Multidisciplinary Healthcare Teams and Holistic Patient Care Become Standard
Health Equity
Patient Care
Regulatory + Reimbursement- Workforce + Operations
Polychronic patients make up 5% of the population but use 45% of annual medical costs.1 In the United States, the number of polychronic patients continues to grow, with the population expected to triple in just
15 years between 2015 and 2030.2 These patients typically see multiple healthcare providers to treat each condition separately based on the provider’s specialty. Polychronic patients are disproportionally affected by our fragmented healthcare system because they need to coordinate with various providers and accurately communicate what treatments they are undergoing when moving between practices.
Health information technology (HIT) and electronic health records (EHR) have assisted in transferring information between all providers. Still, in 2025, we expect to see additional steps toward holistic patient care, particularly for these vulnerable populations. The World Health Organization said, “Establishment of teamwork and collaboration in multi-professional teams is a major skill-mix change and is key for organizing and coordinating health and care services.” These teams include general practitioners, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, social workers, mental health care providers, nutritionists, community health workers, and more.3
Why it Matters
Sharing information between a team of medical professionals and making decisions based on input from all providers as well as the patient greatly improves health outcomes and patient satisfaction. Increased cross-team communication reduces adverse events, mortality, and lengths of stay during hospitalizations. This, in turn, leads to reduced medical costs due to fewer hospital readmissions and shorter hospital stays and increased job satisfaction for healthcare employees. The collaborative nature of multidisciplinary healthcare teams benefits the patient and the entire healthcare system, making it a standard for holistic patient care.
Multidisciplinary healthcare teams are fast becoming the norm, with medical schools now incorporating interdisciplinary teamwork into their curriculum as an essential skill. Physical therapists play a pivotal role in these teams, with their unique understanding of a patient’s movement, physical abilities, and need for support. Their involvement in treatment planning can prevent the need for surgery, reduce reliance on prescription drugs, enhance quality of life, and offer cost-effective treatment options for patients with complex medical histories.
Another significant development is the increasing prevalence of value-based payment systems, particularly for CMS and other health insurance companies. In this model, the quality of care is the primary determinant of payment, necessitating a team approach that encompasses all treatments and testing. Payments are typically made per episode and intended to be distributed among all providers involved in the patient’s care, marking a departure from the traditional fee-for-service model. With their expertise in movement and physical abilities, physical therapists will play an essential role in determining the most cost-effective way to treat ailments. Their unique understanding can point the medical team toward alternative therapies and treatments that can avoid costly surgeries or in-patient treatments.
Starting in 2019, the CMS required some physical therapists to participate in Quality Payment Programs. Care evaluation in these systems looks at patients’ outcomes and improvements in areas such as mobility, self-care, BMI, and fall risk.4
4 All of these fall under the physical therapist’s expertise. By participating extensively in the multidisciplinary team, physical therapists play an essential role in value-based care measured outcomes such as patient satisfaction, cost containment, and self-care.
Prepare for 2025
Get to know the other providers in your community and within your patients’ value-based care systems. Understand a patient’s full medical history to determine their current risk factors and recommend regular monitoring. Identify where additional support for physical therapy services can prevent disease degeneration or decrease independence.
Connection to Net Health
A comprehensive and user-friendly EHR will make you a great partner in a multidisciplinary team. Sharing information and analyzing data will be an essential competency moving forward so the entire team is always up to date on the latest progress or concerns for all patients. EHRs like Net Health ReDoc and Net Health Optima ensure that the entire team can access the information they need to make decisions in the patient’s best interest.
- https://www.pragmaticcoders.com/blog/healthcare-tech-trends-digital-health-trends
- https://www.advisory.com/content/dam/advisory/en/public/shared/Research/PEC/Resources/2019/Polychronic-Patient-Experience/Deliver-a-Quality-Driven-Patient-Experience-for-Polychronic-Patients.pdf
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK589250/
- https://www.apta.org/contentassets/6c8cff8f62214575b3d8c06e46359d73/physicaltherapistqualityportfolio2018.pdf
Advanced AI Used to Improve Treatment Planning and Streamline Billing
- Health Equity
- Patient Care
Regulatory + Reimbursement- Workforce + Operations
Artificial Intelligence is a buzzword in every industry in 2025, particularly for medical providers. Uses are rapidly evolving as the technology learns from expanded applications. AI can process large quantities of data quickly and cross-reference a set of data with what it has learned. This processing speed can benefit physical therapists and patients as the technology examines images and medical history to accurately predict healing, risk factors, root causes, and treatment plans. Rather than relying on one provider’s knowledge and experience, it can synthesize massive amounts of data to compare the patient to millions of other data points. This improves the accuracy of diagnosis and develops a more accurate treatment plan.
Why it matters
AI will continue to refine its suggestions for better, more effective treatment by adding data to the technology through documentation and measurement. Instead of following prescribed physical therapy programs, AI can help providers develop personalized treatment plans that consider a patient’s age, mobility, health history, and potential areas of concern. Customized plans will evolve as more information is gathered and the patient progresses through treatment and makes improvements. It can notice patterns, monitor trends, and predict needs quickly. Allowing AI to constantly iterate treatment plans in response to a patient’s progress leads to faster recovery times and more provider availability. This is particularly essential in rural or high-cost-of-living areas experiencing PT shortages.
An additional layer of support AI can offer is monitoring sessions with patients. AI can measure and track even minute changes in mobility, pain, angles, posture, and balance. Employing wearable technology or motion capture technology during physical therapy improves the experience and the accuracy of documentation and future planning. AI and robotic coaches can fill gaps in support for patients during therapy. It can interact with patients, keeping them on track between appointments by reminding them to practice exercises and correcting unhelpful movement patterns.1
AI also supports clinicians by completing paperwork, tracking documentation, and catching billing errors. Using AI to support clerical work will save the practice time and money. Integrated electronic medical records can proactively understand payer regulations and ensure compliance by alerting practices to errors. In a 2023 APTA study, three-quarters of providers reported that prior authorization requirements delayed treatment by more than 25%. Ten percent of claims are denied the first time they are processed, and most respondents report spending more than 30 minutes on each of these claims.2 Using AI to screen documentation for errors before submission will save time and money for all physical therapy practices.
While embracing AI to streamline administrative tasks and improve treatment is exciting, we can’t ignore that many people are still wary of this new technology, and it can pose privacy risks if not used correctly. When implementing AI technology into your practice, understand what it can and cannot do accurately. Carefully select your technology provider by screening their security, backup methods, and privacy regulations. Medical providers have access to large amounts of personal data and are responsible for protecting it, even if they use AI to support treatment and billing.
Prepare for the future
Be open to embracing the right AI technology for your practice. Identify areas where big data sets and natural language models will save time and make you more effective. Research the possibilities for AI to transform your billing systems and treatment planning.
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