Yeah, I, ~I~ guess that's it. ~Like~ their, ~their~ ability to work. 'cause with the villainous world, you know, there's always the, ~the~ character arc, you know, is there ever a redemption story?
You know, do, ~do~ they ever, you know, switch sides if you will become ~like~ a good guy or even ~like~ a neutral character, you know, any of this stuff. But it, ~it~ gives them ~like~ more of a dynamic role and. If I'm looking at it that way, it's kind of ~like~ they, ~they~ need to be the bad guy in order to make it work, right?
Or to, ~to~ make their career whatever work. And as a healthcare professional, when I look at the, ~the~ bad guys and, ~and~ the healthcare industry, by and large, I'm thinking insurance companies. And I, ~I~ think it's so easy to point the finger at the insurance company and say, yep, you guys are the bad guy. And many times they, ~they~ are.
~Um,~ but I ~I,~ if I'm looking at things from, ~from~ the same lens, you know, there needs to be a bad guy. I can see where [00:03:00] insurance may have a, ~a~ good place. They say no to a lot of things. ~Um,~ speaking as a, ~as a~ physical therapist, I've, ~I've, I've~ seen them, I've experienced them just cutting people off from physical therapy and, ~um,~ they're telling their, ~their.~
Members, Hey, sorry, but figure it out. You know, ~uh,~ when I, ~uh,~ submit for authorization, ~uh,~ they'll tell me, look, this person gets 12, ~12~ visits. Use them as much as you can within say, ~like~ the next 12 weeks. And I, ~I~ think there is this sort of idea from patients where therapy is kind of open-ended. That it's perpetual and they can always come in.
It's, ~it's~ just not true. You know, my, ~my~ one 20 slot, ~um,~ is, ~is~ given to you for now. ~Uh,~ but someone else wants that slot because someone else is gonna get injured. I don't know who or when, ~uh,~ but someone else is gonna get injured and they're gonna want to come in as well, and I, ~I'm~ gonna need [00:04:00] to treat them so.
By giving us a restricted amount of visits as well as this time constraint, ~uh,~ to get as much done as we can. They are telling us, no, this is all you get. And that forces definitely, you know, me as a PT to be as efficient as I possibly can, and I would hope. ~Um,~ but I have, I've not seen across the board from so many patients is, you know, that, ~that, that~ will put the fire underneath their feet and do as much as they possibly can to get themselves better.
That is, you know, once they hear, wait, they only gave me three, ~three~ sessions to use within ~like~ the next month, then okay, ~like,~ what, ~what~ are the biggest high leverage? You know, what, ~what's~ the highest ROI return on investment that we can get from any of these sessions? And instead, you know, I hear people wanting, try to get more, you know, submit for more [00:05:00] or, you know, they, ~they~ just.
They go along with and say, darn it, you know, blink and blank. Healthcare sucks. And you know, I ~I I, I, I~ do think at least in this regard, that healthcare insurance is ~like,~ yeah, they are the bad guy, but they are needed. 'cause otherwise I would be overworked. I'd never discharge anyone. ~Um,~ and I, well, I, ~I~ would still be underpaid, but I, ~I,~ of course, I love doing what I do, but if I'm doing the same thing and we're not getting any results because no one's taking the, ~the~ condition or, you know, getting better seriously, then what else is there to do?
So healthcare or health insurance. Yes, it's, you know, health insurance. They, ~they~ are villains, but, ~uh,~ they are needed. They are needed. So I hope that that gives you a new perspective on the bad guy, and I do hope that that puts some fire underneath your, underneath their [00:06:00] feet. Do as much as you can, get better and be your own hero.
I'll see you on the next one.
