Physical therapist Heidi Jannenga was in her third year of college as a pre-med student when a sudden knee injury changed her career trajectory. Her physical therapist could treat a possibly torn ACL (diagnosis was inconclusive) and get Jannenga back to running with a brace in six weeks.
Jannenga was fascinated. She changed her major and pursued physical therapy as an undergrad, and went on to earn her Masters in Physical Therapy at the University of St. Augustine and then her doctorate from Evidence in Motion. Her career started with her work as a sports medicine specialist, and she quickly moved up the ranks to clinic director of a large, multi-clinic practice in Arizona.
In addition, Jannenga is the co-founder of WebPT (a prominent rehab therapy software platform), leading her company as a dedicated visionary. She desires that opportunities for patients and physical therapists alike increase and become more notable.
The Beginnings of Transformation
As a clinic director, Jannenga realized the most significant expenses were in transcriptions for records. User-friendly and professional electronic records for physical therapists were practically nonexistent, so Jannenga partnered with a software engineer to develop software that would help with patient records and processing.
Feedback from her colleagues prompted Jannenga to think about extending the software to other physical therapy practices. Aftermarket research indicated a strong need for this system; she co-launched WebPT in early 2008. WebPT serves physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists. From there, WebPT has grown to have just under 40% of the outpatient rehab therapy market share.
Real Community Change
Jannenga continues to innovate with WebPT, helping more practices become paperless with web-based technology that addresses all of their business needs, and thus, help them become more eco-friendly. There have also been critical internal changes to protect the diversity and creative expression of employees.
WebPT has begun to expand its options for working at home to help its employees have more control over their work hours. They have also put a particular focus on diversity and inclusion within their company and seek equitable treatment opportunities for the communities they serve.
By creating an internally strong culture, WebPT can better serve its community of rehab therapists. “Our mission is to empower therapists to achieve greatness in practice,” Jannenga said.
On reflection of how far WebPT has come, Jannenga is excited about the innovative work and disruptionthey have been able to have.
“This business has blossomed into an amazing opportunity to impact so many people—therapists and patients—for the better,” Jannenga said. “It’s an awesome responsibility, and the joy that it continues to bring me inspires me to work to better the lives of so many others.”
If you would like to learn more about PT Heidi Jannenga and WebPT, you can find them here.
