Be wary of clinic type when you choose what clinic or indeed what practitioner you choose. There are many factory type clinic settings out there. These are clinics where the patients come in, sees a physio for 15-20 minutes and then gets a machine, heat pad, and then maybe into the gym where they see a kinesiologist for some exercises. This model of care essentially outsources most of the work to other health care professionals like physiotherapist aids and kinesiologists. For me 15 minutes or 20 minutes is not enough time to build rapport and practice critical thinking. It can indeed lead to mistakes and missed diagnosis due to the high-pressure environments. Having PT aids and kinesiologists are useful, and I value these professions but when treatment is driven by clinic targets and patient viewing averages, care can become sloppy. These types of models always favor the clinic owners and clinic revenue streams exhausting the employees and leading to quick turnover of staff.
I once worked in this type of clinic setting and it is a stressful environment for both physiotherapist and patient alike. Therefore, the value of these clinics, for personal health benefits is poor in my opinion for patient and physiotherapist. If, however it is financial value, we are discussing then this business model is fantastic for its shareholders. Sometimes paying more for three sessions is a lot better than paying less for many sessions. This is where insurance models of care can be overutilized and unfortunately this can lead to car insurance hikes which affect us all every year especially when ICBC have a monopoly here in BC. To use a heart surgeon example----In a particular hospital there was 5 heart surgeons on the roster. Four of them performed 100 heart procedures approximately in one particular year and one performed 40. The hospital fired the surgeon who performed 40 surgeries due to his decreased operation numbers. On further investigation it was discovered he was practicing more ethically and performing heart surgery only when absolutely necessary.
Some clinics will boast about their numbers online --"we have seen over 10,000 people” but like the heart surgeon example above, maybe the therapist who sees less patients are practicing more morally correct (knowingly or unknowingly) and maybe some therapists are still stuck in the above model of care and seeing people more and are practicing more immorally (knowingly or unknowingly) --some food for thought.
Some one once said to me why do I think WWF is so successful??–It started out as true wrestling but then it became about entertainment---i.e.--fake wrestling. If its entertainment you want and you want to see fake wrestling---- fantastic. If its true wrestling, you want then you’re in the wrong arena.
Like the super bowl –they are all capitalizing on the advertisement and entertainment value and half-time show. Maybe its because I am Irish, and I grew up playing an Irish sport called hurling (medieval sport played with a stick). Its 70 minutes long of pure hurling, one 15-minute break at the interval, no advertisements, and no bullshit entertainment. The players play for their counties, for their own pride and their families and parish pride. Introduce capitalism, and the how to make more money quicker approach and the patient and therapist health value can decline dramatically. Personally my service plans to offer short concise information and treatment planning like true wrestling, cutting out the fluff and entertainment value. This is my style and brand.
When it comes to health care, we need to put the patient number one, patient centered health care. This is where you, the patient have a say in your treatment. It is more of a discussion and a collaboration with an agreed end goal that both parties agree on.
There can be a lot of fluff out there and when it comes to social media it can be hard to know who to trust and what to believe anymore
Am I saying never see a Super Bowl or WWF for entertainment value ---of course not. You can do all these things if you are fully aware of your decision and possible consequences. Some people do like both and that is also cool.
These clinics can get out of hand especially with the health care system in BC, with abundant ICBC, WSBC and health care benefits and insurance plans. This can sometimes lead to session after session of passive treatments leading to a reliance on care rather than lifting our patients up and building their confidence.
Not all clinics are like the one mentioned above and of course many therapists are genuinely trying to do their best and are well intentioned but be sure to do your due diligence when it comes to your own research.
My goal is to empower people to build up their own opioid reserves and pain relieving hormones stores and instill movement optimism--not reliance.
If this resonates with you Skelly Physio may be for. Find me at
https://www.skellyphysio.com/
Happy choosing
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