SPRY EMR was built to reduce the distance between clinical documentation and clean revenue. But the platform only gets better at that job if the people doing the job tell us where it falls short. Today we introduce the SPRY Clinical Advisory Board: nine outpatient PT, OT, and SLP clinic owners now embedded in our product process — reviewing SPRY Practice Management, SPRY RCM, and SPRY Physical Therapy Software features before they ship.

The problem that started this

A clinic owner I've known for a while walked me through something last year. He runs a multi-location outpatient practice and showed me exactly how one missing phrase in a SOAP note triggers a denial, how that denial takes three weeks to appeal, and how his billing team spends those weeks recovering money the clinic had already earned. The software never flagged the phrase. The people who built it didn't know the phrase mattered.

I've been building AI products for years and I believe in what the technology can do. But I can't code what that owner knows. Which payer denies over which wording. What the front desk does when two patients arrive early and an authorization is expiring. Why a Medicare note reads differently from an auto insurance note. None of this exists in a dataset. Clinic owners learned it over decades by losing money and evenings, and you can't train a model on knowledge that was never recorded. You can only sit next to the people who have it.

So that's what we're doing.

What we're announcing?

Today, SPRY introduces its Clinical Advisory Board — nine clinic owners and operators running outpatient physical, occupational, and speech therapy practices across the United States. They join Minal Patel and SPRY's co-founder at the same table, meeting with our product team every quarter to review features across AI documentation, SPRY RCM, billing workflows, coding, and clinical operations before those features ship. Several of them were running practices before SPRY existed. Their job, formally, is to tell us where we're wrong.

Meet the nine

Sharon Gutwin: The RehabGYM, Williston, Colchester, and Barre, Vermont Sharon has built The RehabGYM across three Vermont locations and is known by her team as a hard worker and a champion for higher reimbursements. She joined because she believes in SPRY's vision for the future of EMR — her word for the group was "voyagers," which says everything about how she approaches this. Jersey number: 11.

Cody Hartley: BEST Physical Therapy, Renew Physiotherapy, and Fitness Physio — Multiple States (Raleigh, NC) Cody oversees practices across multiple states and describes his leadership style as transparent, accountable, and team-first. He joined because he sees SPRY Physical Therapy Software as a genuine innovator leading change in the outpatient EMR space. Jersey number: 6.

Jonathan Hodges: Nevada Physical Therapy, Reno, NV Jonathan lifts weights, does woodworking, and manages one of Reno's established outpatient PT practices. He joined to have a direct impact on the clinical efficacy and utility of SPRY as it relates to both improving clinical practice and management — his words, and he meant them precisely. Jersey number: 94.

Stacy Hund: Set Physical Therapy, Atlanta, GA and Washington, DC Stacy is a PT, a business owner, and a mother of three who her team describes as driven, compassionate, and resourceful. She joined the SPRY Clinical Advisory Board because she cares about the future of physical therapy and wants to support the clinicians and practice owners doing great work every day. Jersey number: 19.

Carlos Martinez: CAM Physical Therapy and Wellness Services, 6 locations across Maryland Carlos runs six Maryland locations and is described by his team as a fair and honest leader deeply committed to clinical excellence. He joined because he believes in SPRY's commitment to transforming the physical therapy profession through AI-powered documentation — so clinicians spend more time with patients and less time on notes. Jersey number: 17.

Ken McKenzie: 30-year PT veteran, 25-year clinic owner, Colorado Ken built and ran Premier Physical Therapy in Westminster, Colorado for 12 years before selling in April 2026. He brings three decades of clinical experience and a quarter century of ownership knowledge to the table. He joined because of the personal relationships he developed at SPRY and a genuine desire to contribute what he has learned. Jersey number: 23.

BJ Pataria: Motion Physical Therapy and Rehab, Stockton, CA BJ reads, runs, and programs — and his team describes him simply as a workaholic, which in this context is a compliment. He joined the board to help shape the future of EMRs for PTs, and he means it at a technical level. Jersey number: 23.

Tom Porter: WESTARM Physical Therapy, Lower Burrell, PA Tom coaches his kids in sports, plays golf, and manages a large group of clinicians he describes as people he cares about individually. He joined because he believes in the power of collaboration between clinicians to improve technology — not just for WESTARM, but for the therapy community at large. Jersey number: 6.

Keith Glasser Details to be confirmed and added at launch.

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Why a board — and not another survey?

Every software company says it listens. We've sent the surveys too. The problem with feedback after a feature ships is that the important assumptions — about workflow, about how many clicks is one too many, about when in the day a biller actually has 90 seconds free — are already built in. You can make a feature less wrong after release. You can't remove an assumption you didn't know you were making.

Listening that actually changes a product needs structure. Named people. Authority to reject a feature before it ships. Skin in the game — their names are public, so their reputations travel with whatever we build. A feedback portal has nothing at stake. These nine do.

Jonathan Hodges put it plainly in his intake form: he wants a direct impact on the clinical application and betterment of SPRY — not a social media moment. We respect that. The board exists to work, not to pose. The jerseys were a launch celebration. The quarterly sessions are the actual job.

What this means for the product?

SPRY EMR is six years old. We build an AI-native physical therapy EMR with documentation, SPRY RCM, prior authorization, scheduling, and patient engagement on one platform. The nine people on this board have spent 20 to 40 years each collecting exactly the knowledge that no AI model can generate from training data alone.

When our AI Scribe drafts a SOAP note, it should draft one that Carlos Martinez's billing team doesn't have to fix before submission. When our SPRY RCM engine decides which documentation to attach to a prior auth, Jonathan Hodges's three decades of Medicare and payer experience should already be baked into that logic. When we design the front desk workflow for a busy Monday morning, Tom Porter's experience managing a large clinical team across a high-volume practice should be in the room.

Clinics on SPRY Physical Therapy Software currently see 95%+ clean claims on first submission and 50–75% fewer denials compared to their previous baseline. Claims close in 12–23 days on average — over 10 days faster than industry norms. Those numbers come from real operational improvements. This board exists to push them further, and to catch the things that don't show up in aggregate data but show up every day in every clinic.

What this means if you run a clinic?

Features that reach you will have been argued over by people who do your job. Owners who have been through the audits, who run 30 evals a week, who know which Monday morning reports actually tell you something and which ones nobody reads. If you have told us something is wrong with SPRY Practice Management or SPRY RCM, this board is how that correction becomes permanent instead of promised.

The nine members collectively represent solo providers, multi-location independent groups, and enterprise practices across Vermont, Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington DC, Maryland, California, and Pennsylvania. Between them they cover Medicare patients, commercial patients, auto insurance, and workers' comp — the full payer complexity of American outpatient rehab. When Stacy Hund reviews a billing workflow in her Atlanta and DC practices, she is reviewing it for every practice with a similar payer mix. When Ken McKenzie brings 25 years of ownership experience to a product decision, he is bringing it on behalf of every clinic owner who has lived through the same mistakes.

A note on how we launched this

We announced the board with jerseys. Each member has a number on the back — a birthday, a lucky number, a high school number they've carried for thirty years. Because we want to run this the way a good team runs: move fast, work toward a shared mission, hold each other accountable, and celebrate when the work is worth celebrating. The technology this profession deserves didn't fully exist five years ago. Building it now, with the people who know the profession best, is the only approach that makes sense.

You can learn more about the board and its members at SPRY Clinical Advisory Board announced

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the SPRY Clinical Advisory Board?

The SPRY Clinical Advisory Board is a group of nine outpatient PT, OT, and SLP clinic owners embedded in SPRY's product process. They meet with the product team quarterly to review and advise on features across SPRY EMR, SPRY RCM, SPRY Practice Management, and clinical workflows before those features are released.

Who is on the SPRY Clinical Advisory Board?

The nine founding members are Sharon Gutwin (The RehabGYM, Vermont), Cody Hartley (BEST PT / Renew Physiotherapy / Fitness Physio, multiple states), Jonathan Hodges (Nevada Physical Therapy, Reno NV), Stacy Hund (Set Physical Therapy, Atlanta and Washington DC), Carlos Martinez (CAM Physical Therapy and Wellness, Maryland), Ken McKenzie (30-year PT veteran, former owner of Premier Physical Therapy, Colorado), BJ Pataria (Motion Physical Therapy, Stockton CA), Tom Porter (WESTARM Physical Therapy, Pennsylvania), and Keith Glasser.

Why did SPRY create a clinical advisory board?

Post-release feedback can only make a feature less wrong — the workflow assumptions are already built in. SPRY created a structured board with named members and public accountability so that clinical and operational expertise shapes product decisions before they finalize, not after.

How does the advisory board influence SPRY's product?

Board members review features across AI documentation, SPRY RCM billing automation, coding workflows, and SPRY Practice Management tools on a quarterly basis. They have authority to reject features before release. Their input directly shapes what ships and what gets redesigned.