Last week in his post, fellow ADVANCE blogger Dean Metz shared some good news. CMS has ruled the need for skilled intervention, not functional improvement, makes therapy reimbursable. This means, as he pointed out, patients with chronic conditions can receive treatment without first experiencing an exacerbation. This will undoubtedly result in an ...

When I was at the horse show last weekend, I learned one of the show kid mothers is a PT. I learned this because she was treating another of the mothers using cranio-sacral therapy. I'm not sure what pushed more of my buttons, her treating someone on the fly or using cranio-sacral to do so. This isn't the first time I've said I don't think PTs ...

This morning there was a patient on the floor so the request went out for lifting help. Four people responded, including me, a PTA, a male CNA and the patient's nurse. The patient was a big man, weak and in a narrow space so it wasn't going to be easy. As we were positioning ourselves to lift him the nurse stepped away. She said she didn't lift ...

Today was one of those days. There is a full moon. Healthcare workers often joke about the effects of the full moon on their patients. I believe there is something to that, which means my patients gets more of a workout than usual. I am used to brain-injured people being difficult, making inappropriate statements and being confused. I shrug it off ...

I don't like my job very much right now. It was never my dream job, just a means to an end. The biggest attraction to me was the ability to leave work in time to ride my horses and do it whenever I want. The patients and other therapists I work with are nice. I thought it would be enough. I was wrong. This is the first facility I've ever worked at ...

Sooner or later, everyone comes in contact with a patient who swings at her, attempts to bite or scratch or spits. It goes with the territory, especially if you work with patients who have brain injury or Alzheimer's disease. We console ourselves with the thought that the patient doesn't really mean to do it. It's simply a reaction to fear or ...

This week I found myself at an outpatient orthopedic clinic treating work-related injuries. The clinic was one of several in the area. They have agreements with many local industries to provide medical and therapy services to injured employees. The injured worker sees the doctor at the clinic, is given a script for therapy and starts as soon as ...

Once in a while I work with patients who have a diagnosis other than stroke. Two or three weeks ago, I evaluated a young man who'd had a TBI and was in the ICU. I later re-evaluated him following transfer to the rehab unit. Last week his rehab doctor noticed he had some ROM issues and decided to address them. Because I was the evaluating ...

Last week, ADVANCE blogger Janey Goude talked about health care and the uninsured. What she had to say was very interesting, as were the comments that followed. Rather than adding to that discussion I decided to post my comments in my blog because I am going in another direction. The hospital where I work treats a high percentage of uninsured ...