A Problem Worth Solving

Physical therapists struggle to get patients to perform prescribed home exercises. 72% of patients don’t adhere to the home exercise program prescribed by the doctor. This, in turn, creates two larger problems for practitioners. Patients don’t recover as quickly, and become frustrated at the “waste of time”, eventually discontinuing their care. Second, physical therapists don’t have quantifiable data to leverage in their conversations with insurance companies to justify continued care for their patients.

On the patient side of the equation, there are many disconnects once the patient leaves the physical therapist’s office. Physical therapists have limited access to how their patients are feeling during their prescribed home exercise programs, leaving the practitioner mostly in the dark in between visits. Additionally, no one is there to correct the patient at home when performing their home exercise program. A flaw that almost always ends in the patient doing the exercises with less than ideal technique, or worse, deciding not to do the exercises at all. Poor communication, improper movement patterns and a lack of accountability inhibits the recovery process for the patient and ultimately hurts the physical therapist’s practice.

On the other side, treatment can take longer originally prescribed by a physician, necessitating extended treatment plans and approval from insurance. The physical therapist then must negotiate with the patient’s insurance company to extend the coverage. Physical therapists are at an extreme disadvantage in this situation, having limited tangible data to use when speaking with the insurance company. This is a tough situation to be in for a practitioner because they are honestly at the mercy of the insurance company.

At Oli we are focused on solving these problems!

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