Press Release: Grand Opening

Physical Therapy Clinic

Offering Direct Access and Evidenced-Based Care

Opens In Maitland

ORLANDO, FL.--April 16, 2013 Pursuit Physical Therapy is proud to announce the grand opening of their physical therapy clinic at 1000 North Maitland Ave, Maitland, FL.

Pursuit Physical Therapy Clinic wishes to set the new gold standard in physical therapy.  “We will pursue better outcomes, faster results, and a better quality of life for our patients by offering direct access to high quality evidenced-based care from board certified specialists,” explains owner Dr. Ron Miller, DPT, OCS.   The clinic is a cash-based practice and no physician’s script is required to make an appointment.  “By eliminating health insurance limitations and guidelines, patients can receive one-on-one patient care, with no restrictions with your treatment, receiving a better outcome in fewer visits.”

Starting May 6^th, the clinic will be open Monday thru Friday and will offer early morning and evening appointments.  Weekend appointments are also available if needed.   The clinic will specialize in the treatment of neck and low back pain, spinal disorders, sport injuries, manual therapy and golf related injuries.   To make an appointment please call 407-494-8835 and for more information visit www.pursuittherapy.com.

Dr. Miller is credentialed by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) as a Board Certified Physical Therapist and certified through the Titleist Performance Institute for golf swing analysis and the treatment of golf related injuries.  Dr. Miller is also an active member of the APTA, Florida Physical Therapy Association (FPTA), American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapist (AAOMPT), and is currently elected to the position of Vice Chair, for the East Central District of the FPTA.

What is the Key to Generating Power in a Golf Swing?

So after you have treated your LBP and you have a pain free golf swing, what is the key to generating power?  EPSN Sports Science did an excellent clip on the importance of the kinematic sequence with Rory McIlroy, breaking down the basics to the kinetic chain.  How can someone who is 5'9" and 160 lbs drive the ball 300+ yards?  Well, the KEY TO POWER is the kinetic chain and the ability to improve the transfer of energy from the hips, to the trunk, to the arms, and through the club.

The graph above is an example data that you can gather with a 3D golf swing analysis.  Each line dictates a different body part.  With the golf swing, and ideal sequence is needed, and thus you get a graph like this.  Now the transfer of energy is measured with the downslope of each line after the peak of each body part.  This measures the deceleration of each joint, or the transfer of energy.  Increase slope = increased energy transferred.  This dictates the power you can generate with your golf swing.  You can train yourself to improve the neuro-muscular control and strength of each body part with the proper training and specific exercises.  With the proper exercises you can become more efficient at transferring energy with your golf swing, thus hitting the ball farther, and decreasing your scores! You don't need to have pain to consult Pursuit Physical Therapy.  Call now and schedule a golf swing consultation and start generating power with your golf swing!

Are you ready for the Masters!

In honor of the Masters this week, we are posting about the golf swing and pain all week.  Checkout the Pursuit Physical Therapy facebook page for our daily golf posts.  How do you decrease low back pain with your swing?  What impairments are common with LBP?  What are the most important muscles during the golf swing?  Feel free to ask any questions you have.  Also check out our website under specialty programs to see our golf swing program, V1 golf swing analysis, and Titleist Performance Institute screen to get you to a pain free golf swing!

How Much is it Costing You Out of Pocket For Your Physical Therapy?

So we have reviewed why Pursuit Physical Therapy is cash-based, what evidenced based practice is and why it is important for you as a patient, and what is wrong with healthcare.  This post will show you the difference between a cash based practice vs and insurance based practice and how much it will cost you out of pocket.  Below is a table that shows the difference between a standard physical therapy practice and what it entails vs what Pursuit Physical Therapy offers.

Normal Standard Practice	Pursuit Physical Therapy Evidenced-Based Practice
3x  week for 4 weeks 12 sessions	2x a week for 2 weeks 4-6 sessions
No manual therapy	Manual Therapy
10+ exercises	4-6 exercises
60+ minute session	30-60 minutes session
Guided by health insurance	Guided by what the patient needs
Average out of pocket cost $500-1000	Average out of pocket cost $400-500
No incentive to get you better quicker	Incentive based

Many patients feel that they have insurance to cover their physical therapy and they do not want to pay out of pocket for physical therapy services.  So now we will review the difference in cost and an example of how much you pay out of pocket for each physical therapy service.  You think that since you have insurance that it will not cost you much out of pocket, but lets look at an example.   Now, every insurance policy is different, but we will use an example from what the average is that I have seen.  So we will factor in deductible, co-pay, and the miscellaneous bill that is sent to you house 3 months after you have received treatment.  Yes for some reason, with the standard insurance, sometimes they do not cover 100% of physical therapy services and I find more and more patients calling in 3 months after treatment saying that they received a bill from the hospital saying that they owe another couple hundred dollars for their treatment?? I know!

Normal Standard Practice Cost	Pursuit Physical Therapy Cost
3x a week for 4 weeks	4-6 treatment sessions
Average Deductable = $1000-5000	No deductible needed to be met
Co-pay = $20	No co-pay
Miscellaneous bill = $300	Each session =$75-100
12 visits x $20 = $240	6 visits x $100
+ 300
+ deductible ($500)
TOTAL = $1040	TOTAL = $600

So a cash based model turns out to be a cheaper out of pocket expense for the patient after all!  You also receive a much better quality of one-on-one care with a faster outcome.  Is it worth it to pay that much out of pocket at a standard insurance clinic, getting double booked with other patients and need to be seen for 3x a week for 4 weeks???  To me, I would rather pay less and get better faster.   What do you think about a cash based physical therapy service and how much you have to pay out of pocket?

What is Evidenced-Based Medicine and What Does it Mean to Me?

Evidenced-Based Medicine

Evidenced Based Practice has different meanings for medical clinicians vs for patients, that is probably beyond the scope of this blog post.   Regarding quality of healthcare, patients should be asking themselves "Am I receiving the best care, that is supported by evidence, that correctly diagnosed my symptoms and pain, that will lead me to the best outcome?"  For example, the treatment for low back pain (LBP) isn’t as easy as just being diagnosed as “low back pain”  Acute LBP has been shown to spontaneously resolve in 4-6 weeks, so if your treatment takes 4 weeks to get better, did the treatment really do anything?  So you can be treated with the standard care for your LBP with the normal 3x a week for 4 weeks with a (for example) $20 co-pay each visit, (and you may even better pay for the whole treatment if your insurance deductible is not met), receive exercise intervention only, slap on some E-stim that makes you feel good but does nothing to solve the problem, and at the end the treatment you received may not have even done anything. 

This is when evidence based practice comes in and can lead to a more accurate diagnosis, show better outcomes quicker, with less visits, and overall cost less money, getting you better in 4-6 visits instead of the standard 12.  Pursuit Physical Therapy offers one on one care, using evidenced based interventions, showing better outcomes than the standard.   Also Pursuit Physical Therapy is incentive based so if you only need a 30 minute treatment, that is what you get.  30-60 minute treatments for 4 visits and you are done.  The standard is insurance based and the longer you stay and the more times you are seen, the more productive they are.  The standard is usually 3 x a week for 4 weeks.   If a clinician has an intervention that can get you better quicker with better outcomes, don’t they owe it to you to provide this treatment? YES!   If you have pain that is stopping you from doing something you love to do, don’t wait for the pain to go away.  Call Pursuit Physical Therapy to see if physical therapy is appropriate for you, can get pain free sooner!

What is Wrong with Healthcare?

We could go on for hours about this, but recently TIME published two articles: High Cost of Healthcare and  Why Medical Bills are Killing Us that are great reads that show some of the problems with healthcare.  All of health care is going to be challenged to do things better by managing expenditures, maximizing cost effectiveness, improving access, decreasing practice variation, and ensuring that the care provided is implemented with the best interventions supported by evidence.  So how are private practices and small healthcare businesses going to stay in business in the future?  A Cash-based service.  Healthcare has been forced to the level of mediocrity due to the increased need in healthcare services, decreased reimbursement, and restricted insurance company guidelines.  Currently, working in the standard insurance-based PT clinic, I find myself not having enough time with each patient, double-booking patients who need one-on-one care, placing patients with assistants, and results are delayed and decreased due to the current system.  A cash-based service would allow one-on-one patient care for one hour, providing great outcomes, allowing patient needs to dictate treatment not insurance company guidelines, no grouping multiple patients together, not worrying about what services get reimbursed, and still being able to generate revenue for a business to be profitable.  Pursuit Physical Therapy will be a new brand of outpatient physical therapy that is cash-based, providing one-on-one patient care, by doctors of physical therapy, by board certified specialists, using evidence-based practice, thus showing better outcomes in a shorter number of visits.  Pursuit Physical Therapy care is based on treatment outcomes and what is best for the patient, and not guided by insurance companies or strict guidelines.  We will offer a high quality of healthcare that people need, showing better outcomes than the other standard area physical therapy clinic and will see valuable enough to pay cash for our services. 

Why is Pursuit Physical Therapy Cash Based?

There is no doubt that reimbursement for medical services regardless of whether the patient is insured by Medicare or other insurance companies will continue to decrease.  The needs for healthcare services will continue to increase, especially with the baby boomers coming through, but reimbursement will continue to decrease.  This presents a major problem that is quickly becoming reality for many private practices.  Healthcare providers will be forced to see more patients a day, double and triple booking patients, placing patients with assistants that are less qualified, having decreased one-on-one patient care, that all lead to poor outcomes and a decreased quality of care.  Many clinicians already find it difficult to provide the desired quality of care when treating multiple patients at once, and it is even harder with the constraints and guidelines placed on by insurance companies.  

The reason Pursuit Physical Therapy is a cash-based service is because there is no way to treat patients the way that we feel is most effective and accept insurance, without going bankrupt.  Insurance companies only reimburse about half what is billed.  In order to make a profit, clinics that handle insurance have their patients be seen by assistants and less qualified clinicians.  They are also forced to see multiple patients at the same time, so if you would go to an insurance based clinic, you will be double or triple booked with another patient.  We spend 30 or 60 minutes of one-on-one time with each one of my patients, primarily using manual therapy that has been shown to show superior outcomes and better results than standard care. No physician script is required so we can treat you now, and you do not have to wait weeks to be seen or treated.  While you are being treated here, you will not be charged for exercises that you can easily do at home on your own.  With this approach, we feel confident that we can get you better in less than half of the number of visits they would need at an insurance based clinic.  With the time savings of fewer clinic visits, and the value of feeling better sooner, most patients feel the out-of-pocket expense is more than worth it. We can also provide receipts with codes needed to send self claims to your insurance company.  Depending on your insurance plan, many of my patients receive some level of reimbursement or have the cost of their treatment applied to their deductible.