As I’ve mentioned before, a cash practice setting allows for me to operate seeing only 1 patient per hour vs. insurance based clinic practitioners who can see between 2-4 patients per hour. In this scenario, it is guaranteed that the cash practitioner will spend more time with the patient per hour vs the insurance based clinic practitioner. How important is seeing a patient 1 on 1? It is arguably the most important aspect of a successful rehab process. Here’s a list of benefits that patients get from 1 on 1 time.
- The practitioner can see every set of every rep performed throughout the session. When a rehab program is made, each exercise is chosen to provide a certain stimulus to drive adaptation and improvement. Unless the practitioner can see how each rep and exercise is being perform, they can’t guarantee that the stimulus being created is the stimulus they intended.
- More 1 on 1 time = more dialogue between practitioner and patient. Dialogue is perhaps the most underrated aspect of rehab. With more dialogue between therapist and patient, the amount of patient education administered can be increased greatly. This means the patient leaves each session with a better understanding of how to go about the rehab process outside of each session via activity modification, avoiding painful triggers, controlling stress, prioritizing sleep, etc.
- More time for the practitioner to instill confidence into the patient. If a practitioner is able to continually build up the client throughout the rehab process, the patient will begin to feel less fragile and more confident in their ability to overcome their current pain. Along with patient education, patient self-confidence is what allows them to prosper functionally well after they are done with the rehab process
- The practitioner is more invested in a patient’s outcome. The more time you spend on anything in life, the more invested you become. Similarly, the more time a therapist spends with a patient directly, the more invested the therapist becomes in that patient reaching their goals.
The bottom line is that cash practices are a great match for those who value their time. It’s a great match for those who value the quality of care that a cash practice can achieve. When searching for your next health practitioner, make sure to consider how much 1 on 1 time you will receive.