If you've ever experienced a health care service in which you've been prescribed a treatment plan involving multiple treatment sessions per week for weeks on end then you are probably a victim of having your pain commodotised. If you've ever recieved treatment in a health care clinic where you are getting the same treatment as everyone else then you are the victim of having your pain commodotised. If you've ever been to a clinic where your treatment is 5-10 minutes long and is more or less the same every single time then you are the victim of having your pain commodotised. This is not ok! You deserve better and the alarms need to be sounded!

In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, the prioritization of profit over patient care is a troubling trend that has seeped into various sectors, including allied health and physiotherapy clinics. While these clinics are intended to be sanctuaries of healing and relief, some have transformed the experience of pain into a commodity, where Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) reign supreme, often at the expense of meaningful patient outcomes.

Gone are the days when healthcare was solely about providing compassionate care and improving the well-being of patients. In today's hyper-competitive market, many clinics are pressured to meet financial targets and operational metrics, often overshadowing the true essence of healthcare: healing. Whilst this is, in large part, an unavoidable consequence of owning and operating a business in a time of rising costs of living, rising rent and increased costs for products, it is exaccerbated by the very people who business owners turn to for help; business coaches. Many business coaches in the allied health space are pushing business owners to 'productise' their services and to create treatment plan frameworks so that they can budget and make projections based on varying numbers of new versus existing patients.

One of the most evident manifestations of this phenomenon is the commodification of pain. Patients are no longer viewed solely as individuals seeking relief and restoration; instead, they are seen as revenue streams and statistical data points. This shift in perspective has led to the prioritization of treatments that yield quick but temporary results, rather than focusing on solutions that address the root causes of pain and injury and leave the patient better than they were before they developed their pain.

In this profit-driven paradigm, allied health and physiotherapy clinics are incentivized to maximize patient turnover and billable services, often resorting to cookie-cutter treatment plans that prioritize efficiency over efficacy. Patients may find themselves shuttled through a conveyor belt of appointments, subjected to standardized protocols that fail to consider their unique needs and circumstances.

Moreover, the prevalence of performance metrics, such as patient satisfaction scores and treatment success rates, further exacerbates this issue. Clinics are under immense pressure to maintain high ratings and meet predetermined benchmarks, which can lead their staff and practitioners to have a distortion of priorities. Instead of focusing on genuine patient care and achieving meaningful outcomes, practitioners may resort to practices aimed at appeasing metrics, such as overprescribing treatments, underprescribing or underdosing exercise or prematurely letting patients go who they may have more difficulty getting a good outcome with.

The consequences of this commodification extend beyond individual patient experiences and permeate the fabric of healthcare as a whole. When profit becomes the primary driver of clinical decision-making, ethical considerations may take a backseat, potentially compromising the quality of care and eroding trust between patients and providers. Many patients we come across have had multiple negative experiences in various health care sectors; each one making them more gun-shy and hesitant about seeking help in the future.

Moreover, the relentless pursuit of KPIs can contribute to a culture of burnout among healthcare professionals, who may feel pressured to prioritize productivity over self-care and professional fulfillment. This not only jeopardizes the well-being of practitioners but also undermines their ability to deliver compassionate, patient-centered care. There is a harsh reality for allied health workers which shows that 80% of new graduates will have left the industry within 5 years. It is often said that this is because of the physical toll of the type of work they do. However, I'd hedge my bets and say that many of these practitioners felt they were asked to be more like sales people than clinicians and got burnt out because the industry wasn't what they thought it was.

Ultimately, the transformation of pain into a commodity and the prevalence of KPI-driven business models in allied health and physiotherapy clinics underscore the need for a paradigm shift in healthcare delivery. By recentering our focus on the fundamental principles of compassion, integrity, and patient empowerment, we can cultivate a healthcare ecosystem that truly prioritizes healing and human flourishing. Then the KPI's can be a measure that reflects our abilities, skills and outcomes rather than targets for clinicians to aim for.

What have your experiences been? Do you feel you've been taking advantage of by businesses who prioritise profits over outcomes?