TRADITIONAL PHYSICAL THERAPY IS BROKEN

This article will discuss the issues we see with the majority of clinics in the traditional physical therapy model as well as provide a solution. This is not to say there are not great PT's and PT clinics out there, there 100% are! We are just speaking in generalities on the current state of the majority of our profession.

CURRENT ISSUES WITH TRADITIONAL PHYSICAL THERAPY

TIME

Let's face it. PT's are burnt-out by no fault of their own. They are busy juggling a couple

patients at a time, meeting crazy productivity requirements, and barely keep their head above the flood of documentation. They rarely are able to really spend a quality duration of time listening and investigating into what could be going on.

EDUCATION

Most PT schools barely cover exercise prescription and exercise selection. Exercise is truly one of our most potent weapons we have in fighting against pain and long term disability. Sure manual techniques can sometimes provide a short term benefit, but those benefits are often gone by the time you are back at home or in the office. We need PT's who are educated, experienced, and passionate about exercise and know how to properly progress and regress exercises.

EQUIPMENT

I have been in many PT clinic's where the heaviest weight was a 15# kettlebell collecting dust in the corner. How in the world are we supposed to prepare a female athlete after ACL surgery to withstand the demands of her sport with 15# in a small carpeted room? While I

believe you can be creative with whatever you got, I also think patient's deserve a certain level of care and having access to a full gym is necessary to properly rehab someone.

FREQUENCY

The true magic in rehab is in the frequency or how often you are able to do your rehab. The more frequently we are able to rehab the quicker we are able to get better. Sure, the PT may hand you a generic home exercise packet with some stretches and generic exercises that are more often than not a complete waste of time. Most Pt clinics will see you AT MOST 2-3x per week. Anymore visits and this can get pretty pricey as well as leaving a lot to be desired from a frequency standpoint.

INSURANCE

Insurance dictates how long we are able to see our patients, what body part to work on,

what things we can and can not do, and is just an overall hassel. While it is often times more convenient to the patient, the patient is still charged a $30-60 co-pay for each visit and if they have a high deductible plan the costs are often astronomical.

REDUCTIONISTIC

The human body is incredible and all the major systems are intimately connected. In traditional PT we are not able/not taught/not encouraged to dig into the the other systems that may be a contributing factor in your pain. Things like nutrition, fear, sleep, stress, and expectations can play a huge role on the pain we are experiencing but these are often neglected for a purely musculoskeletal approach (because that is what pays the bills).

OUR SOLUTION

As promised we have a solution to all of these issues we are facing in our Traditional Physical Therapy model.

CONVENIENT

We all know Telehealth is here to stay. It is too convenient for patients AND allows us to

reach a larger audience. We offer remote physical therapy that is truly tailored to your needs. We offer 60 minute physical therapy evaluations virtually or in-person if you are in our area. This allows us to spend a full hour getting to know you, your pain, and develop a individualized plan.

FREQUENT

The patient then gets to choose a monthly payment plan that will best meet their rehab needs and get them to their goals.

1. On one plan the patient will received a 3-5 days per week rehab plan plus one virtual follow-up/trouble shooting session per week. These virtual follow ups are for us to check progress, go over exercises, and make modifications.

2. On another plan the patient will received a 5-7 days per week rehab plan plus two virtual follow-up/trouble shooting session per week.

EQUIPPED

Since we are no longer bound by the walls of the clinic our rehab plans will utilize any equipment you have at home or ideally your local gym equipment. All of these rehab plans will be sent to an app on your phone with exercise videos and ability to track compliance, weight, exertion, etc!

CASH BASED

We do not accept insurance which allows us to play the game by our own rules (within reason). We are no longer hindered by insurances rules. We do have the option of creating Super-Bills which allows the patient to submit a claim to their insurance with the hope of reimbursement (we walk you through it).

HOLISTIC

Every patient gets a Nutrition Guide, Lifestyle Guide, and Movement goal. These tools acknowledge that pain is multifactorial and not always purely from dysfunctional muscles or tendons. We address topics like sleep, proper fueling, supplements, and stress relief.

There you have it folks! If you have any comments or questions please don't hesitate to reach out! And if you are in rehab or looking for a physical therapist book a discovery call to find out what we are all about and if we are a good fit for you!