by Marius Ged, on Oct 10, 2022 2:09:37 PM
Keep up with the latest physical therapy news and insights from the industry's trusted legal partner, Ged Lawyers. Here is an overview of what happened this month in the physical therapy field in October 2022.
This Month in FL Physical Therapy News
1) Brooks Rehabilitation Continues Growth in Central FL w/ Future Growth Plans Through 2024
Brooks Rehabilitation has been around for more than 50 years. The facility, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, is set to continue growing through at least 2024. It anticipates increasing its locations in Orlando by 7 in 2022 alone. In January 2022, Brooks had five locations in the Orlando area; it aims at growing this number to 11 clinics by January 2023.
The newest facility is located at 2616 US-27, Clermont, FL 34711. The 5000-square feet facility will provide outpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy services. Brooks will also be opening facilities in Winter Park, Kissimmee, and Ocoee.
According to Tom Langer, Brooks Rehabilitation Orlando’s outpatient regional director, their growth is fueled by the growing demand for immediate access to quality outpatient rehabilitation services. Additionally, Brooks provides state-of-the-art technologies to its patients, including Cyberdyne and Smart Glove technology.
Cyberdyne has a robotic exoskeleton that assists patients with traumatic spinal cord injuries in walking again. The Smart Glove, on the other hand, allows patients with catastrophic wrist and hand injuries to grasp and move objects.
Industry Updates
1) New Research Focuses on Restoring Movement after Spinal Cord Injury
Spinal cord injuries often result in incurable lifelong movement impairment or paralysis. That said, non-invasive electrical spinal cord stimulation can help restore some movement, although it’s not clear how the nerves in the spinal cord recover.
Ismael Seáñez, an assistant professor of Biomedical Engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering, along with a team of Washington University researchers and physicians, were awarded a five-year $1 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The grant is to fund their research to unravel the changes that occur in neural circuits to cause motor function improvements.
The research will begin with a clinical trial with spinal cord injury patients and those without spinal cord injuries as a control group. During the initial trials, Seáñez will use existing non-invasive spinal cord stimulation devices to detect how the nervous system changes with the stimulation.
2) $13 Million PCORI Funding aims to Support the Study of Fracture Prevention Strategies for Osteoporosis
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) awarded a $13 million funding award to the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and ProMedica.
The research, principally coordinated by Denise Orwig, Ph.D., Professor of Epidemiology & Public Health at UMSOM, will compare interventions used to improve mobility and prevent fractures in geriatric patients recovering from hip or leg fractures.
Dr. Orwig stated that their ultimate goal is to implement the most effective strategies for preventing recurrent fractures in adults over 65 years who suffer from osteoporosis.
The researchers plan to introduce OPTIONS (OsteoPorotic fracTure preventION System), an integrated multi-modal intervention to help skilled nursing providers give patients the tools they need to retain their function and mobility and improve their overall bone health.
Patients’ overall recovery can improve with simple exercise, a healthy diet, and a bone-strengthening regimen. However, the patients have to follow up on the regimen, which rarely happens after they return home, mostly due to a lack of support.
Jay Magaziner, a co-investigator in the study, says “(OPTIONS) will use electronic systems and educational modules to help to ensure that evidence-based interventions are routinely implemented and sustained in clinical practice as fracture patients leave the hospital and transition to the SNF and back into their community”.
The study will collect patient-reported outcomes from 1320 skilled nursing facilities (SNF) run by ProMedica. Half of those facilities will implement OPTIONS, while the other half will implement enhanced usual care programs. From this result, physical therapists in Florida will be able to find out about the effectiveness of the OPTIONS program.
Growing Your Practice
1) Seven Tips for Leveling Up Your Physical Therapy Practice
As the world edges back to normalcy in 2022, MWTherapy shares the following seven insights on how to level up your physical therapy practice:
- Refresh your website. A disproportionate number of patients conduct online research before seeing a physical therapist. Therefore, it should be optimized to convert them into customers. The best way to do this is by regularly refreshing your website and borrowing inspiration from others to master a nice aesthetic.
- Expand your marketing efforts across multiple platforms. You should establish the platforms commonly used by your target audience and focus your target on those, all while not taking on too many platforms to wear you out.
- Setting transparent performance goals can inspire better performance, productivity, and job satisfaction. The goals should blend soft and hard metrics such as cancellation rates, billing accuracy, and appearance.
- Gain new referral sources by connecting with other physicians who can refer patients who can benefit from physical therapy to you.
- Use patient feedback to improve your systems, processes, and physical therapy performance.
- Build connections in your community. Getting involved with non-profit organizations, schools, and geriatric facilities in your locality is a great way to build valuable connections.
- Create compelling content to set your practice apart. The content should be powerful yet easy to digest.
2) Four Client Pleasing Benefits of Ged Lawyers' Client Portal
Our firm has been in the business of recovering unpaid and underpaid personal injury protection claims for over 25 years now. In addition to the years of experience, we offer clients continual claim monitoring through an online portal.
Below are four ways the client portal benefits our clients:
- Ged Lawyers walk you and your staff through the software to train you on how to log in, set up passwords, and find your way through the software’s features.
- The portal allows you to monitor the status of your claims with ease, all on one platform.
- You can export financial statements in a variety of file formats, including PDFs and CSV
- Your data is stored safely with top-tier security protocols
Partner With Ged Lawyers to Increase Your Practice’s Income
Ged Lawyers has garnered a flattering reputation from their track record of winning pip claims. By partnering with us, we can send demand letters, litigate cases, follow up on cold conversations, and process payouts, all without requiring any additional investment in your time.
Contact us today at 561-995-1966 or through our website to learn more about how we can help you increase your income.
