The 2023 membership survey, conducted by FSBPT, aimed to measure member satisfaction, assess the importance of services, and identify member needs to inform strategic direction. This article is based on a 2023 Annual Education Meeting presentation by Missy Anthony and Carl Fusco.
The Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT) conducted its eighth membership survey in the first quarter of 2023, aiming to gather valuable insights from its members to inform strategic planning and enhance the organization's services. The survey was designed and executed by Carl Fusco, a marketing research and survey consultant. The Membership Survey Task Force, chaired by Missy Anthony, reviewed and analyzed the results and made recommendations to the FSBPT Board of Directors.
The FSBPT conducts a membership survey every five years to gather information from its members, who are considered the foundation of the organization. The 2023 survey aimed to measure overall satisfaction, gauge the importance of member services, assess FSBPT's performance, and identify membership issues, concerns, needs, and potential new initiatives. The survey results are crucial for informing the Board of Directors' strategic planning and initiatives. FSBPT is focused on keeping the process transparent and sharing all results with members.
The 2023 membership survey was based on the 2018 survey, with some adaptations and new questions added. The survey was programmed for online execution, and 563 online invitations were sent to members across the country. Three waves of email reminders were sent to encourage participation, resulting in 202 responses, a 36% response rate. The sample included all state board members that FSBPT had contact information for, administrators, and the FSBPT Board of Directors, with a distribution similar to the 2018 survey, ensuring comparability of data.
The survey revealed that members are well satisfied with FSBPT's services, rating the organization's performance as valuable and positive. The overall satisfaction rate remains high, with a slight decrease in satisfaction with opportunities to participate. Based on feedback, the survey drew out areas for improvement (areas that members rate as important but had less satisfaction) as well as areas to be leveraged (areas that members rate as important and that they thought FSBPT did well).
The survey highlighted a significant decline in awareness of FSBPT's resources and services compared to previous surveys. While the overall value and performance perceptions remained positive, the decrease in awareness was a concern. The Model Practice Act had the highest awareness among members, with 72% of members saying they were aware and familiar with the resource. The Healthy Practice Resource had the lowest rate of awareness at 25%. The survey results demonstrated the need for better communication about FSBPT resources.
Four resources were considered both important and strengths for FSBPT: the Model Practice Act, The Model Board Action Guidelines, Sexual Misconduct and Boundary Violations resources, and the Jurisdiction Licensure Reference Guide. Respondents designated the following three areas as important but with room for improvement in terms of available resources: Impaired Practitioners, Remediation, and Reentry of PT Providers.
In general, only half of the members believed that their state board had all the necessary resources to carry out its responsibilities effectively, which may indicate there is an opportunity for members to request funds through FSBPT’s membership grant program.
Members expressed the importance and performance of various exam services, identifying eligibility requirements, meaningful feedback to candidates, and evidence-based preparation as high-leverage areas, meaning they are important and the FSBPT performs well implementing them. The alternate approval pathway and reliable jurisdiction were deemed lower priorities.
The FSBPT website was the top resource for awareness and familiarity among members, followed by the News Briefs, live webinars, and Forum articles. Recorded webinars, although important, required improvement in performance. Social media and discussion forums had low awareness and use, indicating a need for better engagement strategies.
FSBPT added questions about the value of the NPTE due to growing interest in testing and regulation. This survey’s data will act as a baseline for future comparisons to spot any trends. Overall, the NPTE was seen as important and necessary, with the staff receiving high ratings for their support of the exam.
The survey revealed that 70% of respondents had attended a webinar, 59% had participated in a Regulatory Workshop, and 57% had attended the Annual Education Meeting. Only 13% of respondents had not attended anything. Board members had higher attendance rates than administrators. There is opportunity to increase participation from all member categories.
The event registration technology had the highest awareness among members, with 69% being both aware and familiar with it. The automated data transfer had the lowest awareness, with only 48% of members being familiar and 21% not being aware of the resource. The survey identified the event registration and member portal technology as high-leverage attributes, while the jurisdiction interface, ELDD disciplinary notification, and automated data transfer required attention and improvement.
The FSBPT staff received high ratings in all category measures including responsiveness, courtesy, support of committees, knowledge, ease of reaching staff, and timeliness. The overall satisfaction with governance was also high, with responsiveness, accessibility, communication, and consideration of perspectives being the top-rated attributes.
The survey identified four top strategic initiatives:
Based on the survey results, the Membership Survey Task Force made several recommendations to the Board of Directors.
The task force emphasized the need for better communication of FSBPT resources to all members to increase awareness and use. This includes exploring new ways to engage members and improve the dissemination of information.
The task force identified enhancing the onboarding process for new board members and administrators as a key step to raising overall awareness and ensuring buy-in to the organization. This would help maintain continuity and support the organization's growth.
The task force recommended exploring new ways to provide members with opportunities to become involved in FSBPT activities. This includes promoting volunteer opportunities and encouraging active participation in events and initiatives.
The development of the top four strategic initiatives (PT Compact, continuing competence, ELDD, and evidence-based regulation) should be prioritized. These initiatives are crucial for the organization's future direction and should be actively pursued.
The 2023 FSBPT membership survey provided valuable insights into the organization's performance, member satisfaction, and areas for improvement. The survey results highlighted the importance of effective communication, strategic initiatives, and member engagement in ensuring the organization's continued success. FSBPT has already worked to address some of these issues. For example, recorded webinars are now more accessible via YouTube, and all resources can be found more easily via a new, filterable Member Resource Directory within the member portal and a publicly accessible resource page. FSBPT is also continuing to improve onboarding practices and better ways to ensure members get easy access to the resources that are most relevant to them. By continuing to address the recommendations made by the Membership Survey Task Force, the FSBPT can enhance its services, increase member satisfaction, and achieve its strategic goals.
Missy Anthony has served as the 8th Executive Director of the Ohio Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Athletic Trainers Board since November 2017. Prior to her service with the Board, Missy worked for the Ohio House of Representatives, Ohio Governor John Kasich, as Deputy Director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and lobbied on behalf of individuals with developmental disabilities. A native of Akron, Ohio, she graduated from the University of Akron with a degree in political science and certificate in applied politics from the Ray C. Bliss Institute. She received her master’s degree in public administration from Ohio University. She is also a graduate of the JoAnn Davidson Leadership Institute.
Carl Fusco is an Atlanta, Georgia based Marketing Research and Consulting Executive skilled at directing the application of research techniques and insights to solve problems and support data-based business decisions. Over his thirty-five-plus year career, Carl has built a reputation for quality, integrity, and creativity, establishing trust, credibility, and acceptance with clients and associates. His experience ranges across multiple industries including Consumer Packaged Goods and Services, B2B Services, Healthcare/Pharma, Telecommunications, Legal, and Not-For-Profit. Carl has a masters in marketing research (MMR) from the University of Georgia, an MBA from the Albany State University (NY), and a BA from Oneonta State University (NY).