Healthcare professionals use benchmarks to assess and improve the way they treat patients. Recently, we read an article about physical therapy benchmarks in the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons’ online magazine. It occurred to us that PhysNet’s unique approach eliminates many of the problems providers face in delivering efficient, effective treatment to injured workers.

PT clinics use benchmarks to make sure they’re generating maximum income from each patient. The goal is to sell the most services per hour. At PhysNet, our priority is fast, efficient patient recovery. So let’s look at the metrics that relate to patients, not just money.

1. Fast, effective return-to-work procedures

Benchmarks give different “weight” to procedures, modalities and treatments such as applying hot/cold packs. The study notes that PT clinics often use “visits per day” to measure productivity. But if your goal is to earn more money, “productivity” depends on delivering more, higher-priced procedures per visit.

PhysNet physical therapy measures productivity in terms of patient progress.

2. Procedures per patient visit

A typical PT session lasts 45-60 minutes. According to the study, the service delivery benchmark is three timed procedures and one modality. What keeps providers from reaching that benchmark?

• The session is cut short because the provider doesn’t have the skill or experience to provide enough treatment.
• The provider is juggling too many patients at once. Or they may be spending too much time on paperwork during the patient’s session.

All PhysNet therapists are well-skilled and experienced. They are specialists who work only on injured workers. They work with patients one-on-one for each 1-hour session. That way, patients get their full attention. Working on-site also improves communication with workers’ comp managers about patient progress.

3. Patient visits per 8-hour day

The study noted that “a therapist who is able to spend more time with each patient will almost always have a higher level of patient satisfaction, better outcomes, less documentation time and higher professional satisfaction.” But the benchmark they identified is 11 patient visits per 8-hour day. The therapist cannot possibly spend an hour with each one without “doubling up.”

What keeps providers from reaching that benchmark?

• High cancellation or no-show rates
• Difficulty working with multiple patients simultaneously
• Scheduling inefficiencies

On-site physical therapy treats injured workers at their own jobsite. The therapist handles scheduling.

This is much more efficient – and effective. In fact, patients treated on-site average far fewer treatment sessions before returning to work.

4. Total patient visits

Sometimes, patients don’t get enough physical therapy to fully recover. That drives up repeat injuries and employee dissatisfaction. What can cause this problem?

• Patients who “self-discharge” due to lack of perceived progress
• High cancellation or no-show rates
• Clinics that discharge patients too soon in order to make room for new patients

On-site physical therapy builds a trusting relationship between therapist and patient. Treatment is based on the person’s specific job requirements. The patient also receives his therapist’s full attention. Therefore progress is faster. And everyone in the workers’ comp “loop” can easily track that progress.

5. Initial evaluation show rate

According to the study, the benchmark for this is 95%. No-shows occur more often when:

• Initial appointments are scheduled more than 2-3 days after the doctor’s order
• It takes a week or more to fit the patient in

On-site physical therapy eliminates these problems.

6. Follow-up show rate

The benchmark for this is 88%. No-shows occur when:

• The therapist doesn’t explain the importance of regular sessions
• The therapist doesn’t explain the patient’s plan of care to measure progress
• Rigid clinic scheduling policies don’t accommodate injured workers’ needs
• Patients feel they’re being short-changed by inattentive therapists

On-site physical therapy eliminates these problems, too.