Apparently the safety of the notion that healthcare providers are practically immune from outsourcing overseas is being challenged if not crushed. Note this article from medpagetoday.com have long clung to International Medical Trade Turns Big Business.
According to the article in India alone revenue from so called “Medical Tourism” rose from $264 million in 2000 to $4.07 billion (yes that is BILLION with a B) in 2005.
This will be a trend worth watching.
I have had many conversations recently with those noting a dearth of openly available information directly related to Physical Therapy particularly when looking for information in the Physical Therapist’s voice. Like many issues in our profession, many complain but nobody does anything. To my relief Physiopedia is finally looking to do something about it and looks to resolve that issue.
While there is no shortage of information regarding conditions commonly treated such as ACL injury or Lower Back Pain there is a serious lack of information written in the Physical Therapists voice or that adequately demonstrates the wealth of information that comprises the unique knowledge base of Physical Therapy. What information that is available is shielded by a legacy and in my opinion outmoded and outdated system of "by subscription only” scholarly journals.
I would urge our colleagues, particularly those who possess a unique and credible expertise in particular Physical Therapy subject matter to start or at least contribute to entries in the Physiopedia Wiki such as this entry on The Glenohumeral Joint started by Tyler Shultz, PT.
By building this open and freely available compendium of information we will demonstrate the uniqueness, credibility and value to the world, and perhaps raising the visibility of our profession just a notch higher.
My thanks to all involved with the Physiopedia project. It is a project deserving of our time and contributions.
Steve Salerno does an excellent job in his Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article The Touch That Doesn’t Heal. In this article he points out some of the myths surrounding treatments that are not grounded in science and exposes them to the skeptical treatment they so deserve.
He also exposes how these pseudoscientific treatments are then passed on to insurers using rather dubious and self serving interpretations of the Current Procedural Terminology codes used to bill third parties for medical services.
This is an article well worth reading and should serve as a wake up call to the third party payer community who should be far more concerned with reducing true fraud and abuse rather than arbitrarily reducing reimbursement to all providers across the spectrum.
Well done Mr. Salerno and let’s hope that policy makers now endeavoring to clean up the mess that our healthcare system has become take notice.
Friday January 2nd, 2008 I received what has turned out to be a pleasant surprise in the mail in the form of a free copy of a newly published journal Sports Health. They must have known my birthday was coming up the following day.
This particular journal is published with an emphasis on “A Multidisciplinary Approach” and is a collaborative publication of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, North American Society for Sports Medicine, National Athletic Trainer’s Association and the Sports Physical Therapy Section of the American Physical Therapy Association.
The Table of Contents is divided up based up the discipline. The Sports Physical Therapy articles were solidly written and similar in quality and content as what is typically found in the Journal of Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy. The focus on this particular discipline content was on ACL treatment including the article I found most interesting by Hurd, Axe, Snyder-Mackler describing Management of the Athlete with Acute Anterior Cruciate Ligament Deficiency (ACL-D). This article goes into excellent detail in the use of a treatment algorithm developed at the University of Delaware.
I find this publication interesting in the multidisciplinary approach and frankly I think that this will further enhance the collaborative and collegial relationship that should exist between physicians and physical therapists. Perhaps it will help to shine a light on the significant contribution of physical therapists to the body of knowledge in the management of orthopedic conditions for physicians.
So thank you the thoughtful person who sent me this early birthday gift and I think it will even be worth the dues to join the Sports Physical Therapy Section of APTA.
Being the quintessential “early adopter” that I am I couldn’t resist the temptation to give Treatment Exchange a whirl particularly after a fairly impressive initial online demo.
Treatment Exchange is a new online Application Service Provider (ASP) which provides an interactive home program management solution for Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists. We are all aware of the various home program systems available that consist of essentially basic line drawings or stick figures or the simply hand drawn pictures that therapists provide to patients. We are also all aware that compliance with this system is extremely poor.
Treatment Exchange seeks to solve many of the inherent problems of Home Program Management. First, instead of simple static line drawings, it uses color pictures, usually available as animated slide presentations or video, with accompanying instructions. Second, all materials are fully customizable by the clinician. Third and probably most important this system is fully an interactive experience between therapist and patient. Integrated into Treatment Exchange is a two way messaging system that helps to insure compliance. It also provides for ongoing contact which one can only imagine will not only improve compliance but also improve patient retention both over the short term and the long term.
Screenshot of the Therapist Home Page showing Message Log for all messages between Therapist and Patient.
Screenshot of Patient Database Listing
While we have only just “gone live” with this system, it has already been well received by my patients, the operation is fairly intuitive after a 90 minute initial online tutorial and the screens are easy to navigate.
I will continue with a further review of this product, but suffice it to say I am very impressed with the product and customer service. Part II of this series will focus a bit more on the specifics of the product.
With dwindling reimbursement and looking for ways to make health care dollars go further this could be “The Next Big Thing”.
An ambitious project has been launched to create a Wikipedia style compendium of Physical Therapy articles and information at Physiopedia. My colleague Rachel Lowe, PT is looking for ways to get our colleagues to contribute. First step is to spread the word and take it viral and this is my contribution.
If you would like to help create a credible source of Physical Therapy information that will increase the visibility of our profession and our unique knowledge base the Physiopedia is the place to start. Join them and help to spread the word.
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