pist out to the home, to be there when the
patient arrives. The therapist helps the patient
get into the house, makes sure everything is
sorted out, and answers any questions that
hadn't come up previously. The therapist also
begins working with the patient during this
visit, easing him into some of the exercises
he'll be doing for the next couple of weeks.
3. Consistent support
Over those next 2 weeks, the therapist stops
by the patient's house for about 45 minutes
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To help determine what their post-operative care will be,
Rothman patients fill out a "risk-stratification form" with help
from an allied health professional. A nurse navigator, who
looks at the patient holistically, then reviews the forms.
"The traditional expectation would be that the patient would
get home physical therapy for 2 weeks after surgery and then
transition to an outpatient physical therapy environment," says
Dr. Austin. "But we're trying to look at it differently. What does
this patient really need to get back to what he was able to do?
If you have an active person who's 55 years old, they may not
need formal physical therapy afterward."
It's important to remember, says Dr. Austin, that while
there's formal physical therapy, there are also other kinds of
therapy. "It's not as if the patients aren't going to get any
therapy whatsoever," he says. "You can get therapy doing
your active daily living in some cases. Not every person is a
round peg that needs to fit in a round hole."
— Jim Burger
