Why Choose Out-of-Network Physical Therapy??
The better question you should be asking yourself is “ do I want a short term solution, or do I want a long term solution to my ache, pain, injury,etc”? If you’re like most people and want a long term solution to your problem, out of network physical therapy is your best option!
This is a question we get all the time at Alpha Project Phyzio & Performance! We also get the following questions: “Do you take my insurance?”, “Are you cash based because you want to make more money?” “Why would I see you over the 15 other physical therapy practices in my area?”. These are all great questions and let’s dive into what a “cash based/ out-of-network physical therapist actually is!
First let’s address the “cash-based” part. Being “cash-based” is another way of say that we are out-of-network with all insurance companies. All that means is, instead of paying us a co-pay or a co-insurance, you would pay us directly and then you can submit to your insurance company for out of networks benefits. A follow up question you may have is “ That’s great Matt, but what are my out of network benefits?”.
An easy way to find out is to just call your insurance company! All you have to do is give them a call ( easier said than done when it comes to insurance companies!) and ask them what your out of network benefits are for physical therapy. This number typically ranges from 40%-80%. What that means is you have the potential to get back more than half of the money you would pay an out of network physical therapist. We’ll talk in a second about why that is actually pretty good compared to a $20 co pay!
Another option you have is to pay with an HSA (health savings account) or FSA ( flexible savings account) accounts. This is pre-taxed money on high deductible health insurance plans that allows you to invest in your own health care.
However, in some cases, insurance will not pay for anything out of network…. Well why in the world would someone with insurance pay full price to come see us vs traditional physical therapy that is in-network with their insurance company?? We’re glad you asked! The reason we have chosen to go out of network with insurance companies is to give YOU, the patient, the best care possible! In the insurance based model reimbursement rates are dictated by insurance companies, and are only getting less and less. This forces us, the physical therapists, to see you and multiple other patients at the same time and unfortunately negatively impacts our ability to get you better and solve your problem long term. Think of it this way, there’s a reason why they say not to drive while texting, because you’re dividing your attention and will most likely perform each task relatively poorly (the driving having potentially catastrophic consequences!). If you focused on one or the other you would do a pretty good job either texting or driving in isolation. Physical therapists work the same way. The more our attention is divided in an hour, the less quality care you, the patient, will get.
Not only will you get more attention and a better quality of care from us, but we are experts in treating active people and athletes. In particulate distance runners and CrossFit athletes. We also prefer to call ourselves Physiotherapists, or Physios for short! This is a term that is much more common in Europe and Australia, however, in the USA it is a term used for physical therapists who have specialized in treating athletes and active people! Wouldn’t you rather be treated by an expert in the sport that you do??
So are we just trying to make more money? Are we being selfish by being “Out of Network”? No, on the contrary, we most likely make LESS money than most in-network practices. Let’s take an hour session with an in network practitioner. You have a $20 co-pay and the visit is $100. You, the patient, would pay the $20 co-pay and the insurance company would pay the remaining $80. XYZ in-network physical therapy practice is seeing 3 patients an hour at that rate of $100 per visit. That’s $300/ hour. As an out-of-network practice, lets say our hourly rate is $199. That’s only 2/3 of the money the in-network practice is making. Our goal is not to make the most amount of money, it’s to give you, the patient, the best care possible :).
We like to call ourselves Physiotherapists. All that means is that we have
This is a story of a young physical therapist who was just hired to his first job. He was ready to help people live healthier and more active lifestyles and was eager to start his career. After settling in Maryland and taking his first job he started to notice that something just didn’t seem right. He was seeing 60 patients a week (2 per hour) and was having to choose to give patients quality care, and taking 2 hours worth of notes home with him every night. He would work with individuals who did not want to get better and/or didn’t put the work in. He was constantly being reminded how to “bill” properly and to “make sure you bill enough units!” He also learned how to put one patient on a bike for 10 minutes while he “finished up” with another patient. As a patient you might not realized the quality of care you are getting, however, as a practitioner it is obvious. The care I was giving my patients was not what I imagined and I wanted to work for a practice that would be able to give patients the quality of care they deserved. Unfortunately, this kind of practice is very rare to find so…. I started my own!
Alpha Project Phyzio is a Maryland physical therapy clinic with three locations in Gaithersburg, Frederick, and Columbia. Reach out for a free consultation.
