In today’s healthcare system (there will be no mention of politics here), consumers are paying more for care either in the form of higher premiums or with utilization of services in the form of co-pays, co-insurance, deductibles. Is the VALUE for Physical Therapy still present?

It boils down to….you get what you pay for. Those wishing to receive a higher quality of care and/or have more personalized one-one attention are more likely/willing to pay for this. Whether I think this is right or wrong….it is the way of today and I do not see it changing.

Spending more time with your physical therapist (or any medical provider for that matter) per session is more likely to aide in a faster recovery. Why? Because they will gain a better understanding of your problem and how to best help you. If the provider only has 5 minutes as a PCP or 30 minutes as a PT at best with a patient….what can be accomplished? Not only that, but delegation of tasks to support staff can impede progress and limit continuity of care.

To examine this further, a group of researchers (Chevan et al) looked at data from 2008-2012. There may be something more recent in the works, but I have not seen it published yet. What they found was 54% of patients had some (vague…more to come) out of pocket spending for physical therapy. Some of the key factors related to amount of out of pocket expenses (though not all statistically significant) were: region of the country living, level of education, perception of health status, income, insurance, and age.

Data and statistics are boring and interesting in the same time. The numbers can be spun any way a person wishes, so I will report what I take away from the data (hopefully with little bias). A summary of the study findings shows an average out of pocket expenditure for physical therapy of about $350. This $350 was for the course of care, not a single session. However, when you look deeper at the numbers, 25% were paying at least $101/visit and the top 10% paying $165/visit. Bigger picture, 50% of patients are paying on average $70/visit.

But why so much if I have insurance? Well, insurance does not cover as much as one may think (see HERE for a detailed breakdown). That $70 includes your copay, coinsurance and deductible. By the way, those copays DO NOT count toward your deductible. So until you meet that deductible (some now are as high as $3000-5000), you will be paying for EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What are you getting for that $70/visit? 15-30 min face time with your PT then support staff for the rest of the time. Just completing the same exercises you already do at home (or supposed to be doing at home?) Is is really worth it?

Don’t you feel it is time for a change? Take back control of your health and wellness. Demand more. There are providers who provide 1-1 care for 60 min. Wouldn’t you like the VALUE for your care again?????

For more information on this topic and a break down of cost models, Please click HERE

Let me hear your thoughts on this subject. Please leave a reply.