Straight to Relief: The Benefits of Direct Access Physical Therapy

Consider this:

It’s a typical Monday, but what's not typical is that back pain you woke up with. It's painful just to move out of bed. You take an Ibuprofen, lie on a hot pack and call out sick for work for the day.

You call your primary care provider’s office from your bed and schedule an appointment for Friday (luckily they can squeeze you in). You're instructed to continue taking Ibuprofen and to rest. You stay in bed due to pain, call off work for the week, and miss out on some deadlines you needed to complete as well as your son’s first basketball game.

Finally, it’s Friday. Your PCP thinks you have a slipped disc and recommends an x-ray, muscle relaxers and a referral to an orthopedic surgeon. You can’t get an appointment with the surgeon for an entire month. In the meantime, you are feeling a bit better and can return to work but are too uncomfortable to sit, so nothing gets done. Sleeping is difficult, you avoid going to the gym, and just generally are missing out.

You finally see the surgeon, who orders an MRI. You have a high deductible and have to pay for basically the entire study. Imaging reveals degeneration to the spine and he recommends that you try a round of physical therapy.

It has been 6 weeks: you have been living with pain, putting your life on hold, your afraid your back is messed up forever, and only finally getting some treatment! The traditional healthcare model is failing patients by allowing them to go on for so long without the most effective treatment.

Direct Access Physical Therapy

Musculoskeletal pain, once serious pathology is ruled out, is most effectively treated using an active approach, and all the research points to physical therapy. Doctors of Physical Therapy are trained to triage, evaluate, diagnose and treat musculoskeletal pain through an active, holistic approach. In the last several years, many states have authorized direct access physical therapy, which refers to services for evaluating and treating without a physician referral.

Instead of seeking the help from your primary care physician, which often takes you through a tenuous and long period of care, you can schedule an evaluation with physical therapist immediately with no referral. A direct access care model can result in significant advantages for people who seek help for pain.

1. Cost savings! Direct access PT has proven to save patient’s money by avoiding unnecessary visits to their primary care physician as well as imaging, medications and in general, time!
2. Time savings! Instead of waiting weeks to get a referral from your physician, direct access allows patients to schedule an appointment with a physical therapist immediately after experiencing an onset of pain. It allows patients to receive treatment and get better, more quickly, ultimately avoiding any delays in returning to work, exercise, and life in general! Greater success in a more timely manner.
3. Direct access is highly effective. Research has found that the direct access model is often more effective than the traditional route, and has shown to improve patient’s functional outcomes and reduce pain in a more efficient manner,
4. Did we mention it’s safe? Physical therapists are trained to rule out those those serious, “red flag” conditions. In general, physical therapy is a much safer alternative to surgery if you consider all of the risks involved, as well as opioids and injections. 
5. Direct access fosters self-efficacy. Direct access PT allows patients to feel empowered! As therapy can be considered an active approach to treating one’s pain, it fosters confidence and allows patients to take control of their pain and care. 

With direct access physical therapy, in particular with a platform like Aware Health, you can schedule a telehealth appointment the day of your initial pain onset. You can begin treatment without the delay of the traditional healthcare model. Your therapist will evaluate you, help you set goals, provide you a simple exercise program, and give you valuable education on movement.

Now, imagine this instead:

You wake up with back pain on a Monday and immediately schedule a telehealth evaluation with an Aware Health therapist. Your therapist evaluates you same-day and provides you with a diagnosis. You are assigned a simple stretch which actually really helps to relieve your pain! You are able to walk around your home after your session, and learn valuable ways to modify your work and sleep set-up so that you can function more comfortably.

You go back to work on Tuesday, get through the day, go for a walk after work and feel significantly better by Wednesday. Within a week or two, your back to hiking and CrossFit. You've saved weeks of your time and life, and money, thanks to direct access. 

What's your experience using a traditional healthcare model? Feel free to share your experiences below! At Aware Health, our goal is to get our patients back to living, faster.