When you are in pain or recovery, placing your hands with the right Physical Therapist is crucial. PT clinics vary greatly in many ways, including quality, and your outcomes. This article will help guide you toward finding the best chances for success when searching for an Outpatient Physical Therapist.
Number 5: Where?
Many of you have a referral in your hands from your MD. They likely also told you where to go, and that is when we should start asking questions. Why is the MD telling you where to go in the first place? Unless there was a specific reason, he wanted you to go to that specific clinic, understand your rights. You can CHOOSE to go where you want for PT.
In many cases that Dr sent you to the PT associated with whatever hospital system he or she works for. This may likely not be in your best interest. Let’s be honest, do you really want to drive past 3 better clinics to get there? If you live in a city there are likely 10 places within a few square miles of you.
Number 4 Why?
My three-year old’s favorite question… Another important question when choosing an outpatient clinic needs to be why. Now we need to get into the specifics, and in this case, I am referring to why do you need Therapy? This becomes important because different clinics are set up or specialize in different issues. If your issue is something more general like fall prevention, or back pain, you are likely safe in that wherever you go, they can accommodate you. This may not however be the case if you are a collegiate soccer player with an ACL tear looking for return to sport activity. You likely wouldn’t want to see the PT who specializes in Parkinson’s Disease. Just as much as if you are recovering from a stroke you wouldn’t go to a sports medicine Therapy clinic.
Sure, the PT will likely be able to dust off the old cobwebs from 18 years ago when he took the class in college. However, is that who you want seeing you? Go to the place that has the equipment and set up that are geared for your needs. You will want to see the Therapist who is on the cutting edge, highly experienced and passionate about YOUR issue. Please also don’t be fooled, if you call a clinic and speak to the receptionist, there is a strong chance she is likely going to tell you: “sure we can help you with that”. So please try and do your research.
3) Who/How Many?
Just as all count down lists should be, number three here is likely the most important to your success. We start with who and how many people will you be seeing during your time in the clinic? You can get very frustrated if you meet your PT and become really impressed with them. Only to return next time to see someone completely different who wasn’t there for your extensive evaluation. Then someone else the next time. Consistency in your treatment is going to be crucial, as they know what you said, how you responded and what they intended for the next session.
Even more paramount is how many people is your practitioner seeing at the same time as you? The number one most important thing to look for in a PT clinic is one on one care (or close to it). Would you rather be the one and only patient on their mind at that moment; or rather have 1/4 of his attention. Nothing is more frustrating than spending $40 on a copay to only sit around and wait until your PT circles back around to you and asks: “Did you do that exercise?” In the business these are called factories or mills, since you are being seen with 4-6 other people; and often are treated like a number.
This is why, you are best to go to a clinic with minimal staff. They should state right on the website that you are receiving one on one care. When you start going to large clinics, you often have a greater likelihood of seeing new faces at each visit. This is a question you can ask when you make your initial appointment. That is not to say that you cannot get great care at a clinic with some overlap. The Therapists just need to be well organized, and worth your wait.
2) How Long
When looking for a PT clinic you want to know you are going to a successful, and well managed organization where the staff is treated appropriately. This will carry over onto how you are treated. So, a good question to look at is: how long has the PT been working there? If the clinic has gone through 5 PTs in the last 6 years, this should be a red flag. Also, how long has the PT been treating at all? Experience is always a big bonus in most cases.
How long are the treatment sessions; and how quality filled is that time? Do you spend 20 minutes sitting on a heating pad? Did you basically review the home exercises you already know? Then get 5 minutes of your PT massaging your back while yelling at another patient across the room? Of course, this you may not discover until you are in the session.
1) What Happened?
So, you pulled a trigger on a clinic and are at your initial visit or evaluation. The beautiful thing about Physical Therapy is that (even though we are not MD’s and cannot officially diagnose) we have training and education that your PCP or even your specialists do not have. For one thing we have more than 5 minutes to spend with you, and we should be using that time to thoroughly examine your problem.
This of course will vary based on what the problem is, but in general, the PT should be palpating or using their hands to assess the problem area, checking posture range of motion and strength testing, specialized testing, and other in-depth assessment. If in contrast you go and see the PTs nose in their laptop the entire time, take a few quick tests and basically just retort back to you what the MD’s referral said, then there may be a problem.
We circle back to number 4 for a moment of “why”. If the PT cannot tell you with certainty why you are having your problem, and why that’s important to you, then be weary. The PT should give you an opportunity to ask questions and should be open to educating you on what you need to know. As well as how he/she plans on treating you. You should feel confident at this point that you are in the right place.
I hope this helps you in your journey to finding the best clinic in your area! Take these questions to those around you who have been to PT in the past. I hope this article helps you: ‘Rock The Recovery’!