It took more than a background in medicine for Dr. Shawn Riester’s physical therapy practice in Williamsville to be successful. The University at Buffalo graduate needed an eye for business, leadership, and an entrepreneurial spirit to launch his own PT startup.
That was seven years ago. And now as Riester Physical Therapy Services sets to add its ninth therapist to the practice in 2018, Riester is taking his experience in medicine and combining it with business skills gained in the UB Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership course to build a growing business specializing in individualized rehabilitation and physical therapy services.
January and February, Riester says, are the company’s busiest months. Why? Think dozens of runners, weight lifters, spinners, and novice yogis who have spent one too many months on the couch in the fall, all ready to make a health push as part of their New Year’s resolution.
Day one and two of a new exercise plan feel great, Riester says. But it’s important to give the body time to recover and adapt to a new regiment to avoid getting hurt.
“It’s important to start off understanding that you need to have a plan for how you want to do things," Riester advises. "That plan has to incorporate periods of rest and recovery. It’s a common mistake. Two days of running, strength work, yoga. Well, what if running four days would be better? It's not. You’re taking up rest and recovery. All good things that happen to us, happen during rest period.”
Riester took on a monumental challenge when he started his practice in 2010. Buffalo, he says, has some of the lowest reimbursement rates for physical therapists in the country, which forces them to see a high volume of patients per hour. It means juggling multiple clients with different needs at once, and Riester wanted to find a different business model that allows for more personalized care.
At Riester PT Services, the focus is on patient care. Using efficiencies in a strong team setting and relying on data science for treatment, Riester physical therapists are less likely to face burnout while producing better results, he says.
“I was told early on this would never work. We’ve created a model that works really well. Patients get way more attention, but we haven't done a good job of marketing it,” he says.
And with a highlighted awareness of the risk of opioids in pain management, Riester adds, doctors are finding that physical therapy is often safer and more effective. This means it’s as important as ever for those who are hurt to have access to quality PT care.
Riester built his company through “bootstrap” business practices. He didn’t borrow money. Instead, he worked nights, taught classes at UB, and found ways to save by sharing studio space with a friend or working per diem with other practices.
As clients begin to flood Riester Physical Therapy Services this winter, Dr. Riester says many of the injuries will come from overuse, frequently by people in the 30s age range trying to work out the same way they did when they were in their 20s.
Within the first few weeks of a new workout plan, muscles will thicken and adapt. It’s the joints and ligaments that take longer to strengthen. An overreliance on weight machines, Riester cautions, won’t work stability muscles, which can lead to injury, as well.
He also warns against looking at a routine or diet that worked for someone else and expecting the exact same result. The best, most sustainable success stories, Riester says, are the ones where individuals reach their own goals at their own pace.
“The recommendation is, doing something to start is a great move. We would rather have people exercising. Even a little is better than sitting on couch,” Riester says. “Being strong is a good defense against being injured, no matter what age." But he emphasizes that people should be smart about how much they move at first.
"If you’re injured, all that will do is it will slow you down from reaching your goals.”