Occupational therapist works where patients are
BY KAREN SHIDELER
The Wichita Eagle
Photos
Mike Hutmacher/The Wichita Eagle
Melissa Smith, an occupational therapist and ergonomics assessment specialist, works with her patients in their homes or workplaces. Her business is outpatient therapy and she bills insurance and takes referrals just as she did when working in a medical setting.
Mike Hutmacher/The Wichita Eagle
Melissa Smith, an occupational therapist, carries a few tools of the trade with her, such as hand helpers and light weights. However, "a lot of times, the household is your equipment, or the workplace is your equipment," she said.
Occupational therapist Melissa Smith is taking her business on the road.
Smith is the owner of O.T. on Wheels, a business she started a couple of years ago after about 20 years of working in hospital and medical practice settings.
To her knowledge, she is the only occupational therapist in Wichita who offers outpatient therapy — not home health services — in clients' homes and workplaces. As with therapists who work in other settings, she takes referrals and bills insurance.
Her mobile practice satisfies her entrepreneurial spirit and her desire to focus less on billable hours and more on the satisfaction that helping clients gives her.
It also offers convenience for workers who need less time away from the office or stay-at-home mothers.
She started as Ergoability, focusing on ergonomics, but branched into outpatient therapy because it gave her more opportunity to work with individuals.
As an occupational therapist and ergonomics assessment specialist, she helps her clients become more functional and productive "in whatever they do."
When she set out on her own, she decided she didn't need an office: "I'd never be there — or never should be there."
She'd felt limited in medical settings, trying to ask the right questions to understand what a client's needs at work or at home were. It's easier to see the needs in the client's setting, she said. "I'm trying to put the person back in their normal situation."
Because she'd been a successful OT in medical settings, Smith assumed she'd have lots of business when she went out on her own. Her thought: "They're going to find out I'm out there, and I'm going to get a bazillion patients."
Reality surprised her. She has found that networking and getting the word out takes more effort than she'd expected. "It's all more complicated than I thought," she said. "It's really been quite a challenge."
She said about half of her work is with outpatient OT clients and about half is with ergonomics clients.
Smith travels light, carrying a few tools of the trade with her, such as hand helpers and light weights. But "a lot of times, the household is your equipment, or the workplace is your equipment," she said.
Reach Karen Shideler at 316-268-6674 or kshideler@wichitaeagle.com.
Read more:
http://www.kansas.com/business/story/1138918.html#ixzz0coOBh23pWork a pain? Therapist offers help
Melissa Smith knows business can be all about finding the right fit.
Not just the right employee for the job, but the right workspace for that employee as well.
An occupational therapist for 21 years with several local hospitals, Smith has seen all types of work-related injuries. But as she witnessed a rise in chronic pain due to repetitive action over the past several years, Smith said she began to dig deeper into the concept of ergonomics.
“I was starting to see a lot more overuse,” she said. “What I was really curious about is how this started... and I found a lot of people were not set up properly.”
That led to her new business, Ergoability, which offers on-site assessment, treatment and preventative measures for a variety of work-related injuries.
Smith holds a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy from the University of Kansas. She said her curiosity about work-related injuries coincided with a desire to strike out on her own.
“I was kind of at that point in my career where I really just wanted to do things my own way,” she said. “It was now or never.”
And as the owner of The Etiquette Edge, an etiquette training service she began around three years ago, Smith said she knew how to start a business.
“I’m an entrepreneur at heart,” she said. “I knew this was something I could do and something I could enjoy.”
She also said she knew she wanted to take a unique approach to the occupational therapy services she offers.
“I knew if I wanted to be successful, I had to offer something different,” she said.
As a licensed occupational therapist and certified ergonomic assessment specialist, Smith performs on-site analysis of employee workstations, helping create a more ergonomically comfortable environment.
She also offers on-site treatment for a variety of injuries and chronic pains under the recommendation of a physician.
“They’re surprised and delighted when they learn I can come in and give them treatment on their break,” she said of clients.
However, it is the change she seeks to make for individuals that lets Smith know she followed the right career path.
“I had a woman tell me the other day... ‘It was just like you turned off a pain switch,’ ” Smith recounted. “It’s incredibly rewarding for me to have people pain-free for the first time.”
