Can ConciergeCare be Less Expensive?
Insurance plans have different contracted rates with different healthcare providers. Rates are determined (generally speaking) by the negotiating power of the provider.
On the other hand if you see me in a clinic setting – as part of a larger network, corporate chain, or hospital joint venture – then the rates can often be higher, but go against your deductible, coinsurance, or copayments. That’s only counting the PER VISIT difference, and not the overall cost of your care.
Whether you see me through Texas Health or through ConciergeCare, I am with you, spending every minute of your appointment re-assessing, customizing, educating, adapting, and moving your care forward. You’re getting the fastest recovery for your therapy dollar.
In most clinic settings however, the therapist provides a portion of your treatment, and leaves the other items to a physical therapy technician. The vast majority of outpatient clinic therapists are also not board certified.
If you get your care in a physical therapy clinic owned by your surgeon, studies show that the cost differential gets even wider, as still more care is provided by technicians, and the orthopedic group owners count on (and push for) a larger number visits per patient to maintain profitability. You’re nothing but a captive audience!
What Fees Are Associated with ConciergeCare?
The Trip Fee is only $15 per visit, and it covers your use of my equipment (TENS, heat, Ice, etc) in your home between therapy visits. You will also have the option to buy items used during your treatment, ordering through links on this website. This is not a fee that would ever be covered by your insurance company.
The remainder of the fees are time-based. My standard fee is $95 per visit, which covers everything you could need in an individual treatment visit, lasting 40-50 minutes. You are provided a receipt with the individual codes you need to complete your insurance claim form (I’ll even do a sample for you if you need it) and all treatment notes.
What Kind of Equipment Do You Use for ConciergeCare?
I actually use all of the same equipment that I traditionally use in an outpatient clinic. The items I use with ConciergeCare, however, are lighter, more portable, and many times, are left in your home for your use, during the duration of your therapy.
Why Go To a Clinic?
There are certain situations for which clinic equipment and assistance is needed. For example, I referred a patient last year who had suffered a spinal cord injury, and required specialized equipment and two additional technicians, just to get into standing. He was 6’4” and weighed close to 300lbs. He also required a tilt table, lift, and parallel bars. This is technically the type of patient that is supposed to result in the higher fees that hospitals get for therapy.
However, even in the most elite sports medicine clinics, the bulk of physical therapy is conducted with simple items like dumbbells, ankle weights, resistance bands, small electrical stimulators, ultrasound machines, cold and heat. By the time the athlete is able to use heavier weight equipment and machines, the injury has already healed and rehabilitation is over.
Studies have demonstrated over and over: It’s not the equipment, but the problem solving abilities of the therapist, experience, training, continued scientific education, consistent, individualized attention, education and patient participation in treatment that lay the foundation for a full, fast, recovery.
