Community Health: Direct Access to Physical Therapy
Mar 17, 2022
Our conversation today was part of our community health partnership with Valley Health. Every month, we chat with physicians, nurses, administrators, and others within the Valley Health system to talk about topics involving the health & wellness of our community.
Today, we talked with Mary Presley, Director of Rehab Services at Warren Memorial Hospital. Mary has been a frequent guest on the show. Joining Mary, was Marsha Cooper, a physical therapist based at Shenandoah Memorial Hospital.
The pair explained a fairly new program offered at all the Valley Health facilities: Direct Access for physical therapy services. This program bypasses the usual primary care/urgent care visit and allows patients to go directly to one of their physical therapists for sprained ankles, aching backs, vertigo, the list goes on as Marsha explained.
Valley Health direct-access physical therapists have a doctorate degree in physical therapy and significant training in evaluation and diagnosis. These experts use various techniques depending on the patient’s individual needs. They also use an evidence-based tool called FOTO (Focus on Therapeutic Outcomes), which generates real-time data to measure how well the treatment is working. Physical therapists specialize in areas such as orthopedics, sports medicine, pediatrics, wound care, pelvic health, and balance disturbances; they can also help with neurologic issues and frequently work with individuals recovering from stroke.
Mary explained how direct access is often less expensive for patients – along with being more convenient because it reduces the cost of other copays and prior doctor visits before landing at physical therapy. The clinic will contact a patient’s insurance company to obtain authorization, just like when a patient visits their doctor, and verify the copayment determined by the patient’s health plan. Medicare/Medicaid options are also available.
Direct Access is available at all of Valley Health's outpatient PT clinics. To learn more, visit their website: valleyhealthlink.com/physicaltherapy and read the article about it here.