PT Clinic Attracts Positive Local News Coverage about Telehealth Services Leveraging Media Relations

Whether it’s business as usual, you want to build credibility within your community, or you’re looking to grow your business, creating relevant content and getting the word out about your business activities can help your practice be successful. Especially now, as so many practices need a way to communicate with their patients and community during the pandemic about what they are doing to continue care.

Kinetix Advanced PT in California was ahead of the game when COVID-19 hit. They were already using Net Health’s content marketing services firm BuildPT to help them expand their brand presence. Kinetix Advanced PT had been receiving BuildPT’s Connect services, which include monthly blog posts, electronic and print newsletters, social media posts and press releases.

“Our staff has a lot of knowledge and experience, and we wanted to let our community know that we offer true expertise; that we know what we’re doing,” says co-owner and CFO Michelle Gawenda. “The problem is we are physical therapists, not writers, so we need help. We are impressed with BuildPT’s level of expertise and ability to create accurate content. Their content has even been able to help us get new business.”

Kinetix Advanced PT Hit the Ground Running

When the pandemic shut businesses down, Kinetix Advanced PT immediately launched telehealth services for their two locations. They have clinics in Valencia and Lancaster, which both serve the LA area. BuildPT quickly began helping Kinetix Advanced PT develop materials to promote the value of telehealth and inform the community about the new offering.

“When we saw how the virus was negatively affecting private practice PT clinics across the country, we reached out to Michelle to see if we could help Kinetix Advanced PT get the word out about clinic changes,” says BuildPT marketing manager Ben Montgomery. “She mentioned they were planning to roll out telehealth services at this clinic, so we strategized ways to share this news with various audiences. Writing and distributing a custom press release about these services was one of the ways we did this. We also posted news via their social media channels and sent out a number of COVID-related updates via email to their clients.”

Within a day of sending out the press release, a nutrition and fitness reporter for ABC7 Eyewitness News in LA, responded, wanting to set up an interview with Michelle and her Kinetix Advanced PT team.

Telehealth Can Make a Difference

In the story, a PT patient shared that her surgery to fix an injury from a ski accident had been indefinitely postponed because of COVID-19, leaving her with range-of-motion and pain problems. She found out that she could still receive physical therapy via telehealth. As a result, she has been able to manage her range of motion better while she waits to have surgery.

President and co-owner of Kinitex Advanced PT, Tim Eckard, PT, explained in the news segment that being able to do exercises and work with a physical therapist while waiting for surgery will help Ashley have a “much greater rehab potential”. Another physical therapist at Kinetix Advanced PT,  Rick Gawenda, who is also a leading national expert in telehealth, shared from his office that research shows that telehealth can save money for patients and insurance visits when used in conjunction with patient visits. Gawenda is also a leading national expert in ICD-10 coding, billing, document compliance, and revenue and practice management. He presented about telehealth and coding during a Net Health webinar on social distancing.

“This is great news coverage because it will help patients out there who are skeptical of telehealth to realize how much it can help them manage pain and inflammation while they are stuck at home,” Michelle says. “Hopefully, they will see that if they don’t get any care during COVID, their pain will increase and their range of motion will decrease, and without that telehealth bridge, they could start taking a bunch of steps backwards and end up at ground zero and have to start all over again.”

Learn more about Kinetix Advanced Physical Therapy.

Learn more about BuildPT. View Video Transcript

I got in a terrible ski accident and tore my ACL and my meniscus and then corona quarantine happened and my surgery is now indefinitely postponed.

Ashley Crouch is now doing physical therapy on her own, working hard to get her mobility back.

When I first got the injury, well I only had 45 degrees worth of motion. Anytime I put weight on it at all, I would stumble or it would twist and I would fall.

She got exercises from a physical therapist, but found it helpful when she was able to get a consultation through a tele PT program.

Physical therapy remains extremely important because we have those patients that have injuries, have lack of range of motion, lack of strength, might have gait issues, balance issues, at a fall risk, but yet they’re unable to come in.

Kinetix and other PTs use video conferencing technology to converse and allow the therapist to see how the client’s doing. We’re talking about tele PT, how something like this might prevent or prolong your surgery.

Possibly prolong it and you can give yourself a chance to improve your range of motion, your strength, minimize your pain. If you still have to have surgery, you’re going to have a much greater rehab potential.

They then provide video exercises to perform at home when convenient.

They get sent to them, to their email, and they’re able to pull those up and look at those. I will demonstrate myself and also observe the patient doing their exercises.

It’s a game changer during the current quarantine but Gawenda’s hoping this is a trend that will stick.

Research and studies out there that show telehealth can actually save patients, save insurances money when done in conjunction with in person visits.

Now I’m not using crutches anymore. I don’t have the leg brace anymore.