December 2016 | Business View Magazine

38 39 the continuum of healthcare. So, we’re now targeting ENTs; otolaryngologists are the number one target market, and then PT conversions follow as the secondary.” BVM: How do you vet your franchisees? And then, once you have decided that they are potentially good prospects, how do you train and support them? DiMauro: “In terms of vetting, it’s very different based on both target demographics. The way that we vet PTs is vastly different from otolaryngologists. I’ll start with the ENTS – that’s what we call them, for short. Otolaryngologists are in the top one percent in terms of difficulty to become that type of specialist as a physician. We already know they are, very clearly, able to operate a medical practice and have no con- cerns with the patient care aspect. So, the vetting comes more on the business side: ‘What type of manager are you? What type of capital do you have available? Do you have enough space to be able to build a balance center? To this day, we have not run into an otolaryngologist that has not qualified. Otolaryngologists make a very good living as surgeons; so typically, there are no capital restraints with ENTS, whatsoev- er. The only challenge that we come across, from time to time, is space. So the opportunity may warrant moving an entire practice into a larger building to accommodate a balance center. To sum up our vetting process for ENTs: they must be a private practice and not owned by a hospital. “For PTs, it’s a little bit different. We target successful phys- ical therapists that are seeking a way to differentiate them- selves from the competition - hospitals and the large, regional players - while remaining independent. So, we are looking for those PTs with multiple locations, first – two, three, four, FYZICAL THERAPY AND BALANCE CENTERS or five-plus locations that, when adding balance and other products and services to their therapy practices, their reve- nue will continue to skyrocket. So, capital requirements are necessary; space isn’t an issue because they’re already in physical therapy; the business side of things is not an issue because that’s why we exist. So, our vetting process pretty much comes down to capital and background checks: ‘Do you have the necessary capital to implement the program that we have? ‘Do you have a team that can implement what we can offer you?’ ‘Are you willing to do the work to implement the FYZICAL system?’” BVM: When you award a franchise to an otolaryngologist, where do they get their physical therapy personnel? DiMauro: “When they add a balance center to their practice, one of the main benefits is that they’re able to leverage the same administrative staff they already have in-house – the same receptionist, the same billing and collection team, etc. They will need to hire a physical therapist. We walk them through how to do that, from where to put the job posting, what questions to ask on the interview, how to compensate this person, how to manage this person – all the way through. Now, on FYZICAL.com , we receive a tremendous amount of résumés. We’re sitting on over a thousand, right now.” BVM: Do you then train then those physical therapists in your own systems? DiMauro: “When it comes to training, the founder of The Werner Institute of Balance, Brian Werner, has been retained as our National Director of Balance. He trains every physical therapist that’s a part of FYZICAL in balance and vestibular to receive their credits, which are called CEUs, for their physical therapy licensure. We have different levels of competency when it comes to clinical balance. Some training is done on- line – we have about 180 different modules where a therapist can get up to speed on Level 1, in a couple of days. But when it comes to getting to Level 2 and Level 3, those training sessions are done in person, onsite, because we are actually treating patients throughout the training.” BVM: Are there any other companies doing what you’re doing? DiMauro: “We don’t have anyone competing in the realm of balance and vestibular therapy. It would take someone two