Handcuffs
We live in a world where we can choose all kinds of things. Foods we like, cars we drive, places we go. I don’t know about you, but I enjoy this freedom. Nothing makes me more upset than someone telling me what to do or taking away my choices. I wanted to let you in on the world that I have been living in for the past several years. As many of you know, I am the owner and operator of Performance UNLIMITED Physical Therapy. I take great pride in helping people get back to their previous level of activity and beyond. I enjoy the banter in the clinic, the conversations, the tirades, the performances…everything. It is an environment that I have built to compliment my personality and abilities, and to deliver high-quality, biomechanically-based treatments to all my patients. It has been so successful that I hired my first physical therapist 2 years ago and just hired our recently-graduated intern as a third PT to join our happy family!
Where am I going with this? Insurance companies have been slowly (and sometimes rapidly) squeezing me into handcuffs. They are robbing me and my staff of our ability to give the same care that we gave from the beginning. Handcuffs that are dictating what I can do to help my patients. Handcuffs that are limiting care. Handcuffs that are forcing me to discharge people long before they are back to where they want to be. Handcuffs that don’t allow me to work with people to achieve their goals.
What do I mean? Well, I’ll give you one of my latest situations. I had a patient who has a myriad of issues, but since they were showing a lack of progress prior to returning to their doctor, I was forced to discharge them. Why? You ask. Because if I did not, the insurance company would deny their care for lack of progress, and either the patient would get the bill, or I would have to write the bills off. That would be a loss for both of us. The patient begged to continue. I explained the situation to them but know that they felt betrayed. Explaining all of this to the patient and their family, coupled with the look of dejection on their faces, kept me up that night.
Another example of the shackles that insurance companies place on me is a patient who is trying to return to an active lifestyle. They are finally feeling that they can continue to progress toward their long-term goals but were denied care to continue. The insurance company only allows me to treat for activities of daily living. Your ability to wake, walk, work then repeat. Nothing more. No activities, no hiking, no running mechanics, no strength progression for long-term relief. Just the ability to return to activities of daily living. The doldrums of life with no thoughts of quality or longevity.
This progressive decline in my ability to care for my patients due to the insurance companies’ dictation of care based on numbers, not people, must end. Why do I tell you this? Because I am moving to a patient-centered approach. I am moving towards caring for my patients first, and the insurance companies less. We are moving to a new phase at Performance UNLIMITED Physical Therapy: PT Performance. I can’t wait to tell you more about how we can go back to serving you the way you deserve.
If you have issues that Performance UNLIMITED Physical Therapy can help with, please call us at (724) 816-3583 and we will be happy to talk to you.
