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March 10, 2025 13 mins

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Dr. Dan takes us on a fascinating journey through his transformation from burned-out healthcare employee to successful physical therapy practice owner. After graduating during the height of the COVID pandemic, he experienced firsthand how the corporate medical system often prioritizes volume over quality, creating a hierarchy where patients receive "the least benefit out of the care they're receiving." This realization sparked his entrepreneurial journey with New Horizons Physical Therapy.

What sets Dr. Dan's approach apart is his detective-like methodology for solving persistent pain problems. Many of his patients come after being "chewed up and spit out by the medical system," dealing with injuries for months or even years. Rather than focusing solely on exercise, he investigates what patients are doing during "the 23 other hours" of their day. "If exercise alone is the solution, why are you still in pain?" he challenges, explaining how small behavioral modifications lead to incremental improvements. This holistic perspective acknowledges both the physical and psychological components of rehabilitation, emphasizing that the provider-patient relationship significantly impacts outcomes.

The conversation explores trending topics in healthcare, including the rise of cash-based practices that prioritize quality care over insurance constraints. Dr. Dan shares valuable entrepreneurial wisdom about building meaningful relationships and the principle that you must "give, give, give before you can receive." His patient success story—helping someone recover from a hip fracture in time for a family vacation—perfectly illustrates the profound impact personalized care can have on restoring not just physical function but life experiences. Whether you're dealing with persistent pain, considering a career in physical therapy, or building your own business, this episode offers invaluable insights into creating meaningful impact through patient-centered care.

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, welcome back everybody.
I am excited to be joined withDr Dan.
He owns New Horizons PhysicalTherapy.
We've got another great showfor you guys, and before we
start I just want to say goodafternoon, dr Dan.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
How are you?
I'm good?
Thanks for having me onno-transcript.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
Please feel free to subscribe.
Give us a comment.
You know kind of share whatyou've learned from this episode
as well.
So, with that being said, let'sgo ahead and jump in.
Dr Dan, tell our listeners, ifyou don't mind, share with our
listeners a little bit aboutyour background.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, so I've been a physical therapist for five
years now.
I've been in private practicefor almost three years now.
So I'm a UCF graduate.
I went there for my bachelor'sand for my doctorate and then
graduated in COVID.
It was 2020, the thick of itreally and I always had my heart
set on leaving Florida.
But it didn't make sense at thetime to leave Florida.
So I took a job and the jobswere sparse at that time because

(01:32):
of COVID and eventually Ilanded a gig with an outpatient
clinic through Orlando Health.
And this is not unique tophysical therapy alone, but the
burnout rate when it comes tohealthcare, you get stuck in a
position where you're justoverworked and you're surrounded
by co-workers that areoverworked.
And it kind of led me down thepath of starting my own business

(01:53):
.
And you know I started as aside hustle.
You know I was doing 100%mobile, seeing patients in my
off hours, driving to theirhouse, evenings, weekends and
then it just kind of grewEventually.
Eventually I was able to moveinto an office and now kind of
full-time my business.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
I love that and you know the transition of what you
said going from corporateAmerica, if you will, to
starting your own business thattransition.
Tell us a little bit about thattransition for our listeners
yeah, I mean, it's completelydifferent.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
Obviously there is burnout as an entrepreneur as
well, like that you.
It's not isolated to justworking in a court atmosphere.
But I would say when I wasworking for Orlando Health, it
was very, very regimented as faras you know, getting patients
in, getting patients out andkind of keeping the revolving
door going.
You know, now that I have myown practice, you know

(02:43):
everything is done on my termsand the patient's terms and you
know it's more of acollaborative process to get
them better rather than havingoversight by.
You know, people who don't evenknow their name and you know
it's just like top down approachwhere, like you know, the
person at the top of thecorporate realm is, you know,
getting the most benefit andthen everything kind of gets
squeezed down to the bottom.

(03:04):
And who's at the bottom?
It's me, and then below me isthe patient.
So they're they're getting theleast benefit out of the care
they're receiving.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
And I think, if I hear you correctly, you're
building more of a relationshipthrough your business practices
compared to corporate Americawhere, like you mentioned, it's
kind of, you know, bring theclient in and move on without
really getting to know them on aone on one basis, right?

Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yeah for sure.
Everything I do is one on oneand in physical therapy that's
that's not, that's not common,like a lot of clinics.
You know they're stacking theschedule three to four patients
an hour per therapist and youknow you really can't develop
that alliance and thatrelationship, which is a huge
part of helping someone rehab aninjury.
I mean there's a psychologicalcomponent to it as well.

(03:52):
And if you don't like yourhealthcare provider, it's like
are you going to actually beaccountable with the things they
tell you to do?
Are you going to show up forappointments and are you going
to follow the plan of care allthe way through?
Not if you don't like theperson.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
Exactly so when you're talking about rehabbing a
client, or a patient, if youwill, what does that look like,
you know, to someone who'slistening?

Speaker 2 (04:17):
yeah.
So a lot of my patients likeI'm not first resort, like they
they've been chewed up and spitout by the medical system a lot
of the time and a lot of themhave tried physical therapy
elsewhere before um, so they'vebeen dealing with their injury
for months, if not years, and alot of times it comes down to
figuring out not only like, whatare their impairments when it

(04:39):
comes to, like, their mobilityand their strength, but also
figuring out like, what are thethings that they're doing on an
everyday, like on their 24 hourclock, what are the things
they're doing that arecontributing to, you know, their
pain?
Because a lot of times, like mypatients are pretty active.
I see a lot of people that goto the gym, do group fitness
classes or are involved in sometype of sport.
So I usually tell them, like,if exercise alone is the

(05:01):
solution, why are you still inpain?
Because other things that aregoing on the 23 other hours of
the things that we need totemporarily change, modify these
behaviors, these habits, sothat we can slowly start getting
these small wins back, so thatyou're less bad, you're less bad

(05:21):
, you're less bad until you'rebetter.
It's not a quick fix.
True, rehab is not a quick fix.
I don't think quick fixesreally exist.
Band-aids exists, but Iwouldn't say that anything that
you know is worth having takestime and dedication, and you
know accountability anddiscipline to actually get there
.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
I agree with you.
And then I like the word whichyou use in terms of Dr Dan
detective, the word detective.
You're kind of like SherlockHolmes, you know You're kind of
doing that research with yourpatient to kind of really hone
in on what the issues arecorrect.
Yeah, that's the bottom line.

(06:00):
You know, when I was looking atyour website, I know you do
physical therapy, you offersports massage, you offer
cupping and dry kneading.
Can you define cupping?
What is that?

Speaker 2 (06:13):
So cupping is a modality where, um, I got really
popular during the.
I think it was like the 2016olympics when michael phelps
kind of was in the pool andeveryone saw those red dots on
his back um, so those are fromcupping.
So it's a type of therapy wherethese little suction cups and
it can be done, um, in differentmanners there can.

(06:34):
It can be done with fire, itcan be done with just manners,
it can be done with fire, it canbe done with just suction but
essentially you're creatingnegative pressure underneath
this cup and it creates a vacuumon the skin.
And then what it does is itkind of lifts up the soft tissue
underneath.
So, in theory, what it does issupposed to allow for better
circulation, which can bring allthe good inflammatory cells to

(06:54):
that area and kind of drive outwhatever is kind of lingering in
that area.
And that's in theory.
So I always set expectationswhen it comes to any kind of
manual therapy or any kind ofthing where I'm using my hands.
I tell people that all thisstuff is kind of theorized.
What it's actually doing andwhat the research supports is
more so.
I don't know if I don't know ifyou've ever experienced this,

(07:16):
but like, say, you stub your toeon something really hard and
then you go rub your knee, youknow you get distracted from
that toe pain.
That's kind of how manualtherapy works, whether it be
cupping, acupuncture, massage,like it's providing your nervous
system with a temporarydistraction, so to speak, so
that all these signals fromthese different pressure

(07:38):
receptors or vibration receptors, they're overriding the pain
receptors temporarily.

Speaker 1 (07:44):
Yeah, that's interesting.
I would have never known that.
You know there are listenersthat are going through, you know
, wanting to know how to do somepreventive maintenance.
Any tips on that that you cangive any of our?

Speaker 2 (08:01):
listeners.
Yeah, I would say.
I mean, in this country we havea low back pain epidemic just
because the amount of timepeople spend sitting at their
jobs.
A lot of people have sedentarydesk work and you know there's
nothing wrong with sitting, butif you're sitting for eight
hours a day and really nottaking breaks or you know,
utilizing a standing desk, yeah,I would say.

(08:22):
Now that I'm talking aboutstanding desk, I would say
everyone should invest in astanding desk.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
Yeah, I do actually have one as well that I'm
speaking to you from right nowthat I can.
I can stand up and you knowjust kind of stretch, and I can
stand up and just kind ofstretch because it's so
important to do that for yourbones and for flexibility, and
of course, you know all this aswell.
So are there any types oftrends that are shaping your
industry?

Speaker 2 (08:48):
Yeah, I mean I think to healthcare in general, I
think the whole paying out ofpocket for a higher quality
service.
So I have a performance cashbased physical therapy practice.
I'm out of network with mostcommercial insurances.

(09:12):
insurance provides and you knowthat's coming into more to light
into in the news, more likemore recently.
Um, I think more people arejust appreciating the fact that,
like you can, you can decidewhat cert, what you know, what
service you get and you're notlocked into what the insurance
company kind of tells you youhave to go through and what your
doctor prescribes to you.
Um, so I think that paying outof pocket for a higher quality

(09:34):
service more and more people arelearning that's a possibility,
but there's still a lot of workto be done with educating the
public.

Speaker 1 (09:42):
That's interesting too, and it seems like the
industry in general not yours,but the medical industry in
general there's a lot that aregoing towards, just, you know,
stepping away from that practicecorrect and doing it on your
own, which is interesting.
You know we do have listenershere that are listening and you

(10:03):
know they're aspiring to beentrepreneurs.
Maybe they are business ownersright now, kind of struggling
and trying to figure out, youknow, how to get over that hump.
You know, from a positivestandpoint, anything that you
can share with them, maybe oneor two tips that you can share
with them.

Speaker 2 (10:20):
Yeah, I mean, it's all about relationships.
You know you have to plantseeds and you know nurture them
and water them frequently, andit's about quality over quantity
.
And that's a mistake I madeearly on.
I think I was just trying tobuild volume of relationships
without realizing that, like,not everyone is going to be a
good partner for my business andyou've got to find the people

(10:43):
that really support your visionand that you can support their
vision as well and have kind ofthat giver's gain mentality.
But, yeah, got to get out thereand build relationships, put
yourself in uncomfortablesituations because of like for
someone who's introverted likeme.
You know, like networking wasnot something I was doing before
and I think that being anentrepreneur over the past three

(11:04):
years has completely changed mypersonal life and my
professional life as to who I amas a person and my character.
But, yeah, got to go out andbuild relationships and don't
expect anything in return.
You know you got to give, give,give before you can receive.

Speaker 1 (11:18):
Receive.
Very good, I like that you gotto give, give, give before you
can receive.
I want to kind of share, wantyou to share a story of a
patient and don't you don'tdon't say the name, yeah, but a
patient that recalls like top ofmind that you was so excited
about the treatment that youprovided for them yeah, um.

Speaker 2 (11:41):
So I treated someone last year.
Um, this patient had fracturedher hip, um, and she was.
She was actually just visitingamerica from another country
because she was visiting herfamily and her grandchildren and
they had planned a vacationthat they were going to go on a
couple of months from when thehip fracture had happened and it

(12:01):
was already planned and thiswas like a giant wrench in their
plan.
And I saw her first at home fora couple of visits until she was
able to come to the clinic.
Um, I saw her first at home fora couple of visits until she
was able to come to the clinicand she was in better shape
after the treatment than she wasbefore.
Like she learned a bunch ofexercise that she's going to be
implementing when she goes backhome.
And, um, she was able to go onvacation and, you know, go up

(12:25):
and down stairs and go on allthese hikes with her family.
And they thought that was notgoing to be possible, like they
were trying to find a way tostill go on the vacation, but
maybe not being able to modifythings so it better fits her.
But they were able to doeverything they planned.

Speaker 1 (12:39):
That's got to make you feel great, don't it?
You can tell, I mean, becausethat story just came right out
of you.
So you remember and you kind ofput yourself back in that
situation.
I could tell.
You kind of put yourself backin that situation, I could tell,
and just you know, hearing thatcan inspire others to say, hey,
what you do really, you know,helps people, which is great.

(13:00):
So, as we wrap up here, can youprovide our listeners a phone
number as well as a website toget a hold of you?

Speaker 2 (13:07):
Yeah, so the phone number is 407-708-9918.
And then the website is NewHorizons Rehabilitation.
So the practice's name is NewHorizons Physical Therapy, but
the website isNewHorizonsRehabilitationcom.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
Dr Dan, thank you so much for providing valuable
insight, you know, for ourlisteners about your business
and we're so excited and, youknow, wish you much success,
continued success in the in thefuture.
Thank you.
Thanks for having me on.
You're very welcome.
Thank you for tuning in toFirst Media Consulting Podcast.
If you enjoyed the podcast,subscribe today To nominate a

(13:47):
business you would like torecommend to be on our show.
Go to firstmediaconsultingcomor call.
Thank you for listening.
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