Creating a More Stable Environment for Physical Therapists

Rising physical therapy co-payments have made physical therapy cost-prohibitive for some. Patients used to pay just $10 or $20 per physical therapy visit. Today, most patients are paying a co-payment of  $40 to $60 per visit.  Today’s expert is one of the physical therapists confronting this issue head-on.  Patrick Privatera, MS, PT, ATC, is president of Le Roy Physical Therapy and Village Fitness. He’s also the president of the Physical Therapy Alliance of Upstate New York. He shares some strategies you can use to create a more stable environment for your practice.

Privatera stresses how despite an increase in co-pays paid by patients, insurance companies are still paying physical therapists the same rate, and in some cases less. In essence, insurance companies are putting the financial burden of care on the patients. Physical therapists used to see patients 7-9 times and are now just seeing patients 2-4 times because of cost.

To address the financial constraints faced by many of his patients, Privatera finds himself spending more time educating patients and helping them learn techniques they can do at home to speed their recovery. They’ve also incorporated a fitness center into their practice that runs on a cash-pay basis where patients can get additional support.  To learn more about the efforts underway to combat ever-increasing co-payments listen to the full podcast now.

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