Interview with Peter Johnson Ph.D., CCC-SLP
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Beck: Good morning Peter, thanks for joining me today.Johnson:Hi Doug. Thanks for the invitation.Beck:Peter, if you don't mind, before we start discussing the book, would you tell me where you earned your master's and your doctorate?Johnson:Sure, Doug. I earned my master's and my doctorate from the
Beck: Good morning Peter, thanks for joining me today.
Johnson:Hi Doug. Thanks for the invitation.
Beck:Peter, if you don't mind, before we start discussing the book, would you tell me where you earned your master's and your doctorate?
Johnson:Sure, Doug. I earned my master's and my doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh. I finished my doctorate in Speech- Language Pathology in 1971.
Beck: And your current positions?
Johnson:I'm the Speech Mentor with Select Medical Rehabilitation Services, and a clinical and research affiliate for the University of South Florida. I'm also the co-chair of the FLASHA (Florida Speech- Language Hearing Association) Reimbursement Committee, and I'm the STAR (STate Advocate for Reimbursement) representative to ASHA for reimbursement.
Beck: Very good Pete. Peter, where did you work after completing your doctorate?
Johnson:Allegheny General Hospital, also in Pittsburgh. That was a wonderful experience, and they're the ones who sent me to get an Executive Graduate Degree in Health Care Financial Management, which I obtained from Ohio State.
Beck: How long did it take to earn the additional graduate degree?
Johnson:It was an entire academic year, back in 1979-1980. Allegheny was very much ahead of their time, trying to make sure that their in-house clinical supervisors, such as SLP, followed good practice and management guidelines.
Beck: That was very insightful of them. I can reflect on my own experience with intraoperative cranial nerve monitoring.
During that same time period, the 1980s, it was very difficult to find anyone with expertise in coding and billing for non-standard protocols, and as a result, trying to bill correctly and get reimbursed for the work we did and the supplies we used was unbelievably difficult. We probably lost more money that we earned!
Johnson:Yes, I've heard those stories before. Allegheny showed amazing foresight by investing in knowledge and working within the established business protocols to support their clinical programs. After I returned from Ohio, I was the head of the Speech and Hearing Clinic and I also worked on the Allegheny Medical Outreach Program. Our goal was to help build the hospital's reach into the medical community, to enhance the relationships between our hospital and all referral sources within 150 miles, as we were a level one trauma center with helicopters and the whole support team.
Beck: That's great, and again -- it was very wise of them to invest in those business relationships. When a hospital builds a trauma service, they need to run it judiciously and very much like a business. I suspect each trauma patient served can easily run into hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions.
Johnson:Exactly right, and so they built their practice on solid management and knowledge, allowing growth and further opportunity.
Beck: And that can serve as a very nice segue into the new book, which helps the SLP understand the basic building blocks associated with building an SLP business. How did this book come into being?
Johnson:In 2002, Alex Johnson, who happens to be the current 2005 President-Elect for ASHA, and was at that time (2002) the vice president for professional practices in SLP for ASHA, was concerned that many SLPs in practice, and those completing their education, didn't understand basic business concepts needed for a successful SLP practice.
Alex appointed an Ad-Hoc Committee on Business Practices, chaired by Lee Ann Golper and included; Evie Hagerman, Ann Kummer, Pat Rogers, John Torres, me and Janet Brown from the ASHA staff. We started with a basic knowledge and skills document, " Knowledge and Skills in Business Pracitices Needed by Speech-Language Pathologists in Health Care Settings" and then we went on to develop the Manager's and Organizational Leaders document. Both documents were approved and adopted by ASHA, and from there, we decided it made sense to put the book together as a resource to support those documents.
Beck: That's a great idea...it's somewhat refreshing to find support documents written specifically for those guidelines, rather than having to hunt down a few hundred references!
Johnson:Yes, it made sense on many levels and we all agreed it would help facilitate the pragmatic usefulness of the two earlier documents which ASHA endorsed.
Beck: I agree, and I would urge anyone considering the initiation of an SLP private practice to review the book, and I think managers in SLP will also find the day-to-day global perspective of the book to be very useful.
I'd like to give the readers a preview of the book's contents, the chapter titles:
Johnson:Thanks Doug, I appreciate that. The book is comprehensive, and it takes a straightforward look at what to consider to facilitate a successful, ethical and profitable speech language pathology business.
Beck: Thanks for your time, Pete. I enjoyed the book. I think it's a valuable asset for SLPs who have or are considering private practice, and for those SLPs in management positions, too, trying to make sure their department and employees are aware if and in compliance with today's standards.
One last thing before I let you run...I know you just finished another book, written with a pharmacist on the topic of medication and dysphagia...and I hope we'll get to do an interview on that one , too, perhaps in the spring?
Johnson:That would be great, Doug.
Beck: OK, I'll place the reference for that book at the end of this interview, and in the meantime, thanks very much for your time.
Johnson:Thank you, too, Doug.
---------------------------
Peter Johnson's newest book...
Drugs and Dysphagia: How Medication Can affect Eating and Swallowing
Lynette Carl & Peter Johnson
Pro-Ed Publishing
ISBN 0-89079-982-2
Johnson:Hi Doug. Thanks for the invitation.
Beck:Peter, if you don't mind, before we start discussing the book, would you tell me where you earned your master's and your doctorate?
Johnson:Sure, Doug. I earned my master's and my doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh. I finished my doctorate in Speech- Language Pathology in 1971.
Beck: And your current positions?
Johnson:I'm the Speech Mentor with Select Medical Rehabilitation Services, and a clinical and research affiliate for the University of South Florida. I'm also the co-chair of the FLASHA (Florida Speech- Language Hearing Association) Reimbursement Committee, and I'm the STAR (STate Advocate for Reimbursement) representative to ASHA for reimbursement.
Beck: Very good Pete. Peter, where did you work after completing your doctorate?
Johnson:Allegheny General Hospital, also in Pittsburgh. That was a wonderful experience, and they're the ones who sent me to get an Executive Graduate Degree in Health Care Financial Management, which I obtained from Ohio State.
Beck: How long did it take to earn the additional graduate degree?
Johnson:It was an entire academic year, back in 1979-1980. Allegheny was very much ahead of their time, trying to make sure that their in-house clinical supervisors, such as SLP, followed good practice and management guidelines.
Beck: That was very insightful of them. I can reflect on my own experience with intraoperative cranial nerve monitoring.
During that same time period, the 1980s, it was very difficult to find anyone with expertise in coding and billing for non-standard protocols, and as a result, trying to bill correctly and get reimbursed for the work we did and the supplies we used was unbelievably difficult. We probably lost more money that we earned!
Johnson:Yes, I've heard those stories before. Allegheny showed amazing foresight by investing in knowledge and working within the established business protocols to support their clinical programs. After I returned from Ohio, I was the head of the Speech and Hearing Clinic and I also worked on the Allegheny Medical Outreach Program. Our goal was to help build the hospital's reach into the medical community, to enhance the relationships between our hospital and all referral sources within 150 miles, as we were a level one trauma center with helicopters and the whole support team.
Beck: That's great, and again -- it was very wise of them to invest in those business relationships. When a hospital builds a trauma service, they need to run it judiciously and very much like a business. I suspect each trauma patient served can easily run into hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions.
Johnson:Exactly right, and so they built their practice on solid management and knowledge, allowing growth and further opportunity.
Beck: And that can serve as a very nice segue into the new book, which helps the SLP understand the basic building blocks associated with building an SLP business. How did this book come into being?
Johnson:In 2002, Alex Johnson, who happens to be the current 2005 President-Elect for ASHA, and was at that time (2002) the vice president for professional practices in SLP for ASHA, was concerned that many SLPs in practice, and those completing their education, didn't understand basic business concepts needed for a successful SLP practice.
Alex appointed an Ad-Hoc Committee on Business Practices, chaired by Lee Ann Golper and included; Evie Hagerman, Ann Kummer, Pat Rogers, John Torres, me and Janet Brown from the ASHA staff. We started with a basic knowledge and skills document, " Knowledge and Skills in Business Pracitices Needed by Speech-Language Pathologists in Health Care Settings" and then we went on to develop the Manager's and Organizational Leaders document. Both documents were approved and adopted by ASHA, and from there, we decided it made sense to put the book together as a resource to support those documents.
Beck: That's a great idea...it's somewhat refreshing to find support documents written specifically for those guidelines, rather than having to hunt down a few hundred references!
Johnson:Yes, it made sense on many levels and we all agreed it would help facilitate the pragmatic usefulness of the two earlier documents which ASHA endorsed.
Beck: I agree, and I would urge anyone considering the initiation of an SLP private practice to review the book, and I think managers in SLP will also find the day-to-day global perspective of the book to be very useful.
I'd like to give the readers a preview of the book's contents, the chapter titles:
- Leadership
- Service Delivery
- Financial Management
- Standards and Compliance
- Quality Performance Improvement
- Technology
- Personnel Management
- Marketing
- Advocacy
- Case Studies
Johnson:Thanks Doug, I appreciate that. The book is comprehensive, and it takes a straightforward look at what to consider to facilitate a successful, ethical and profitable speech language pathology business.
Beck: Thanks for your time, Pete. I enjoyed the book. I think it's a valuable asset for SLPs who have or are considering private practice, and for those SLPs in management positions, too, trying to make sure their department and employees are aware if and in compliance with today's standards.
One last thing before I let you run...I know you just finished another book, written with a pharmacist on the topic of medication and dysphagia...and I hope we'll get to do an interview on that one , too, perhaps in the spring?
Johnson:That would be great, Doug.
Beck: OK, I'll place the reference for that book at the end of this interview, and in the meantime, thanks very much for your time.
Johnson:Thank you, too, Doug.
---------------------------
Peter Johnson's newest book...
Drugs and Dysphagia: How Medication Can affect Eating and Swallowing
Lynette Carl & Peter Johnson
Pro-Ed Publishing
ISBN 0-89079-982-2