2025 is my second year picking a “word of the year” for myself and the business.
In 2024 I was pretty aggressive, selecting the word brave. Turns out 2024 needed a powerful word like this, because the highs and lows that 2024 served up were nothing short of extreme.
In 2025, I’ve chosen the word space.
It’s the lens through which I’m making decisions for the clinics, our team and myself this year.
After the year that was 2024, with the purchase, buildout and opening of our beautiful new Madison Park office, this business owner and our team need a little more spaciousness. We gave that project our all, and the result is something we’re very proud of.
And it was intense.
If you’ve had a treatment with one of our physical therapists in the past couple of weeks, they have likely told you they’re using a new scribe tool to assist them with their documentation. This is an incredible example of giving our clients and our team more space.
I’m not exaggerating when I say this tool, called Sidekick, is life changing!
I’ve been a PT for 23 years and yesterday, I spent 55 minutes doing an evaluation and treatment and never touched or looked at my computer. I was able to have eye contact with my patient the whole time.
I delivered more care in the time we had. And when I finished with my patient, I only spent 10-15 minutes to close out the documentation for that visit. I can’t tell you how much this matters when we look at the health and wellbeing of our providers and their ability to provide excellent care to you, too.
When was the last time you had an appointment with a medical provider without a computer in between the two of you? Have you had appointments where the provider barely made eye contact with you?
In medicine, we have to document everything we do, so our laptops have been present in our treatment rooms for at least the last 18-20 years (prior to that, paper charts).
Not only did this completely change the experience for my client and me yesterday, it changed my entire day. It took way less brainpower for me to put my thoughts in writing at the end of the visit, because Sidekick documented everything I did as I progressed through the visit.
That meant I had more energy and brainpower to share with my clients all day long. And with my family when I got home. I felt less drained and I didn’t have documentation hanging over me at the end of the day. Talk about more space!
I can’t describe the joy I felt at the end of the day. I’m not kidding. And so far, the entire team is having similar experiences.
To be clear, we’re all still carrying our laptops around. It’s currently unavoidable. We need to refer to notes from your prior visit to make sure we’re sticking with the plan we created to work toward your goals.
But, we’re typing on them a LOT less, especially during examinations and when we find out how you’re doing at the beginning of each visit. That all equates to us being able to deliver more care each visit and look you in the eye rather than typing as we talk.
Call/text 206-535-7356 or email schedule@elizabethrogerspt.com to schedule time with our team and check out how we have created more space for you!
