TELEHEALTH: WHAT IT IS AND WHY IT MATTERS WHO YOU GET IT FROM

We’re now in the midst of the second week of Governor Kate Brown’s Executive Order 20-12: Stay Home, Save Lives.  While the order sounds very definitive in its social distancing directives for local businesses, the truth is that it still allows for some self-interpretation regarding the concept of “essential health care”.  Regardless, most physical therapy clinics in the Portland, Oregon area are making the move towards telehealth options to maintain care for their patients.  

While telehealth isn’t a completely new concept to the medical world, it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic that Medicare allowed for physical therapists to use it.  Like most reimbursement rules, once Medicare makes a decision third party payers such as Blue Cross, Aetna, etc are quick to follow suit. But with all this sudden talk about remote physical therapy a lot of patients are left with questions about the mechanics of how such a thing will work.  

Will it cost me more than my regular physical therapy visits?

Will they (both the therapist and the insurance company) allow telehealth to continue once the pandemic is over?

How does telehealth work if my therapist can’t put their hands on me?

Truthfully, no one knows how the ins and outs both logistically and financially will work out as the weeks go on.  But for now, we celebrate the fact that insurance companies are allowing people to continue receiving physical therapy while allowing outpatient physical therapists to do their part in reducing the spread of disease.  And while we can’t predict what the future will bring in terms of how the insurance companies decide to act, we can give you some practical guidance on how to make the most of your remote rehabilitation sessions since we have been utilizing telecommunications with patients and clients for both physical therapy and nutrition since our inception.  

1. Make sure you have a good connection
   The importance of having a solid data or internet connection during a telehealth session is pretty obvious, but more than that is the importance of having a good connection with the therapist you are working with.  You see, physical therapy and nutrition consulting for us are fairly personal services.  We try to get to know our patients well so that we can apply solutions that are meaningful and manageable for each individual.  Because video conferencing does not have the same look and feel as an in-person conversation it is important that you are able to sense a good connection with the provider that you are working with.  
   
   

2. Minimize distractions
   This is a challenging one, particularly if you have little ones to attend to, but this one is particularly important.  You see, our belief is that the success of a telehealth session weighs heavily on the providers’ ability to truly hear your concerns, ask poignant questions, and provide practical and personal solutions to help you manage your situation.  It goes far beyond you listing out what hurts and your provider talking you through a checklist of exercises. 
   
   

3. Be prepared with specifics
   Questions, concerns, symptom patterns, activity history, comfort levels, attempts at self-management, etc.  This is true for in-person visits as well, but especially true for remote sessions because body language is especially challenging to communicate and read via technology.  Your provider should also be prepared to ask secondary and tertiary questions based on the information that you provide, and that is easier to do when you as the patient can give as much detail as possible.  
   
   

4. Be realistic
   Telehealth is not ideal.  Despite the fact that we have been implementing it for years we will admit that it is not the better alternative to an in-clinic session.  Telehealth is, however, the better option if there are no providers near you that can provide honest and personal solutions to your circumstances with interventions that are void of false promises.  So when you are discussing with your clinician over Skype, Zoom, or any other platform be understanding that you are going to get out of it what you put in. The communication works best when it is bidirectional, honest, and with clearly defined boundaries upfront.  Realize that there will be “homework” to do and make honest efforts to convey how much of it you can expect to get done given the fact that the majority of us are now trying to balance full-time jobs, learning to be homeschool teachers, moonlighting as full-time chefs, and trying not to drive other members of your home crazy with your cabin fever.  
   
   

5. Be patient
   Companies are doing their best to educate themselves on the mechanics of it, equip their clinicians with the essential tools to be successful at it, and inform their patients on the availability of it in an effort to not lose steam or patient revenue.  Everyone, including you as the patient or client, is doing their best to keep things moving in a positive direction. This is a learning process for all and the learning curve can be steep (or shallow, depending on your definition of a “learning curve”).  

The fact of the matter is that the industry’s knowledge and practical application of telehealth is as rapidly evolving as our knowledge of COVID-19 itself.  This will be further convoluted by the constant changes in insurance policy regulations and is a practice that many outpatient clinics will likely do away with once the quarantine is over.  

Being a physical therapy and nutrition consulting company that has played outside of the insurance game since the beginning has allowed us to gain the experience necessary to help our clients get the most out of their remote sessions.  So while the rest of the physical therapy industry is trying to get up and running with telehealth, we are continuing it as we always have been. And when they do away with telehealth visits once the pandemic slows down we will continue it in unwavering fashion, operating on the same continued principle of prioritizing our patient’s success over tradition and maximizing reimbursement dollars. 

If you are in need of some guidance surrounding an injury, help with crafting a targeted nutrition plan, or just wanting some assistance in devising a creative solution to exercise while stuck at home do not hesitate to click the button below and reach out to one of us.