Telehealth Physical Therapy: A Guide to Virtual Rehabilitation

Telehealth physical therapy has revolutionized the way patients receive care, offering convenience and accessibility without compromising on quality. This innovative approach allows patients to connect with licensed physical therapists from the comfort of their homes, ensuring they receive the necessary guidance and support for their recovery. According to the American Physical Therapy Association, patients utilizing telehealth have experienced good results with minimal provider or patient risk, reinforcing the credibility and appropriateness of telehealth options in physical therapy.

What is Telehealth Physical Therapy?

Telehealth physical therapy is a modern approach to delivering physical therapy services remotely through digital platforms like video conferencing or phone calls. This innovative method allows patients to receive care from the comfort of their own homes, provided they have a reliable internet connection and a suitable technological device.

The rise of telehealth physical therapy has been significant, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly half of physical therapy sessions involving telehealth in 2020. This shift has brought numerous benefits, including increased accessibility for patients who may face barriers to in-person visits, enhanced patient engagement, and reduced costs for both patients and providers. By leveraging healthcare software & technology, telehealth physical therapy ensures that quality care is just a click away.

Public Health Emergency Surge

Telehealth physical therapy has seen a steady rise in popularity over the past few years, and its use was greatly accelerated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most clinicians and clinics in the healthcare space, including health care providers, have no doubt by now heard of telehealth and many may have even implemented remote care in their own clinic already. While virtual PT and the ability to access care via a mobile phone, video conferencing platform of other technology platform is growing in popularity, some physical therapists may still have a few reservations about things like efficacy, logistics, patient privacy, ability to deliver care effectively, and the quality of the patient experience.

Not to mention that in order to support telehealth as a viable option, patient education and potential social determinants of health play a factor (for example, the need for reliable internet connection as a factor for treatment and to easily educate patients prior to a telehealth visit or ongoing virtual visits.)

The Role of the Licensed Physical Therapist

Licensed physical therapists play a crucial role in guiding patients through telehealth sessions, ensuring they can effectively practice exercises at home and manage their symptoms independently. Additionally, licensed therapists and physical therapy assistants (PTAs) are adapting to provide telehealth physical therapy services, helping to maintain the effectiveness and accessibility of care through virtual platforms.

In this article, we’re going to address these concerns with a few examples and answer some common questions about telehealth physical therapy, including:

• What exactly is telehealth physical therapy or virtual PT?
• How does telehealth physical therapy compare with traditional in-person physical therapy?
• What are the benefits and concerns that may come along with this form of virtual treatment?

Read about the latest advancements in virtual PT care in this article about digital MSK

How Does Telehealth or Virtual PT Work?

Telehealth is a form of virtual treatment that utilizes technology to connect patients with licensed physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech pathologists, without the patient and therapist needing to be in the same physical location. This is a technological advancement not previously common in traditional care.

The exact technical configuration varies from therapist to therapist but the general setup involves both the therapist and the patient utilizing some form of quality camera and audio recording equipment to facilitate the treatment.

So long as PTs have access to a HIPAA compliant software system, remote care offers easy access to treatment for patients without compromising good outcomes. Additionally, it allows the clinic and its employees to spent time offering therapeutic support without losing time to a daily commute. But, more on that later.

Stay up to date with the latest in remote therapeutic monitoring and remote patient monitoring

The Role of the Physical Therapist in Telehealth

In the realm of telehealth, the role of the physical therapist remains as crucial as ever. A physical therapist is responsible for diagnosing and treating patients with various injuries or health conditions that impair movement, function, or cause pain. In a virtual setting, a physical therapist, often referred to as a virtual physical therapist, performs these duties through video conferencing or pre-recorded home exercise plan (HEP) videos. During a virtual physical therapy session, the therapist demonstrates exercises and stretches, guiding the patient through each movement. The patient then mirrors these actions, while the therapist provides real-time verbal feedback to ensure proper technique and maximize the effectiveness of the exercises. This interactive approach helps maintain the high standards of care that patients expect from in-person visits, all within a virtual environment.

The Benefits of Telehealth PT for Care Providers

Not only does telehealth physical therapy deliver benefits for patients, but it also carries plenty of benefits for care providers as well. Telehealth services allow providers to be more efficient in their scheduling and reduce travel time to zero.

Online physical therapy allows a physical therapist and online physical therapy providers to be more efficient in their scheduling. Instead of dealing with issues of patients being late because of traffic or weather, or the physical therapist having to drive long distances to provide on-site care for an in person appointment, travel time is cut to zero with virtual sessions.

Additionally, if a patient no-shows or cancels, the opportunity to schedule replacement virtual sessions on short notice may be more effective. That’s just a start though. There are additional benefits to a telehealth appointment compared to in person treatment.

Additional Online Physical Therapy Benefits

The conveniences that come with telehealth are extremely helpful. When patients are happier and have more options, they’re more likely to complete care. And when patients complete care, it means better patient outcomes and a stronger bottom line. It also means a more satisfied physical therapist.

Third, it provides unique opportunities to engage in new ways. For example, if you have patients that still prefer in-person care, you have the opportunity to offer ‘booster sessions’ in between regularly scheduled in-person sessions. It’s a chance to augment care and better engage with patients for better outcomes.

Effectiveness of Telehealth Physical Therapy

The effectiveness of telehealth physical therapy has been a topic of much research and discussion. Studies have consistently shown that the outcomes of virtual physical therapy are comparable to those of traditional face-to-face sessions. Telehealth PT offers minimal risk to patients, particularly when therapists can accurately assess the suitability of virtual sessions and have the necessary tools to support remote care. Research indicates that telehealth physical therapy can significantly improve patient outcomes, often in fewer sessions, and contribute to reducing overall healthcare costs. This evidence supports the growing adoption of telehealth services, demonstrating that virtual physical therapy is not only a viable alternative but also a potentially more efficient and cost-effective option for many patients.

Concerns with Using Telehealth Physical Therapy

While many would agree that the benefits outweigh any concerns when it comes to telehealth physical therapy, this discussion would be incomplete without visiting these potential drawbacks.

The most important question and concern people have is the efficacy and effectiveness of the treatment in a telehealth appointment. If it’s not as effective as in person visits, is it really worth it? Well, the answer would be no, it wouldn’t be worth it if hands on treatment techniques were clearly superior.

Thankfully, that’s not a concern that we need to worry about. According to a 2020 study on telehealth conducted by FOTO Analytics, telehealth visits and virtual therapy are as effective in rehab therapy as in-person care. In fact, the study suggests that telehealth may promote greater efficiency of care by delivering comparable results in fewer visits.

Additionally, concerns about costs must be addressed. And while this certainly would be a major concern a decade ago, the commoditization of streaming technology has significantly lowered the costs for both providers and patients. Yes, the upfront costs are still there, but the economic spreading effect lowers the impact over time and turns these upfront costs into savings.

Should You Consider Telehealth Physical Therapy for Your Practice?

While this is a decision best made on a case-by-case basis, offering patients more convenience and flexibility at a better price most certainly is a good thing. A telehealth physical therapy visit requires a proper technical setup, but no prior training is necessary for patients. And with the knowledge that telehealth physical therapy can offer similar results in potentially fewer sessions, it certainly merits further exploration.

And an important closing thought on telehealth physical therapy to keep in mind is that virtual physical therapy doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. The aforementioned data study showed that physical therapy benefits were present in cases where only some degree of telehealth PT was utilized.

What that means for you, if you currently offer telehealth physical therapy or are getting into providing virtual physical therapy, is that you can dip your toe in the shallow end first. Telehealth physical therapy doesn’t have to be a headfirst jump off the high dive for patients to see results working with a physical therapist.

Your physical therapy practice can offer virtual physical therapy and telehealth services, starting by testing it by offering just one virtual physical therapy session. See if telehealth physical therapy is right for your physical therapists and if offering telehealth services is something your physical therapy practice can scale over time.

Conclusions on Online Rehab Therapy

Physical therapist who would like to learn more about implementing the beneficial aspects of telehealth physical therapy into their physical therapy practice are invited to reach out today and speak with a member of our team.

Our staff is made up of former physical therapists and industry experts who are not only familiar with the intricacies of offering a telehealth physical therapy session. As former physical therapists ourselves, we are familiar with all physical therapy services and the daily pitfalls that keep a physical therapist from doing what they love best, helping patients heal.

Speak to a memeber of our team to learn about how telehealth visits can take your practice to the next level. Online physical therapy treatment continues to become commonplace and more and more physical therapists are familiar with the benefits of online physical therapy.

A virtual physical therapy session can benefit both patients and the physical therapist alike. Whether offering physical therapy appointments through virtual therapy currently or solely manual therapy via a more traditional in person visit, we have the medical knowledge to discuss the benefits of remote monitoring, patient care, and the aspects of burnout reduction that can come by being a telehealth physical therapist.If you’d like to learn more about how you can start implementing the benefits of telehealth into your practice, we’d invite you to reach out today and speak with a member of our team. with a member of our team.