Arundel Physical Therapy & Fitness

7671 Quarterfield Road
Suite 101
Glen Burnie, Maryland 21061

Ph. 410-590-2783
Fax 410-590-2759
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The Arundel PT Blog

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Do you ever get frustrated waiting in a medical office?

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It has been a while since I posted a new blog article.  Although I have a few drafts, I haven't found time to finish and post them.  Today, I had an experience that I felt compelled to share. 

I had been feeling ill since returning from vacation last weekend.  At first, I thought that I was getting a cold.  By Christmas Eve, it was clear that it was probably a sinus infection.  Because of the holiday and our family plans, I waited until today to seek medical care.  My primary care office was closed so I called a local immediate care center.

When I called to schedule an appointment, they offered me a 12:20pm time slot.  I thought it was great that they could see so early in the day.  When I arrived, I had to fill out the usual paperwork which took five minutes.  I was instructed to take a seat and I would be called back shortly.  At 12:55pm, my name was finally called and I entered a treatment room.  Almost immediately, a friendly nurse came in to take my vital signs.  She finished in about five minutes and left saying that the doctor would be right in.  As we all do in this situation, I waited . . . and waited . . . and waited.

At 1:40pm, I finally opened the door and asked a staff member if someone would be in soon.  I explained that I had been in the room for over 40 minutes already.  A couple of minutes later, a medical tech stepped in and said that the doctor would "be right in".  At 1:50pm, the doctor finally arrived in the room.  He asked me a couple of questions.  He listened to my breathing.  He tapped over my sinuses.  This process took exactly 2 minutes.  He confirmed that I had a sinus infection and he was prescribing an antibiotic.  Then, he was gone.

I returned to the front desk at ~1:55pm to check out and to get my prescription.  The person at the desk informed me that they could fill my prescription on site if I wanted to wait for about 15 minutes.  Keep in mind that I had already been in the office for nearly 2 hours.  Since their previous time estimates had been so inaccurate, I decided to drop the script at my usual pharmacy.

I shared this story, not so much as a way to vent, but more to make a point about waiting times in health care.  The reality of the situation was that it was the day after Christmas and many people needed to be seen.  There was only one doctor and one nurse practitioner on duty.  The problem started when the staff severely over booked the schedule.  The problem worsened with a lack of communication.  I was in the office for nearly 2 hours and received ~7 minutes of medical care.  Not once, did any of the staff members apologize for the wait or offer any explanation.  This was not a great patient experience.

When I started managing physical therapy clinics in 2000, I decided that I never wanted a patient to have this type of experience in one of my offices.  At Arundel Physical Therapy & Fitness, we continually monitor our schedule and our processes to ensure little to no wait times for our patients.  We are committed to delivering the best patient experience in an outpatient physical therapy clinic.

 

Choosing a Physical Therapist (Courtesy of the APTA)

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Choosing a Physical Therapist

Information You Need When Selecting a Physical Therapist

You are the most important member of your own health care team and are entitled to choose the most appropriate health care professional to meet your goals. The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) has provided the following guidelines for choosing a physical therapist for your care.

1. Freedom of Choice

You have the freedom to choose your own physical therapist. Most states allow you to go directly to a physical therapist without a physician's referral first. Click here to see if your state allows you to see a physical therapist directly.

Keep in mind that your insurance policy may require a visit to the primary care physician first or limit your access to only preferred providers.

Your physician may refer you for physical therapy that is to be provided in his or her office or to a facility in which he or she has a financial interest. If either situation is the case, insist that your physical therapy be provided by a licensed physical therapist.

Physical therapists who are members of APTA are bound by the Association's Code of Ethics and are especially committed to providing competent and compassionate care.

2. How To Choose A Physical Therapist

Make sure that you receive physical therapy from a licensed physical therapist. Physical therapists are professional health care providers who are licensed by the state in which they practice. If you are receiving physical therapy from a physical therapist assistant, be sure that he or she is supervised by a licensed physical therapist.

Ask the physical therapy clinic if they participate with your insurance company and/or will they submit claims on your behalf to your insurance company. Some policies require co-payments for services and the co-payment will be dependent on if the physical therapist is part of the insurer's provider network. You will also have to meet your deductible.

3. Your Appointment

Your first visit should include an evaluation by the physical therapist. Your physical therapist will perform an examination to identify current and potential problems. Based on the results of the examination, and considering your specific goals, your physical therapist will design a plan of care to include specific interventions and will propose a timetable to achieve these goals and optimize your function. Your physical therapist will likely provide you with instructions to perform exercises at home to facilitate your recovery.

You should feel comfortable asking your physical therapist any questions regarding your course of care, including specifics regarding interventions and expectations.



More About Physical Therapists

Physical therapists (PTs) are health care professionals who diagnose and treat people of all ages who have medical problems or other health-related conditions that limit their abilities to move and perform functional activities in their daily lives.

PTs must have a graduate degree from an accredited physical therapy program before taking the national licensure examination. The minimum educational requirement is a master's degree, yet most educational programs now offer the doctor of physical therapy (DPT) degree.

Physical therapists practice in hospitals, private practices, outpatient clinics, rehabilitation facilities, skilled nursing facilities, homes, education or research centers, schools, hospices, corporate or industrial health centers, athletic facilities, and other settings.

Determination

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The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines determination as a "firm or fixed intention to achieve a desired end."  Over the weekend, we saw an excellent example of determination as Michael Phelps completed his quest for eight gold medals in this summer's Olympic Games.  He set his goals, worked hard, stayed focused, and achieved the goals.

In sports, we often see such great displays of determination.  However, there are many daily examples that we might overlook.  As a father, I have watched my son show incredible determination to overcome many challenges.  He was born with Down Syndrome and his primary challenge has been gross motor skills (crawling, walking, running, etc).  He learned to walk at age 3 and soon after tried to run.  Of course, he fell quite often in the early stages, but he was determined and never gave up.  Now, he can throw a football, kick a soccer ball, or throw a round ball with ease.  He can even hit a wiffle ball when pitched to him.  In fact, he is a more consistent hitter than many professional baseball players - of course, I don't pitch 100mph fastballs.  

As a physical therapist, I have seen outstanding examples of determination from my patients.  Many of them have overcome significant impairments and functional limitations to improve their quality of life. 

 Some examples include:

- A 73 year old runner who became deconditioned when she stop training to take care of a family member who was ill.  In relatively short time, she worked hard to regain her strength and her ability to race.  The result: successful completion of a 5 mile race.

- An 85 year old overcame a sprained ankle to be able to return to dancing.  The result:  successful return to her line dancing class.

- A man who lost his lower leg in a motorcycle accident, worked very hard to return to riding.  The result: 8 months after his amputation, he was riding a motorcycle again.

Whether you're an elite athlete or an average person, you can achieve your goals if you have determination.

Words of Inspiration from Randy Pausch

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I first heard about Randy Pausch a few months ago when he was the subject of one of Diane Sawyer's specials.  For those of you who don't know, he was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who passed away last week from pancreatic cancer.  Randy was born in Baltimore, MD and spent his childhood in Columbia, MD.  He became famous because of the lecture he delivered at Carnegie Mellon's traditional "Last Lecture."  During the presentation, he recounted many events in his personal and professional life that highlighted important messages that he wanted to convey.  His style is a mix of comedy, honesty, humility, wisdom, and intelligence.  He discusses the achieving childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others, and how we might we might do both.  Some of his key points include:

Decide if you are "Tigger" or "Eeyore" 

Never lose the child-like wonder

Help others

Loyalty is a two-way street

Never give up

How to get people to help you

Show gratitude

Don't complain, just work harder

Be good at something: it makes you valuable

Find the best in everybody; no matter how long you have to  wait for them to show it

Be prepared: "luck" is where preparation meets opportunity

Two other ideas that Randy presents are the "brick wall" and the "head fake."  Brick walls are those obstacles in life the slow us down from achieving our goals.  In his view, they give us an opportunity to show how badly we want something.  When you come across a brick wall, you have to decide if you are going through it or if you will let it stop you from achieving your goals.  

The "head fake" is indirect learning that happens without our knowledge.  Childhood sports are a great example of the head fake.  Kids learn how to play the sport as expected, but the head fake is that they also learn about teamwork, leadership, motivation, and other important life skills.

Dr. Pausch has inspired millions of people worldwide.  I've included the full video of his lecture below.  I hope that you find it inspirational as well.  If you would like to learn about Randy Pausch click here.

"New Every Two" - The importance of variety in staying active

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Verizon Wireless has an upgrade program called "new every two" that gives customers discounts when upgrading their cell phones.  The purpose of the program is to encourage people to stay with Verizon and to get them excited about using the service again.

This concept can also be applied to staying active.  When I was finishing college about fifteen years ago, I wanted to find new ways to stay in shape.  My goal was to try something new every couple of years.  I used to joke that I was doing this to "prove that I wasn't getting older".  Of course, the reality is that we do get older no matter how hard we try to deny it.  However, this doesn't mean that we can't still be active and function at high levels.

Over the last fifteen years, I've participated in indoor soccer, outdoor soccer, martial arts, distance running, and yoga.  There have been a few injuries over the years and I still get sore for a day or two after particularly physical soccer games, but I enjoy being able to play.  I've always used weight training a core component of my exercise program, but the variety of other activities has helped keep me motivated to stay in shape.  

Variety in exercise serves that same purpose as Verizon's "new every two" program.  It encourages you to stay with the program and it gets you excited about it.  Many people perform the same exercise "routine" for years without any significant changes.  The same exercises, the same resistance, the same days of the week, etc.  A routine is just that . . . Routine.  It is not exciting - it's just part of the routine in our life.  When the schedule gets hectic, the exercise "routine" is often the first thing to get cut from our to do lists.

If you really want to stay active throughout your life, you have to commit to it and make it a non-negotiable part of your schedule.  Decide to try something new every so often to keep things interesting.  Choose activities that you enjoy and are likely to continue.  Of course, always make sure you prepare for any new activity appropriately with medical clearance.

"Iron Man" uses Vortex too!

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Yet another comic book superhero has come to the big screen this summer. The blockbuster, Iron Man, stars Robert Downey Jr as a not-so-typical genius inventor who becomes a larger than life superhero. While the actor has never been known for his physical strength or muscularity, he took on the challenge of adding size and strength to prepare for this role. He worked with a personal trainer using specialized fitness equipment including the Vortex Pro-Trainer. Check the following link to see more media coverage of the actor's training program and the Vortex Pro-Trainer: ABC News 7 or Only on Dailies.

Improve Your Life!

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The meaning of our tagline, "Improve Your Life," might seem obvious since our primary service is physical therapy. One of our primary missions is to delivery physical rehabilitation services that help people recover from injuries and surgeries so they can have improved function and quality of life. Another primary mission of Arundel Physical Therapy & Fitness is to motivate our patients and clients to adopt active lifestyle habits. Physical activity has been shown not only to improve physical function, but also to improve brain function, to reduce stress, and to improve mood.

Most people are aware of the research studies and articles that support the link between physical activity and decreased risk for major medical problems. However, exercise may also fight the effects of aging on the brain. Some studies suggest that physical activity may improve brain function and cognitive performance in younger people as well. Check out the links above for more information. A quick search on Google or WebMD will also give many links to articles about the benefits of exercise.

Arundel Physical Therapy & Fitness supports the Race for Education

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Today, Arundel Physical Therapy & Fitness sponsored the 4th grade classes at St. Jane Frances school in Pasadena, Maryland during their annual Race for Education. The Race for Education is an event that allows local businesses and family members to sponsor t-shirts for each grade. The shirts are color-coded by grade and display the name of the sponsors on the back. The funds raised from the race are used to help the school and it's staff continue to provide an outstanding educational experience and environment for the students.

Welcome to the Arundel Physical Therapy & Fitness blog!

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This area of our site is intended to provide information about our practice, as well as, to pass along educational information related to health and wellness. The material contained in this section is for educational purposes and is not meant to replace appropriate medical care. Our new state-of-the-art facility in Glen Burnie will be finished by mid-May and we will ready to offer an outstanding experience in outpatient in physical therapy!

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