As reimbursements drop and the ability for traditional physical therapy practices to provide quality individualized care (while maintaining profit margins) is further strained, these issues are becoming better known to the general public. Case in point: NPR just ran a story on this topic and highlighted a fee-for-service Physical Therapy clinic in Washington DC.

Here’s a clip from the story:

Rising Costs And Frustrations

“As in any business, the more customers you see, in this case the more patients you treat, the more income you can generate,” says Scott Ward, the president of the American Physical Therapy Association. He says insurance company regulations and policies essentially force physical therapists to see as many patients as they can.

“Frankly, I think the biggest challenge and likely the biggest frustration are these regulations and policies associated with payment and care,” Ward says.

Susan Pisano, a spokeswoman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, says it’s a dilemma caused by the rising cost of care in the U.S. “Our members are trying to do the best they can to serve consumers and employers who are saying we really can’t absorb any more cost increases,” she says.

Still, Pisano says insurers have a ways to go when it comes to streamlining things. So for some patients, it means your physical therapist may have to spend as much quality time with a stack of papers as she does treating you.

Read or listen to the whole story here

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