Join us in welcoming Joe Valdez to the Therapist Acquisition team! Not just dedicated to patient care, he's also on a mission to bring fellow physical therapists onto the Luna platform.
Let’s dive deeper into his journey and how he's making a difference in the world of physical therapy and Luna's growing network.
Q. What initially attracted you to Luna, and when did you join as a therapist?
I came across Luna about a year and a half into my career, and I thought it was a great setup. It was the same type of patients I would see working in a busy, outpatient clinic, but it involved more one-on-one treatment times and flexibility — which is something that you don’t get in a traditional physical therapy setting. Your days are set and often involve working really early to really late hours. The flexibility, one-on-one time, and streamlined documentation with a voice-to-text option seemed too good to be true.
I didn’t jump in full-time; I started it on the side as a supplement, and I found it really is a game-changer. Healthcare isn’t really known for being high-tech or advanced in its ability to streamline with technology, so that’s what Luna has done really well. Luna makes treatment for PTs less stressful and more fulfilling.
Q. What motivated you to become more involved with Luna and switch from your traditional therapist role into this new role in Therapist Acquisition?
The biggest thing for me was the scalable impact. In a traditional PT role, you impact patient lives within your community. With Luna growing, and my belief that outpatient therapy should be headed toward the Luna model, I felt like I could make a bigger impact on a national level and potentially help others avoid the burnout and frustrations involved in the traditional clinic setting.
From a career standpoint, [working in the Therapist Acquisition team] is opening doors and developing skill sets that I wouldn’t otherwise get to develop. It’s a great role to be in, especially with how fast Luna is growing and how much I know about the platform. It’s a concept and company that I really believe in, and I still do some Luna visits on the side to keep up my clinical skills.
Q. Can you share your personal perspective on how your new role empowers you to expand access to care through Luna’s model?
In the Therapist Acquisition team, my goal is to do outreach to PTs in different markets, but it’s really a variable role, making connections with people. Just in the past month and a half, we’ve had substantial growth in the company with new partnerships developing and regions expanding. Just in my personal experience, I’m surprised at how many therapists didn’t even know this model existed.
Bringing to light the benefits — like one-on-one time with their patients, dramatically reduced documentation time, flexibility, and complete control and autonomy over their schedules — is empowering, because just having that information is transformational in their careers. It’s fun seeing people get excited about this model of care and wanting to jump on board —that’s really rewarding.
Q. How does educating physical therapists about the Luna platform impact both the therapist and their patients?
When the therapist understands there is a better way to give treatment and deliver higher-quality care, that not only benefits the patient but also benefits themselves because of the flexibility and pay potential.
My complete interactions are with PTs, but by educating them and showing them this model of care, they will directly affect the patients in the markets they are working in. Even though I’m not directly speaking with patients in my current role, with each physical therapist I talk to, the reach for positively affecting their patients and patient outcomes scales from there.
Q. Why do you love working at Luna and are truly passionate about what you do?
The biggest things I love about Luna are the values and mission. When you think about the millions of people who deal with musculoskeletal pain every year, the fact that we can make an impact on all of those people in a way that eliminates burnout while making it fun and easy is a huge win! That really drives me to help Luna grow and expand access to patients everywhere.
The sky's the limit for Luna, and this model of care opens up many avenues in terms of continuing education, scaling, and other areas of healthcare. There’s just so much untapped potential.
Luna’s in-home outpatient practice offers incredible value to physical therapists and an even bigger impact on patient outcomes. Contact us to learn more and discover how Luna can transform your career.
