This blog is part of a series by Aaron Brandwein on his personal experience receiving care from a physical therapist after having shoulder surgery. Check out his other blogs here.
As someone who has had a successful 25-year career in sales and marketing, I cannot stress enough the importance of communication, and that applies to many aspects of life, especially healthcare. Without clear communication, health conditions can go undetected or grow more serious, leading to poor outcomes.
Connecting with patients outside of visits has never been more important than it is at this post-pandemic time in history. That means being able to interact with the patient between doctor visits to monitor how a treatment plan is progressing and then be able to intervene in real-time if an urgent need arises.
I know that first-hand. When I was suffering from a shoulder injury and needed to work with a physical therapist, it was strong communication with my therapist that kept me on track.
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Key to Getting Better
Through my care journey, I was able to communicate with my therapist in between visits when the exercises prescribed for my treatment plan didn’t seem to be working. When I communicated what was happening in real-time, my PT got back to me and recommended alternative exercises that ended up getting better results and served to hasten my recovery.
Sure, I could have stayed with what was recommended during the initial visit, but as things progressed and I noticed that my shoulder wasn’t feeling better, I felt the need to reach out to my therapist and get some answers. Luckily, she was able to make the time to respond with helpful guidance that made all the difference for me.
Strengthening Relationships
I found that having a satisfying relationship with my provider was key to my successful outcome, and looking back, I can see how it motivated me to complete my treatment plan. If I had not felt like the exercises were working and I didn’t interact with her, I might have become skeptical about the treatment and decide to quit seeing my PT. If I had done that, my shoulder might not have recovered as well as it did.
Instead, I was able to stay in contact with my PT during my healing process and start seeing improvement more quickly, which inspired me to stay on track with my visits.
Positive Patient Engagement
Let’s face it, engaging in physical therapy can be time-consuming. Some episodes of care for rehab therapy can last months. In our busy lives, it’s easy to get side-tracked and fall away from adhering to our provider’s care plan, especially when it doesn’t seem to be making a difference. So, developing a strong relationship during that time is vital for success, and communication is key.
Sometimes, patients become confused about what they are supposed to be doing. They worry they’re not doing the exercises right, and a simple exchange via email, text or a quick call can go a long way to keeping them engaged.
That’s why Net Health developed a Patient Engagement Suite that integrates with our rehab therapy EHR. It gives therapists a tool to easily create personalized, automated correspondence to keep their patients engaged like my therapist kept me engaged. Net Health’s PES offers a patient portal where patients can log on and correspond with their therapists more quickly.
This correspondence increases the likelihood that patients will complete their episode of care by providing patients with at-home exercise programs and tips to help them stay on track—just as it did for me when working through my shoulder injury.
Check out my first two blogs in this series:
How I Found My Physical Therapist
Why I Stayed with My Physical Therapist
Next Steps
If you’d like to know more about how Net Health might be able to help and make communication more valuable for you and your patients, feel free to email me at aaron.brandwein@nethealth.com or call me at 417-299-2308.
Otherwise visit us to learn if our Patient Engagement Suite is something that could help you build your business and drive more revenue.
10 Practical Tips for Taking Your Physical Therapy Practice Management to the Next Level
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