Reviews drive many choices in modern times. Search for a restaurant, salon, hotel, coffee shop, or anything and you can filter options by rating. Why should physical therapy be any different? You deserve the best so do your research.
When searching for a physical therapist, take the extra 30 seconds and research the office to view what others have said about their experiences. 5 star ratings are a good start, but are not fool proof. I have been keeping tabs on local competitors and recently, mysteriously everyone in the area suddenly has a 5-star rating. This was not the case six months ago. Some offices ranked mediocre at best with average ratings in the 3s. Wonder where all those lower rated reviews went to...I'm not going to speculate because I don't have a clue.
So important tip #1: 5-star ratings are great, but proceed with caution. An office may pass the rating filter test, but are they really a good fit for you? You won't know until speaking with them. Call to see if they are a good fit for your situation. The difficulty you have with reaching an actual therapist may be a good barometer for how your experience will go there. Some other questions to keep in mind: Do they have experience working with symptoms similar to yours? What's the typical course of treatment? What are they bringing to the table and what will be expected of you during treatment?
Tip #2: Figure out the treatment flow. Will you be seen by the therapist while they monitor others? Factory style healthcare certainly doesn't exude quality. Medicare, for example, requires physical therapy sessions be 1:1 meaning the therapist cannot overlap your appointment with anyone else (if they do, they have to document it and get paid at a lower rate). Other major insurances do not have this requirement. They can schedule you by yourself, or you plus others at the same time. In terms of financial incentives I bet you can guess which option most places choose.
At Team Sapiens we are patient focused. All our appointments are 1:1. This was true before the COVID pandemic. This is true for Medicare patients and non-Medicare patients alike. And this will be true as long as we are here. In our minds it is non-negotiable to function any other way. At the end of the day, whatever is best for the patient is best for business.
While we are proud to receive our 100th review:
we also want you to know we are not blind to our limitations. Last I checked there are no magic pills in this world, and some people need interventions outside of physical therapy to reach their goals. We are constantly assessing progress to see if you are reaching your goals and this brings us to the final point of important advice:
Tip #3: Do the right thing at the right time. Like I just mentioned. We are constantly making sure you are heading in the right direction. If you are getting there with therapy alone, fantastic. If not, it's either time to take a different approach in therapy itself or refer out for a more comprehensive approach. We have developed a solid network of providers (surgeons, non-surgical care physicians, anesthesiologists, neurologists, psychologists, and more) that can provide what we can't for the right person at the right time. The last thing you should keep in mind when speaking to a prospective therapist is: do they have a game plan for things that don't go according to plan? Remember they will be working for you, not the other way around. If you're not getting what you want out of the relationship, move on.
Thanks for reading.
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