Tele Physical Therapy

If you have been injured or are recovering from surgery and need physical therapy, you’ve probably been Googling all the options to determine what’s best for you. And you’ve probably already noticed that there is no shortage of places where you can get physical therapy services, right?

But there’s one thing stopping you: physical therapy can be a HUGE inconvenience for some people, and you may be one of them. So, how can you make it work for you? Consider an option that is very accommodating, because it allows you to do your physical therapy in the comfort of your own home.

What is Tele Physical Therapy?

Tele Physical Therapy has many other names, some of which include:

virtual therapy
virtual rehab
cyber rehab
cyber therapy
tele therapy
tele rehab
telehealth

Despite the various names you may come across for tele therapy, the basic premise of this form of therapy is that it is done at home, as opposed to doing the exercises at a physical therapy facility.

The session utilizes technology as the means of communication between the patient and the physical therapist. In most cases, there is a camera set up in the space of your home where you do your physical therapy exercises. When you log on to your physical therapy session, your physical therapist will walk you through each exercise as if you were in a physical therapy facility. The face to face interaction still occurs, but with tele physical therapy, that communication happens online. When your session concludes, there is no commute back home, because you’re already there! You can’t get more convenient than that!

The Benefits of Tele Physical Therapy

Ask any patient who has participated in cyber therapy and they’ll tell you: the convenience of getting physical therapy in the comfort of your own home is amazing.

The American Physical Therapy Association noted that getting physical therapy online is expected to grow in the coming years, because the benefits are widespread.

Applications of telehealth in physical therapy already have roots that expand throughout patient/client care and consultation, as it allows PTs to better communicate with patients/clients and provide more flexible care. Telehealth will not replace traditional clinical care. However, it will give PTs and PTAs the flexibility to provide services in a greater capacity. Examples:

Patients typically in clinical or hospital settings could be managed from their homes
Quicker screening, assessment, and referrals can improve care coordination within collaborative delivery models such as accountable care organizations or patient-centered medical homes
Telehealth can facilitate consultation between providers or in clinical education