Undoubtedly the word telehealth or some version of the word may be one of the most popular google word searches in 2020. The global COVID-19 pandemic has forced people throughout the world to search for other health care options.
The benefits of telehealth are not just during this pandemic, they exist at any time. Convenience, cost savings, and safety are all benefits of the telehealth setting compared to a brick and mortar office.
Convenience
How many times have you had an out of the house appointment and felt rushed? Or you wish you just had another 30 minutes to finish up the work assignment on your laptop? Have you ever felt rushed to get out of the house, speeding over to your appointment, and feeling your stress level increase?
If you have a telehealth physical therapy appointment at 3:30PM, you can now literally work or spend time with your family right up until the time of your visit. The days of having to leave your house to rush to get to the PT clinic can now be over for you.
And let’s think about this for a second. On average, a patient receiving outpatient physical therapy is seen for a total of 10-12 visits. Let’s just look at the low side of that range, 10 visits. Hang with me, you’ll see where I’m going in a second. It is safe to say on average a patient has to account for 30 minutes getting to the clinic and 30 minutes getting back home or back to work from the clinic. Telehealth physical therapy visits will save you 10 hours of time over let’s say a 5 week period.
OK, so now we understand the 10 hours of time you will save over the 5 weeks. Let’s take it one step further. On average, a patient spends an hour in office for a physical therapy visit. Doing the math that is 10 hours for 10 visits. It is true that the initial evaluation when receiving telehealth physical therapy is typically an hour, but the follow up visits on average are 30 minutes maximum. The care with telehealth is so much more laser focused and distraction free. More math, I’m sorry…excluding the initial evaluation, there are 9 visits where you will save 30 minutes of time. That is 270 minutes, or 4 1/2 hours of time saving.
We know once time is gone it is gone. With telehealth physical therapy, the average patient will have 14 1/2 extra hours of time added back to their life. Think what you want about telehealth, but who wouldn’t want to have 14 1/2 hours of extra free time over a 5 week period? I know I would! What would you be able to do in your life in you were just given an extra 14 1/2 hours of time over a 5 week period?
Cost Savings
Three things come to mind when I consider cost savings and choosing telehealth physical therapy…travel expense, potential child care cost, and potential savings on your actual visits. Let’s dive into each of these.
Travel expense is pretty simple to understand. Let’s say your physical therapy clinic is 10 miles from your house or work. That is 20 miles per visit on your car. Again, if we use a 10 visit average for outpatient physical therapy, that is 200 miles on your car you have saved by going the telehealth route. Let’s look at that as a $20-$30 total savings in gasoline cost.
If you have a young child, and you attend outpatient physical therapy, there is a very good chance you may need to find child care. It is difficult as a patient to focus on what you need to focus on during your visit when your young child is behaving as a typical young child during your PT visit. Also, secondary to the COVID-19 pandemic, the standard being used is patients only back in the treatment area.
Using our 10 visit example and using $20 for childcare as an example, you will save $200 by choosing the telehealth option. Your telehealth provider will be able to schedule your visit at a convenient time for you and your young child.
Finally, there are potential cost savings on your actual telehealth physical therapy. This is totally dependent on your insurance plan. Some insurance plans reimburse physical therapy as a flat dollar amount, regardless of the length of the visit. However, if you have an insurance plan that reimburses the physical therapist based on time of care provided…and you have a deductible or co-insurance responsibility…you will see cost savings. Telehealth visits (after the initial evaluation) will be shorter than what you would have in an office setting.
It is difficult to give an exact number here, but let’s say you could pay $30 less per visit by choosing the telehealth option. Again, using our example of a 10 visit plan of care, you are looking at a $300 savings.
Let’s add it up. If you choose to receive your physical therapy with a telehealth provider, you are looking at a potential cost savings of near $550. Who wouldn’t want this savings in their life over a 5 week period?
Safety
This is not to bash outpatient physical therapy clinics. The majority of outpatient clinics are very clean and the staff does a great job of sanitizing. But we are now in a time in our history that we haven’t experienced for 100 years. Until a vaccine is provided for COVID-19, we all run the risk of catching this horrible virus.
Staying home and seeing a telehealth physical therapist will eliminate any chance of you coming in contact with the virus during your PT visits. This is not a scare tactic, it is just the reality of our current times.
Conclusion
You now see that receiving your physical therapy with a telehealth provider has many benefits. Convenience, cost savings, and safety are all huge benefits of telehealth. You not only will have these benefits, but you will have a very focused one on one distraction free physical therapy session when seeing a telehealth physical therapist!
iMove TelePT is here for you. We will get you on the right track, all while you are in the safety and convenience of your own home. For more information, contact our Founder and Physical Therapist Dr. Michael Gorman at mgorman@imovephysicaltherapy.com or message him at (636) 578-3649.