PT Pintcast - Physical Therapy

What You Need to Know About Your Insurance and Disability Coverage

Will Butler is a physical therapist turned financial advisor on a mission to change healthcare by improving the lives of clinicians through financial education and planning.

Will posted an Instagram story about the importance of understanding disability insurance. He suggests physical therapists should consider insuring themselves due to the physical demand in patient care.

Short term disability refers to being out of work for 0-3 months. Will post the question what if a PT needs to be out longer than 3 months or indefinitely?

All physical therapists should be asking

-  Do I have disability benefits? Short term and long term?

-  What are the basics for short term and long term disability? Is there an elimination period? Any exclusions?

-  How long does long term disability last? 

To seek appropriate financial assistance, a financial advisor like Will is superior to a financial website or no assistance at all. Check out Will Butler to get all your financial questions answered.

If you have questions about loan repayment, Will recommends Joe Reinke who helps physical therapists strategize repayment plans. Check out Joe Reinke with FitBux.  

QUOTES

“The first person you blame is the last person you saw.” – WILL

“Respect a professional’s profession.” – JIMMY

“Know what the definition of disability is.” – WILL

“You need to understand what money is coming in and what money is going out grossly.” – WILL

PARTING SHOT

59:44 “People need to save early, save often, and save differently. Quit worrying about what the person next to them might be doing.” – WILL

Kacey Kline is a physical therapist assistant working in an outpatient clinic associated with Midwestern University’s DPT Program in Arizona. She continually works towards advocacy and inclusion of PTA’s in the profession.

Kacey thinks bringing a PTA in from the start of a patient’s plan of care is the best way to build rapport, consistency, and proper expectations for treatment. Between the PT and PTA, creating open lines of communication diminishes microaggressions towards PTAs.

She believes involving PTAs on physical therapy websites and organizations without being separated from PTs would expand PTAs inclusion in the physical therapy community.

QUOTES

5:52 “If you have any idea that your PTA is going to be part of the therapeutic team, they have to be a part of the conversation.” – KACEY

PARTING SHOT

38:45 “Basic patient care, basic good practice is just open lines of communication between your colleagues.” – KACEY

What Do You Need To Know About Inter-Professional Care?

MeMe Earnest is a neurology resident graduate at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center, director of communications for MoveTogether, and practice lead for the Adaptive Sports SIG of AASPT.

Within her residency, she worked in an interdisciplinary team including PT, OT, SLP, chiropractor, PM&R, and other PT residents.

MeMe mentioned her #1 question from students was what does the day by day look like as a resident? She was performing a different task every day which included treating, teaching, presenting, receiving mentorship, and working a fitness wellness program called Gerofit.

As practice lead on the Adaptive Sports SIG, her job is to communicate on practice guidelines and research for advancing the treatment of adaptive athletes.

QUOTES

14:30 “Adaptive sport and wellness is the perfect solution to that, making sure you have opportunities for individuals with disabilities in your community is huge.”- MEME

PARTING SHOT

25:15 “Meet the people where they are.” – MEME

Social Justice Lessons from Roger Williams by Dr. Lisa VanHoose

Keynote Presentation at the Northeast Regional Virtual Annual Conference 

Michelle Collie is CEO of Performance Physical Therapy and APTA President of Rhode Island introduces keynote speaker Lisa VanHoose. During the conference, Michelle will be speaking on the “Telehealth Panel: The Role of Telehealth in the Future of Our Profession.”

Lisa VanHoose is an Associate Professor and Program Director in the Physical Therapy Department at the University of Louisiana Monroe. She speaks on “Social Injustice Lessons We Learn from Roger Williams.” 

She focuses on the “Five Principles of Social Injustice” by Roger Williams

* Access* Equity* Diversity * Participation* Human Rights 

Mic Drop

“If you know better, do better.” - Lisa VanHoose

The Truth In Sexual Health Physical Therapy

Jocelyn Connolly is a pelvic floor physical therapy in Arizona and building her own online coaching business called The Vagina Doc Physical Therapy & Wellness. 

Jocelyn emphasizes why physical therapists should be screening for sexual health. She educates her patients on four facets of health – physical, mental, spiritual, and sexual to link pieces together contributing to a patient’s problem and overall health.

In her business, she created a model for patients to actively participate in their care while providing thorough patient care and education. At initial visits, she supplies a journal for her patients to assess their own progress and rate priorities of their pelvic health.

QUOTES

27:39 “One thing that people need to understand is they have to be emotionally ready to experience not only not only wins or steps forward, but the steps backwards.” – JOCELYN

PARTING SHOT

39:44 “Don’t be afraid to learn about your own pelvic health. Do your own self exploration.” – JOCELYN

What You Need To Know In Oncology PT - Part 3

Kelly Reed, Paula Stout, and Aubrene Fiore are all physical therapists passionate about all thing’s oncology rehab each certified and specialized in fields of oncologic PT, lymphedema, pelvic health, and wounds.

Kelly dives into breast and gynecologic cancer rehab treatment and the symptoms associated with these cancers. Lymphedema is highly associated with these cancers and treated using complete decongestive therapy by PT's. Check out Kelly’s Instagram and Youtube channel the Cancer Rehab PT.

Paula emphasizes the importance of patient education about cancer related fatigue, lymphedema, side effects of treatment, and energy conservation. Exercise is the #1 treatment for cancer related fatigue.  

Physical therapists should be on the surveillance team by working with this patient population from the beginning and at an ongoing basis throughout treatment.

Aubrene educates us how wounds are multifactorial when treating cancer and lymphedema patients. It is important to look at considerations such as co-morbidities, multiple surgeries, nutrition, body mass, and cancer related effects.

If you are interested in oncology physical therapy, check out the Academy of Oncology Physical Therapy.

PARTING SHOT

“These symptoms, these side effects that these individuals, these patients are going through, they are common but they are not normal and they should not have to live with these long term. – KELLY

“In terms of wounds, my favorite product is a silver silicone wound dressing that you can get over the counter.” – AUBRENE

“Physical therapy should be part of the cancer care continuum.” – PAULA

Kyle Covington, Gus Martinez, Lynn DiPirro, and Clarence Holmes are all highly involved in the APTA here to talk about their “why” to attend APTA National Student Conclave.

As of today, this virtual NSC is the highest recorded for registration with over 1,800 students. All students registered for NSC will have a 50% off registration at APTA CSM which will be held virtually.

The panel agrees that NSC is an opportunity to show students other areas of physical therapy that students may not be exposed to in the classroom or clinic.

Student Assembly Board of Directors voting ends November 7th. Cast your vote today! All student members are eligible to vote in this election. There is a meet and greet with the candidates live at 12pm ET on November 7th.

NSC is a great first step for students to dive into the national level created by students for students. All students who attend NSC are leaders.

PARTING SHOT

“Find your path, get involved. Make the profession better. Make us more accessible to our patients in some way.” – CLARENCE

“You have a voice. Get involved and have a voice in your profession and in your clinic but in the APTA and in your community.” – KYLE

“Get involved early because those connections that you make super early make getting involved as a new grad or later on in your career an easy phone call away.” – LYNN

“These conferences these networking opportunities are a way for us to learn about our tribe, our community and share ideas that we may have never been exposed to through school.” – GUS

Rupal Patel is a physical therapist and professor at Texas Woman's University. Lisa VanHoose is the physical therapy program director at the University of Louisiana Monroe and owner of the Ujima Institute. Zachary Rethorn is a Faculty Development Resident at Duke University, owns his own telehealth practice called Rethorn Physical Therapy and Practice and current PhD Student in health promotion and wellness.

Rupal, Lisa, and Zachary spoke together at CSM in Denver on their presentation “Better Together in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Engaging Diverse Populations to Improve Rehabilitation Outcomes.”

To breakdown DEI, diversity are all the components that create a person. Equity is those opportunities or objects that become fit for an individual. Inclusion is welcoming the diversity of others.

Discussing public health issues, these begin to include people with disabilities, lower literacy, language barriers, and communities with minimal opportunities. The communities that integrate DEI into their culture demonstrate less gap between high-income and low-income individuals.

There are different factors that affect health – 40-50% of health is related to our social context and environment. Healthcare and access to healthcare is at most 20% of health. Our health behaviors make up the rest of the 30-40%.

The panel believes clinical practice will begin to shift by diving deeper into a patient’s social environment as health begins in those social contexts. The biggest barrier is starting the conversation. Someone’s own self efficacy and self-confidence can get in the way of addressing the sensitive issues of our patients.

The Health Leads Social Needs Screening Toolkit helps clinicians to take those steps to understand a patient's social needs. The AAFP has a Neighborhood Navigator Tool and the website findhelp.org are great ways to connect patients with supportive resources in their community.

To improve physical therapy outcomes, looking “upstream” means to consider other factors that could be contributing to a patient’s health rather than solely looking at the condition or chief complaint. Check this TED Talk about upstream medicine and how upstreaming can improve your patient’s outcomes.

QUOTES

11:43 “Voting rights are a public health issue.” – RUPAL

16:22 “So everyone brings diversity into a room with them. It’s just whether or not we recognize it.” – LISA

19:23 “An inclusive group by definition can be diverse, but a diverse group is not always inclusive.” – RUPAL

23:02 “Why do we treat people and then send them back to the very condition that made them sick.” – ZACHARY

27:45 “The folks that have had enough, they don’t need to listen. I think there are plenty of folks who want to listen and learn.” – RUPAL

Multiple Expert Perspectives on a Post Covid-19 World

Welcome to the 2020 Malek School of Health Professions Lecture from Marymount University. Tonight our topic is: “When the Pandemic Wanes: Perspectives on a Post Covid World”We will address this topic with the help of four esteemed experts from Marymount University. 

They are leaders in the areas of:Business and Innovation, Health Care and Journalism and Mass Communication. 

The format tonight is organized with the audience in mind. 

We will introduce each panelist individually, and let them speak about how they see their areas of expertise being affected by the current global pandemic.

Once each panelist has had an opportunity to give their amazing insight, we will bring them all back on screen for you to be able to see how these areas are interconnected.

Guests:

Ken Harwood 

is currently the Dean and Professor at the Malek School of Health Professions, is a licensed Physical Therapist and Certified Industrial Ergonomist.  

He has published and presented nationally and internationally on a number of topics including health care policy and leadership, health care safety, and quality and low back pain.

Jonathan Aberman 

is a nationally recognized expert on innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic development. Over his career, he has helped to start 20 technology companies, and has advised many national and state political leaders. He is currently the Dean of Marymount's School of Business & Technology. He writes a regular “Amplified” column for the Washington Business Journal.

Dr. Ginny Bianco-Mathis 

is an author, consultant, and professor in the area of organizational change and leadership. 

She is a sought after presenter for her recent book, Everyday Coaching and leader and fellow podcast host in the area of remote teams--how to develop culture beyond the four walls of corporate America.

Dr. Kimberly Meltzer 

teaches and conducts research about journalism and technology, and political communication.  Prior to her academic career, Dr. Meltzer worked for news organizations including CNN, NBC, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.  She is the author of two books about news and journalism, including her recent book From News to Talk: The Expansion of Opinion and Commentary in US Journalism, and she is the faculty advisor to Marymount's student-produced newspaper, The Banner.

How To Become An Effective Patient Educator With PhysioSage

Karla Wente and Megan Lamphere are physical therapists that developed PhysioSage to provide up-to-date, widely sourced content that is interactive and easily accessible on social media.

PhysioSage’s mission is to create a platform for PT/PTA to become stronger patient educators in physical therapy. They provide FREE resources on their website and Instagram (@PhysioSage) which include educational content, mentorship, and continuing education.

Five main values PhysioSage focuses on called “Sage Subjects”

* Clinical reflection* Teaching* Learning* Health Literacy* Patient Empowerment

QUOTES

9:17 “If you are more engaged in your patient care because you are positioned as a patient educator, you are going to get better patient outcomes.” – KARLA

12:25 “Having a patient say I learned so much, that is a reflection of the fact that I was there as an educator for them, but they’re empowered now.” – KARLA

PARTING SHOT

37:26 “Ask your patients what they want on a daily basis. It might change from session to session so ask them every session what they need.” – MEGAN

37:43 “Position yourself as a patient educator and do that by reflecting, teaching, learning, meeting your patient where they’re at and always try to empower them.” – KARLA