Joint Ventures' Blog

One on One PT Defined

 What is different about Joint Ventures? Why are the appointments only 30 minutes? Is this the best care I can get?

 I hear these questions a lot.  I have been a licensed PT for 10 years now, and have worked in several different types of practices. Our treatment model here at Joint Ventures is the best (by far) out of all of the clinics I have worked in.

 We are different from most practices in and around Boston. We do not have any PT Assistants or Aides on staff here, nor do we take students. That means that the patient's time in the clinic is spent only with a licensed, experienced, Physical Therapist.  After the initial evaluation, patients are not handed off to someone with less training, education or experience, as is common in many other practices.

 I have had many patients who have previously gone to PT clinics that they spend 1.5-3 hours per appointment.  I believe that only 1 person in 4 years of working at Joint Ventures has said that she preferred that treatment style to ours.  Yes, the patient may have a longer appointment time, but if only 5 minutes of it is spent with the actual physical therapist, is the patient really getting the most benefit out of the time that he/she is investing?

 Now, there are many different types of intervention a patient might need in one PT session.  It is my job to prioritize those, and determine what will help each patient get better the quickest.  If he/she needs a full 30 minutes worth of hands-on treatment (joint mobilization, stretching, massage, etc) I can do that in a private room.  There is only so much mobilization that is appropriate to do in one session.  Even if I had 45-60 minutes to mobilize/stretch/massage a patient, I would be doing him/her a disservice, as that much time spent on mobilization would be too aggressive a treatment. 

 On the other hand, if we are doing more exercise-based treatment, we can go out into our gym space and utilize any of the equipment there.  However, once a patient is independent with his/her home/gym program and I feel confident in his/her technique, it is no longer therapeutic for me to watch the patient do exercises.  So, the treatment session may include review of home exercises, teaching new ones, or progressing existing exercises.  It will never be filling time with the same exercises that a patient does every day at home.

 Most of my treatment sessions involve a combination of manual therapy and exercise as described above.  Treatment sessions are tailored to each individual, and in my opinion much more effective than a program outlined by a PT and carried out by another, less qualified employee.

I hope this helps, please feel free to contact me with any other questions you might have!

Good Luck,

Jessica L. Douglas, MSPT

Clinic Director

jessica@jointventurespt.com

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Due to the fact that I’m relatively new to the Joint Ventures team (within the last few months), I’ve been asked time and time again by patients, “What made you come to Joint Ventures?” I’ve answered the question a variety of different ways, but the general concept is always the same.

Joint Ventures has a very unique model, where each Physical Therapist (PT) is able to spend an entire 30 minutes with each patient during a treatment session, and 60 minutes for an initial evaluation. This is something that I have not found anywhere else, thus far. Every other Physical Therapy clinic that I’ve worked at has booked many more patients per hour, therefore the PT was only able to see each patient for about 5 minutes, with the rest of the time being spent with a student or aide. At Joint Ventures, the entire 30 minutes is devoted to 1-on-1 time between the PT and the patient.

The 30 minutes that I have with each patient is used differently, depending on the needs of the patient. I tend to use the time to perform manual techniques that the patient would not be able to perform on his/her own, however there is always some time allotted to go over exercises and other educational aspects of the treatment. As patients get to a point where they need less of the manual treatment, more of the time may be spent with exercises in the gym, in order to make the transition between Physical Therapy and going back to the gym easier and without injury.

Coming from clinics where I did not have the time to spend with each patient, I have really noticed how necessary it is for good patient care and accurate progression of Physical Therapy programs. Having that time allows for constant re-evaluation of a patient’s status, questions about form with exercises and treatment, injuries and activities.

Patients who have gone to other Physical Therapy clinics in the past occasionally ask how we are able to fit treatments into 30 minutes as opposed to the 90 minutes they may have spent at other clinics. The answer is that the 30 minutes at Joint Ventures is spent 100% on treatment with a PT, whereas the 90 minutes at another clinic is spent mostly doing exercises under the supervision of a student or aide, with minimal time actually spent with the PT. The 30 minute treatments are also much easier to fit into a day, 2-3 times per week. Most people are able to squeeze the treatment in during their lunch hour, or before/after work, without making it an inconvenience.

Overall, when I am asked what made me make the change to Joint Ventures, the answer is simple. Joint Ventures is focused on patients, and allows 30 minutes of 1-on-1 treatment with a physical therapist, which I have not had the ability to do anywhere else!

I’d be happy to answer any other questions at Erica@jointventurespt.com

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