This has left many Americans in a bind when suffering from musculoskeletal conditions such as neck, back, knee, shoulder, and other joint-related pain. Even before the COVID-19, more than half of the U.S. adult population was affected by musculoskeletal pain nationwide and is now challenged with finding the right care at the right time and place.<\/p>\n
What Is Telehealth?<\/h3>\n
Telehealth is the use of digital communications to provide health care services. And now, it\u2019s a key means of helping patients stay connected with their providers.<\/p>\n
From regular checkups with the family doctor to post-surgical follow-ups, telehealth is improving access to care for patients with acute and chronic health issues while limiting potential exposure to COVID-19.<\/p>\n
For those struggling with musculoskeletal pain of all kinds, virtual physical therapy sessions are a convenient and effective way for patients to manage pain and maintain their treatment programs from the safety of their homes.<\/p>\n
Although physical therapy has traditionally provided care through in-person clinics, COVID-19 has accelerated the integration of technology to remotely deliver care virtually for a range of musculoskeletal conditions.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Image-3.750.jpg\")
Results From One Physical Therapy Practice<\/h3>\n
For example, since April 1, ATI Physical Therapy<\/a> has scheduled over 38,000 appointments via its telehealth platform, ATI CONNECT. Patients who have completed their care via ATI CONNECT have reported 92% patient satisfaction with the experience and over 25% improvement in their function after treatment.<\/p>\n These results, emerging technology, and patient expectations in care delivery suggest that telehealth for physical therapy is here to stay. This increase in access to physical therapy combined with the fact that, according to a study by the Journal of Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy, physical therapists can diagnose and treat over 70% of musculoskeletal conditions make telehealth an appealing option for patients.<\/p>\n In the context of COVID-19, virtual physical therapy has become a viable treatment option because it enables patients to continue their care without interruption, whether they are recovering from surgery, healing an acute injury, or alleviating nagging pain from the \u201cnew normal\u201d of home offices and elaborate do-it-yourself projects.<\/p>\n Virtual physical therapy visits help patients feel better faster by enabling treatment sessions when they can\u2019t be held in person, without the need to pause or cancel. This empowers patients to maintain continuity of care, which is key to any successful health treatment and especially musculoskeletal pain.<\/p>\n Take the case of our former patient from Indianapolis, for instance. Prior to COVID-19, she began in-person physical therapy sessions to recover from knee replacement surgery at the beginning of 2020. When COVID-19 hit, her sessions migrated to telehealth. Virtual physical therapy enabled her to continue her treatment and progress in holistically healing her leg without being forced to prematurely end her post-surgery rehabilitation program.<\/p>\n \u201cI was frustrated with COVID-19 because my knee was getting better after my knee replacement with therapy,\u201d she said. \u201cOnce we got the hang of telehealth, it was really quite seamless \u2026 It helped me improve, and I would totally prefer it to just quitting.\u201d<\/p>\n For obvious reasons, virtual physical therapy is also valuable because it\u2019s a safe alternative to in-person care. It\u2019s particularly valuable for older adults who generally report higher pain levels and are considered high-risk if exposed to COVID-19.<\/p>\n \u201cTelehealth enables patients to get help from home while feeling comfortable,\u201d said Brad Shupe, a clinic director at ATI Physical Therapy<\/a>.<\/p>\n At a time where doctor\u2019s offices are crowded and the time and resources of health care organizations are limited, telehealth alleviates clinic congestion across the board, enabling health care professionals to direct in-person care to those who need it most while still meeting the treatment needs of everyone else.<\/p>\n And as COVID-19 cases continue to rise regionally and nationally, virtual physical therapy sessions will continue to serve as a safe way to treat patients without risking their health and increasing the spread.<\/p>\n Although telehealth is seeing widespread use across health care, it is a more effective treatment method for certain cases compared with others.<\/p>\n Physical therapy sessions via telehealth are similar to in-clinic appointments. For a successful virtual session, make sure you have the following:<\/p>\n Expect the same things you would in person, including a treatment plan and exercise program to keep up between sessions. A virtual physical therapy session enables you to have the same interaction with a therapist remotely that you would in the clinic. You still get one-on-one, real-time contact with a therapist as well as guidance and feedback for your individualized therapy treatment.<\/p>\n Depending on the telehealth platform being used by physical therapy providers, a lot more than exercises can be accomplished during a virtual physical therapy appointment.<\/p>\n For example, our Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)-compliant platform enables one-on-one live video interactions with licensed therapists and offers an extensive library of exercise explanations and demonstrations.<\/p>\n The platform also enables our team to measure joint angles and ranges of motion to ensure proper form and compiles an appointment summary for patients to track progress.<\/p>\n Although telehealth\u2019s viability is clear in the midst of COVID-19, many may wonder about its long-term outlook when the disease is more controlled and the world transitions back to in-person activities.<\/p>\n From one clinician\u2019s perspective, it\u2019s clear. \u201cAlthough you can\u2019t replace in-clinic visits, there is absolutely a spot for telehealth in the future,\u201d said Shupe. \u201cFor those patients who want to maintain their treatment options during inclement weather or while on vacation, for example, telehealth is a viable option.\u201d<\/p>\n Because physical therapy does not require a physician\u2019s referral in most cases, every state in the U.S. provides some degree of direct access to therapy, and many insurance providers are now covering this type of treatment therapy. Telehealth has the potential to make physical therapy more accessible than ever.<\/p>\n Expanding telehealth coverage should grant patients the flexibility to complete appointments anytime, anywhere (so long as their therapist agrees to the time).<\/p>\n On vacation or traveling for work? Don\u2019t skip your in-person appointment. Do it virtually. Bad winter weather? Hop on the video platform with your therapist instead of driving to the clinic. Can\u2019t find a babysitter? Reschedule for a virtual appointment while keeping an eye on the kids.<\/p>\n Telehealth visits are emerging as a convenient and effective way to visit with a health care provider. It works well for physical therapy and provides another option to find help in beating pain so that you can get back to feeling like you.<\/p>\n Telehealth visits are emerging as a convenient and effective way to visit with a health care provider<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10490,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129,131],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2020","category-fall-2020-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10365"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10697,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10365\/revisions\/10697"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Value of Telehealth for Physical Therapy<\/h3>\n
Leveraging Your Virtual Appointment<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Image-2.-650.jpg\")
Tips for a Successful Virtual Session<\/h3>\n\n
What Telehealth Means for the Future of Physical Therapy<\/h3>\n
Dr. Charles Thigpen, a physical therapist, is a senior director of practice innovation and analytics at ATI Physical Therapy<\/a>. ATI is a national rehabilitation provider, specializing in research-based physical therapy, workers\u2019 compensation rehab, employer worksite solutions, sports medicine, home health, and a variety of specialty therapies. All photos courtesy of ATI Physical Therapy.<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"