Dr. Monique Caruth: Surviving Covid-19 as a Home Health Business Owner Healthy Wealthy & Smart

In this episode, CEO of Fyzio4U Rehab Staffing Group, Dr. Monique J. Caruth, talks about how she, as a businesswoman, reacted to Covid-19.
Dr. Monique J. Caruth, DPT, is the CEO of Fyzio4U Rehab Staffing Group providing home health services in Maryland. She currently serves as the Southern District Chair of Maryland APTA and is the Secretary-elect of the Home Health Section of the APTA. She holds a Masters and PhD in Physical Therapy from Howard University, and she is a proud immigrant from Trinidad & Tobago.
Today, we hear what it’s like treating potentially Covid-positive patients, Monique tells us about the screening tool she developed, and we hear about the impact of the pandemic on mental health. Monique elaborates on the importance of Ellie Somers’s list of notable PTs, and she talks about her experiences of losing patients. How did she pivot her business to keep it afloat? How has her perspective as both a clinician and a business owner helped her pivot her business?
Monique tells us about obtaining PPE, offering Telehealth visits, and she gives some advice to Home Health PTs, all on today’s episode of The Healthy, Wealthy & Smart Podcast.
 
Key Takeaways
“We started seeing a spike in clients in mid-April when the hospitals didn’t want to discharge patients to the nursing homes; they were discharging them directly home, so the majority of our clientele were Covid-positive patients.” Monique has started compulsively disinfecting all surfaces. Monique’s screening tool:
Step 1: Check temperatures every morning before seeing a patient. Step 2: Ask questions about symptoms, traveling, and possible contact with Covid-positive people.
Step 3: Ensure PPE is worn.
“Gone are the days of spending extra time and doing extra work there.” “One of the biggest things for therapeutic outcome is having a good relationship with your patients. Going into the home, you’re probably the only person that they’re getting to talk to most days. I saw the need to improve on soft skills and being approachable with your patients.” “Some sort of contact needs to be maintained. Even though some patients may have been discharged, they would contact the physician via Telehealth visit and ask to be seen again.” “Everyone deserves to get quality care.” “Some people say, ‘this person probably got Covid because they were being reckless’. You can slip-up, be as cautious as possible, and still get Covid.” “We’re going to see a huge wave of Covid cases coming in the next few months. With elective surgeries stopped, that’s going to be our only client population. To prevent the furloughs from happening again, I would just advise to do the screenings, get the PPE, and go and see the patients.” Why don’t women get recognition in a profession that’s supposed to be female-dominated?
“People send out stuff to vote for top influencers in physical therapy. You tend to see the same names year after year, but you never see one that strictly focuses on women in physical therapy. I see many women doing great things in the physical therapy world, but because they don’t have as many followers on Twitter or Instagram, they don’t get the recognition that they deserve.” “The thing that I love about Ellie’s list is she put herself on it.” “In doing stuff you have to be kind to yourself first and love yourself first. Many of us don’t give ourselves enough praise for the stuff that we do.” “You can’t save everybody. When you just graduate as a therapist, you think you can save everyone and change the world – it takes time.”  
More About Dr. Caruth
Dr. Monique J. Caruth, DPT, is the CEO of Fyzio4U Rehab Staffing Group providing home health services in Maryland. She currently serves as the Southern District Chair of Maryland APTA and is the Secretary-elect of the Home Health Section of the APTA. She holds a Masters and PhD in Physical Therapy from Howard University, and she is a pr