PT Talker

In companies where on-site services are available, employers can reduce work comp costs by up to 75%. To share how one physical therapy group helps employees avoid injury and return to work quicker, Larry D. Briand, MS, PT, ATC, Founder & CEO of Rehab Management Solutions and Connie Ziccarelli, Principal and Chief Operations Officer recently joined PT Talker in two podcast interviews.   The first podcast in the series takes a look at how Rehab Management Solutions has developed a program to help industrial employers reduce injuries.  Their industrial rehab solutions parallel what they are doing for the sports community.  Physical therapists visit employers to provide basic screenings, evaluate injuries, complete assessments and ways to prevent injuries.  To learn more about implementing an industrial rehab program at your clinic, listen to the full podcast now.  

Referrals remain one of the best ways for private practice physical therapy owners to gain more clients. Dedicating the time and effort to obtaining referrals pays off.   Today’s guest, Paul Martin, MPT,CBI, owner of Martin Healthcare Advisors, shares an innovative approach to obtaining referrals. The approach Martin advocates physical therapists use to generate referrals is to utilize a physician liaison instead of a marketing representative.  This service-based approach is focused on the needs of physicians and how the physical therapy clinic can be of service. Discover more about how this approach can help you gain referrals as well as details about the new Medicare cap by listening to the full podcast now.

According to the American Diabetes Association, 25.8 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes. Of the diabetes cases, nearly 90 percent are type 2 cases impacting older adults. Recent research has found type 2 diabetes in children is also on the rise. Today’s expert, J. David Taylor, PhD, PT, CSCS, shares some of his findings on ways physical therapy can benefit individuals impacted by Type 2 diabetes. His study focused on if  physical therapy directed exercise counseling and fitness center-based exercise training offered benefits to diabetic patients.  The results of the randomized clinical trial suggest exercise counseling provided by physical therapists that is combined with fitness center–based exercise training can improve muscular strength and exercise capacity in people with type 2 diabetes. The outcomes patients received are comparable to those participating in supervised exercise training. Learn more by listening to the full podcast now.

According to USA Triathlon, triathlon participation in the United States is at an all-time high. Today’s expert is an amateur elite triathlete and physical therapist that specializes in helping athletes optimize their performance.  Chris Johnson owns his own private practice facility, Chris Johnson PT, in the Flatiron district of Manhattan. He believes being an elite athlete helps him treat runners better. People get hit with injuries in a number of ways and his expertise helps him identify an individual’s risk factors to help prevent injuries. He embraces a philosophy that includes teaching, treating and training to optimize performance.  Through his website and blog, he aims to provide good quality information so patients can learn how to best care for themselves while achieving their fitness goals. Learn how his niche practice continues to be successful by listening to the full podcast now.

Yoga dates back over 5,000 years. Thousands of years later, the classical technique is showing promise for chronic stroke survivors. Today’s expert, Arlene Schmid, Ph.D, O.T.R., lead researcher and a rehabilitation research scientist at Roudebush Veterans Administration-Medical Center and Indiana University, Department of Occupational Therapy, shares some of the small pilot study findings on yoga and stroke recovery.   The small sample size of the study allows researchers to only draw limited conclusions. But early findings indicate yoga in a group environment serves as an affordable and effective way to help chronic stroke survivors improve motor function, balance and quality of life.  Learn more about the pilot study and by listening to the full podcast.

Wonder what it takes for a private physical therapy practice to continue to grow and prosper since 1978?  Today’s expert, Shawn Burger, MPT of Burger Rehabilitation, shares some of the secrets to running a successful family-owned private practice. The clinic was started by his mother and is now the oldest private practice of their size in the Sacramento area. Today, they have 12 clinics in located in the greater Sacramento area. Burger sees two major challenges in the rehab component of the practice. One is the challenge to find and hire qualified staff.  The other is the higher expected salary requirements of new DPT graduates Discover what Burger is excited about on the outpatient side of his business and why he feels this is critical for continued private practice success by listening to the full podcast now.

What does the evidence really show?  That’s a question today’s expert is constantly asking.  A forward-thinking physical therapist and advocate for practicing physical therapy that follows the evidence, Joseph Brence, DPT is the facility director at Keystone Rehab Systems and founder of the Forward Thinking PT blog. Brence encourages physical therapists to look at the evidence and stop and think before providing a patient with a modality they don’t need.  He relies heavily on what the literature says to determine the best approach for his patients. And he’s not afraid to challenge the “way things have always been done.”  Listen now to learn how he thinks physical therapists can move physical therapy forward.

Payment reform systems offer a way to achieve greater reporting accuracy, promote quality care and minimize fraud. To improve quality of care and create an accurate payment system built upon providing medically necessary physical therapy services, the APTA has proposed to reform payment for outpatient physical therapy services by transitioning from the current fee-for-service, procedural-based payment system to a per session payment system. We have two experts joining us in this week’s podcast to discuss Alternative Payment Systems.  Connie Ziccarelli, Principal & Chief Operations Officer and Jodi Woodward, Director of Medical Billing at Rehab Management Solutions share insight on alternative payment systems. The new payment system is quite different than the payment system in place today. Currently, services are are coded with CPT codes. The Alternative Payment System looks to use just 12 codes in total for physical therapy services.  Although, learning the new system may be a challenge at first, the new alternative payment system should over time eliminate code choice, edits and bundling. Discover more about Alternative Payment Systems and how you can best prepare for them by listening to the full podcast now.

Declining reimbursements and increased competition from hospital and doctor-owned physical therapy clinics often make it difficult for private practice physical therapy clinics to remain profitable. Despite the challenges, Blaine Stimac, PT, owner and CEO of Professional Therapy Associates, has a positive outlook on the future.  He shares some of the things his private practice is doing to stay up and running in a challenging economic climate. Stimac believes the skill set required to run a private practice is totally different today than it was 10 years ago and has found the secret to running his four clinics in Montana has been to stop doing things the old way.  They now look at the therapists they hire as a partner. The value that each therapist brings into the company can vary significantly. They want productive and efficient physical therapists that deliver outstanding care and do a good job at bringing more business to the clinic. Despite the economic climate, they have grown their clinic by 30 to 40 percent in the last two years.  The clinic has really embraced change and Stimac feels this has helped them continue to grow. He believes if a physical therapist puts his full skill set on the table, no one can compete against that.  To grow their business, Professional Therapy Associates do not rely just on doctors for referrals.  They are marketing towards consumer in a number of ways.   Discover more tips for growing your private practice physical therapy clinic by listening to the full podcast now.

Sitting too much can be hazardous to your health.  In fact, a study featured in the March 26, 2012 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine found people who sat for over 11 hours or more per day were 40 percent more likely to die from any cause.  To help individuals with jobs that require sitting behind a desk for much of the day, physical therapist and owner of Naperville Physical Therapy, Mary Rachford, created a desktop calendar. She recently discussed her Workspace Workouts Calendar with PT Talker. The desktop calendar features three daily exercises for every work day and each exercise is designed for an office setting and requires no special equipment.  Health tips are also included for the weekend.  Not only have patients found the calendar useful, but the physical therapy have found them to be good marketing tools since the calendars can be customized so the name of the clinic is on the cover of the calendar and each page of the calendar. Rachford states that the calendar has served as one of the best marketing tools they’ve ever used. Learn more about how the calendar has also served as a way to gain referrals by listening to the full podcast now.

The less weight runners carry, the faster they can run.  To help runners enhance their performance, a Duluth, Minnesota physical therapist, Malcolm Macaulay developed a piece of equipment as an aid to treadmill exercise. He joins PT Talker to discuss his invention. The LightSpeed Body Weight Support Systems takes approximately 15 percent of a runner’s body weight off the ground offering runners a speeder workout with less impact.  The system utilizes bungee cords attached by Velcro to compression shorts and clipped to the suspension system that works with any treadmill.  Advantages of the system include the comfort of the system, convenience of working over traditional workout clothes and ease of use. The system also gives physical therapists an additional opportunity that allows patients to continue their training after their physical therapy sessions are done. To learn more about how he brought his idea to life to enhance the performance of his patients, listen to the full podcast now.

Wonder what it takes to run a successful private practice? Today’s guest, Larry Briand, MS, PT, ATC is the Founder and CEO of Rehab Management Solutions.  He shares some of the secrets to his success in owning and operating a private physical therapy practice. Rehab Management Solutions (RMS) gives physical therapists the opportunity to own their own practice without dealing with the hassles of running it.  They let physical therapists focus all their energy on their patients while RMS takes care of the infrastructure. Learn why Briand is excited about the future of physical therapy by listening to the full podcast now.

Each year, the American Physical Therapy Association honors the accomplishments of one physical therapy assistant by selecting a recipient of their  Outstanding Physical Therapist Assistant Award . Nominees must meet a number of criteria and must have been engaged in providing clinical services under the supervision of a physical therapists for at least five years, licensed in the area where they are working and have experience in more than one practice or educational setting.  This year’s winner, John Kelly, PTA, was recognized for his representation of physical therapist assistants at the local, state and national levels of the APTA. He recently shared details about the award with PT Talker. Kelly is an elected member of the APTA and delegate to the national house of delegates with the APTA. He works as a PTA for Easter Seals Crossroads in Indianapolis , Indiana and as a consultant for Mobility Research in Tempe, Arizona.  He was nominated for the award by the Indiana APTA which he has been actively involved with over the past several years.   To learn more about the award and ways PTAs can get involved in the APTA,  listen to the full podcast now.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, there are over four million stroke survivors in the U.S.  Of those stroke survivors only a third received any form of rehab, according to a 2005 Washington Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Telephone Survey.  For the stroke survivors that seek rehab, there’s new research that shows promise.  To discuss his research findings,  Dr. George Hornby, associate professor in the department of physical therapy at the University of Illinois at Chicago joins us today. People tend to learn from mistakes.  A pilot study underway has stroke patients wearing harness to prevent them from falling and encourages patients to run or walk fast to challenge balance. The study works to keep the intensity high enough to see individuals correct their mistakes.   A few videos are included to show the challenges stroke patients were given. To learn more about the benefits stroke patients realized during this challenging form of therapy, listen now. Case 1 Progression Low Functioning Case 2 Progression High Functioning Video Case 3 Progression Nonambulatory

Many of you have likely heard about or seen the Redcord system in action. To discuss the benefits of this unique cord therapy system, Redcord certified physical therapist and owner of Manhattan Physical Therapy, Dr. Joseph Simon joins PT Talker in today’s podcast. A quick look at the system and one is often puzzled by the vast array of red cords and pulleys.  But Dr. Simon became a believer of the benefits of Redcord the first time he saw the system in action.  He states the cords support parts of the body much like you would if you had another therapists working with you. The cords provide support while a physical therapist works with patient to help restore pain-free movement patterns and helps reestablish normal coordination to neuromuscular pathways.  Listen to the full podcast now to learn more.