The Department of Education’s proposed loan cap changes have sparked strong reactions across healthcare, including within occupational therapy and physical therapy circles.

Much of the conversation has focused on whether these degrees should be classified as “professional degrees” versus “graduate programs.”
But that may be the wrong fight.

In this episode, we zoom out and ask three deeper questions about the economics of certain healthcare education programs— questions that matter far more than federal loan labels.

Whether the DOE calls us “professional” or not doesn’t change the structural issues facing our professions.

What we cover in this episode:
-Why Has the Cost of Healthcare Education Become So Disconnected from Salary?
-The gap between education cost and earning power continues to widen.
-Why Have Clinical Salaries Been Flat (or Declining) in Real Terms?
-How tightening margins have forced productivity demands higher in clinical settings.
-Why we need to focus on making healthcare degrees a valuable financial investment, rather than career fields with negative ROIs

Full episode note: https://rehabupracticesolutions.com/better-outcomes-165

Podcast: https://www.betteroutcomes.show
Get the Book: https://amzn.to/3M2UZ6x
Book a call with me: https://calendly.com/rehabu/discovery
Connect with Me: https://www.rafisalazar.com

If you'd like to learn more about Strata EMR & RCM and achieving a 99.99% reimbursement rate for your PT, OT, or SLP Clinic head over to stratapt.com and book a demo with their team!

RTM & Virtual Service Delivery Isn’t a Billing Add-On — It’s the Future of Healthcare Delivery

In this episode, I break down one of the biggest misconceptions in modern rehab: the idea that Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) and virtual service delivery is just a billing perk, a revenue booster, or a marketing gimmick. It’s not. RTM and virtual services represent the next era of healthcare delivery— a shift toward hybrid, patient-centered, digitally augmented care that extends the clinician’s impact far beyond the clinic walls.

In this episode, I explain why RTM and virtual matters, how it’s changing the role of clinicians, why patients now expect hybrid models, and why CMS is actively incentivizing it. If you’re a clinician, clinic owner, healthcare leader, or digital health innovator, this episode will challenge the way you think about care delivery.

What we cover in this Episode:

-Why RTM is NOT just a revenue strategy
-The shift towards hybrid care
-What today's patients expect from their care
-How virtual healthcare & RTM elevate clinicians into their highest-value roles
-Why CMS is incentivizing services like RTM and what it signals

Full episode note: https://rehabupracticesolutions.com/better-outcomes-164

Podcast: https://www.betteroutcomes.show
Get the Book: https://amzn.to/3M2UZ6x
Book a call with me: https://calendly.com/rehabu/discovery
Connect with Me: https://www.rafisalazar.com

If you'd like to learn more about Strata EMR & RCM and achieving a 99.99% reimbursement rate for your PT, OT, or SLP Clinic head over to stratapt.com and book a demo with their team!

How do you actually get better — as a clinician, a business owner, or a leader? It’s not more school, another certification, or reading one more article. It’s reps.

In this episode, I break down the single biggest piece of advice I give new clinicians (and anyone moving into leadership or entrepreneurship): your education is just your ticket to play — expertise comes from getting reps.

We’ll explore:

Why formal education is only the starting line, not the finish line

How repeated exposure to patient cases sharpens pattern recognition and clinical decision-making

What it really means to turn experience into wisdom through reflection

Why this “reps + reflection” framework applies equally to business and leadership — hiring, marketing, launching new services

Practical ways to accelerate growth in any career path without waiting years for confidence to catch up

Why This Matters

Confidence isn’t built in a classroom — it’s built in the field, one decision at a time.

Business & leadership skills develop the same way as clinical ones — through lived experience and iteration.

If you’re feeling “stuck” or unsure, the solution isn’t another credential — it’s getting in the game and stacking reps.

Listen to the Episode to Hear …

How to intentionally extract lessons from each patient, project, or business challenge

Personal stories from my early days as a clinician and later as an entrepreneur

Simple strategies to speed up growth without burning out — journaling, mentorship, and deliberate practice

Encouragement to stop waiting for perfection and just start doing the work

Full episode note: https://rehabupracticesolutions.com/better-outcomes-163

Podcast: https://www.betteroutcomes.show
Get the Book: https://amzn.to/3M2UZ6x
Book a call with me: https://calendly.com/rehabu/discovery
Connect with Me: https://www.rafisalazar.com

If you'd like to learn more about Strata EMR & RCM and achieving a 99.99% reimbursement rate for your PT, OT, or SLP Clinic head over to stratapt.com and book a demo with their team!