Emergency department physical therapy – also referred to as “ED PT” – is expected to take off rapidly throughout the country and offer a wide range of benefits to both patients and medical facilities.
Recently, in the publication of the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, researchers announced reports of physical therapists collaborating to creating teams of specialists that may be used in the emergency department setting.
As a physical therapist, you have a large amount of knowledge on vestibular issues, musculoskeletal complications, and similar health-related complications. A large portion of emergency room visits pertain to that which you know. Your services would be very well accepted in the emergency department.
But what if you could do more.
Creating an emergency department physical therapy program can help your practice increase revenue, expand your client-base, and improve reputation.
Here are 3 simple steps that will help you succeed.
Step #1: Streamline the Physical Therapy Process in the Emergency Department
One of the most frustrating aspects to visiting an emergency room – according to patients – are lengthy wait times. In order to ensure that patients will request your assistance, you must streamline the process so that they are not burdened by even higher wait times.
Furthermore, once the patient is in the “bed”, you must ensure that you work quickly to get them out. The longer they spend in the bed/room, the more the emergency department will become backed up.
This increases wait times and leads to higher levels of dissatisfaction
By streamlining your process, opting for physical therapy will become a popular option among patients and will be promoted more highly by the medical professionals servicing those patients.
Step #2: Employ a Large Staff Dedicated to Emergency Department Physical Therapy
If you want to experience success with your emergency department team, you must employ or dedicate a large number of individuals to the task. Not only will this help in making the process much quicker, but, it will allow members of your staff to focus on that which they know best – which will increase patient satisfaction.
Step #3: Ensure Top-Rated Clinical Skills
While working in an emergency department, physical therapists must have top-rated clinical skills. This will allow them to approach each patient in a flexible manner. Furthermore, they will be able to be highly improvisational. Emergency departments have a variety of patients with a wide range of issues to contend with; therefore, enlisting those therapists with the most varied clinical skills is absolutely essential.
Final Thoughts
Having a physical therapy program that works in conjunction with an emergency department is critical for the overall success of your business. By following these simple steps, you will be able to easily transition your practice into this type of setting.
If you need additional tools, resources, and assistance to make this process easier, contact us here at Colorado Physical Therapy Network today:
