Today, remote care has become the norm of care delivery for most medical sectors. Going hand in hand, telehealth platforms and telemedicine software is swiftly making progress sitting on the backs of telecommunications solutions available today. One such example is telehealth physical therapy where licensed therapists are providing care over real-time video calls.
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From increasing accessibility to cost-saving, telehealth is helping physical therapy grow well beyond traditional in-person care delivery. It enables patients to talk face-to-face with their doctors without leaving work and home.
In this article, we will cover everything there is to know about telehealth in physical therapy. Stay tuned.
What This Article Covers:
- What Is Telehealth Physical Therapy?
- Benefits
- How Is It Delivered?
- Disadvantages
- First-visit Requirements
- Conclusion
What Is Telehealth Physical Therapy?
Telehealth is a branch of medicine that leverages digital and telecommunication software to enable medical practitioners to provide care to patients remotely. Regarding physical therapy, the traditional approach was for patients to visit a clinic to obtain treatment and therapeutic instructions from professionals. Telehealth in physical therapy became popular with the COVID-19 pandemic.
When patients could no longer visit clinics, therapists set up online appointments to provide physical therapy treatment remotely. Today, numerous licensed physical therapists accommodate patients in online appointments according to their requirements.
Different medical software is integrated with video conferencing and messaging features to enable telemedicine at a moment’s notice.
Physical therapy and telehealth are fast becoming the primary source of care delivery for multiple medical treatments. Telehealth allows physicians to deliver convenient care remotely while helping to increase practice profitability manifold. Modern telehealth systems provide flexible tools for therapists to interact with patients and implement care plans quickly and efficiently.
According to a scientific brief published by WHO, the world has seen a 25% increase in mental and physical health issues among individuals of all age groups. To this end, telehealth in physical therapy is crucial in remotely delivering therapeutic treatments to patients. Not only that, but clinicians can also monitor patients’ health vitals in real time.
Primary Benefits
Telehealth physical therapy software offers many benefits not only to clinics but also to patients. The telehealth benefits in physical therapy range from easier access to care to reduced clinic visits.
It’s growing steadily as more and more physical therapists offer telehealth appointments as part of their treatment procedures. Further, this helps therapists focus on the patient at hand without distractions which in turn provides better success rates and health outcomes.
Improve Patient Engagement
Patient outcomes are directly proportional to patient engagement in a medical setting. For time immemorial, clinics have been trying to implement practices that will generate better patient engagement.
One aspect that telehealth in physical therapy excels in is flexibility. It provides an opportunity for clinics to redefine their approach to best suit the needs of patients. It also helps clinics increase productivity while patients get quicker assessments and treatment results.
Enhance Patient Outcomes
With telehealth, patients gain more direct control of their care plans and treatment progress. This helps therapists better understand what the patient wants and create an aligned treatment plan. It also helps therapists provide exercise and prescribe specific movements through a tool, enabling patients to continue the exercises in their homes anytime.
Increase Accessibility
Are you ever worried that you don’t have all the equipment required to join a telehealth session? Fret not, as you may have everything that is needed. Devices that have a microphone and screen will work just fine. Mobile phones, tablets and laptops will help you connect and have a successful telehealth appointment from the comfort of your home.
Maximize Insurance Coverage
In the U.S., almost all insurance companies have introduced unique coverage plans for telehealth physical therapy. This is a holy grail for chronically ill patients who require continuous exercise to stay healthy. Insurance claims are quickly processed and dispersed to clinics, taking the heavy load off patients’ shoulders.
Eliminate Transportation Requirements
One of the essential benefits of telehealth is the possibility of attending appointments without traveling long distances. People staying in the suburbs and outlying areas can quickly get in touch with a doctor miles away from them.
In addition, less travel saves many additional expenses for patients, allowing them to invest more money in their care. Clinics, on the other hand, can focus more on care delivery rather than managing long queues and check-in procedures.
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Delivery Methods
While telehealth provides myriad ways to deliver care through video calls remotely, here are some ways that perfectly align with physical therapy. Let’s take a look at them.
Live Video
With the “synchronous” method of care delivery, therapists and patients connect through live interaction on telecommunication devices such as mobile phones and tablets.
Patients can share issues in real-time and get quick feedback from their physicians. This speeds up the appointment processes and saves valuable time for both parties.
Store & Forward
Store and forward is also known as the asynchronous method of providing physical therapy. This helps both patients and therapists exchange medical files and lab reports between themselves through secure electronic pathways. Physicians use this scalable care delivery method to share X-ray scan reports and other information.
Remote Patient Monitoring
In today’s health care sector, monitoring patients 24/7 is important. With electronic gadgets and wearables with IoT technology providing real-time health readings, therapists want to stay updated. Remote patient monitoring is simply recording patients’ vitals remotely. It makes monitoring blood glucose and heart rates easier.
Mobile Health (mHealth)
mHealth is a new addition to the health care industry. Through this, patients receive important alerts, marketing notifications and product updates on mobile phones, tablets and laptops. WebPT’s Home Exercise Program (HEP) uses mHealth to keep patients on track with their physical exercises at home. This also helps clinics quickly send patients emergency alerts and canceled appointment notifications.
Physical therapy sessions include precise movements and exercises of the body. Online therapy sessions can feel slightly different initially, but trainers can demonstrate the correct body postures on video or send a file with a step-by-step explanation. Telemedicine technologies close the gap between in-person and online consultations, improving care delivery manifolds.
Disadvantages
While telehealth physical therapy offers many benefits to clinics and patients, the process has some downsides. Some of the limitations may cause hindrance to care delivery and cause major concerns for clinics.
We’ve listed down some of them here.
Improper Diagnosis
Often therapists experience difficulty in providing a proper diagnosis in the initial appointment. Although telehealth offers different avenues for patients to share pains and spots with injuries through video calls, it is tough for therapists to ascertain the cause. Therefore, improper diagnosis is one of the major limitations of telehealth in physical therapy.
Limited Treatment Option
While telehealth greatly emphasizes increasing mobility to provide better access to health care, it often takes away some treatment options. Therapists face challenges while providing manual stimulation of muscles, dry needle triggering and cupping poses online. It often results in lesser treatment services, resulting in improper treatment in most cases.
Less Guidance
With telehealth, patients can eliminate in-clinic exercises and do all the regimes themselves at home. Without expert supervision however, the patients often misunderstand the posture and methods, causing additional problems. Telehealth doesn’t offer real-time corrections, which otherwise would have been possible in the clinic.
First-visit Requirements
Preparing for a virtual visit can feel daunting for both patients and therapists. There is no reason to worry. There are a lot of different ways to prepare patients for their online doctor’s appointment. To help you understand the necessities, we’ve put together a list of things you need to keep in place. The primary requirements for a video chat appointment are:
- An internet connection with good bandwidth.
- Ensuring the patient has sufficient space to move around, lie down and stretch to show therapists troubled areas of the body.
- Good lighting.
- A mobile phone, laptop or tablet.
Apart from these, patients can note all the difficulties and health issues they currently face to make use of the entire time with therapists. The list might also include all the recent medications, symptoms, questions and concerns a patient might have.
During the chat, offer them additional programs, treatment schedules or exercise regimens you might want them to participate in. Also, suggest assistive technologies that a patient might require to understand the session better.
One aspect that causes some disturbance during an online appointment is background noise. While on your appointment call, ask the patient to find a quiet place around the house and avoid any background disturbance. This will help both parties converse and understand each other’s requirements and advice.
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Conclusion
Telehealth physical therapy is a new concept in the medical industry. The sector will continue to grow in the future as technologies continue to enter the medical world. As health care institutions adopt telehealth systems to provide physical therapy remotely, patients must receive education about the same. Assist patients with a list of therapy providers you partner with. Contact potential patients and set up video call appointments to help them receive better physical therapy.