Does Second Arrow accept insurance? Read more …

One on one care with your Doctor of Physical Therapy (no assistants provide care at Second Arrow)

If you are active and want to stay that way, or inactive and tired of being that way, Second Arrow has stepped out of the Insurance System for you. 

Units Billing

Insurance makes it so a physical therapist bills by “units.” That means she is seeing you for 45 minutes to 1 hour whether you need it or not. Why is this problematic? First of all, is your time not precious? Can you do 10-20 exercises daily at home ? Do you really think that’s effective? 

Second Arrow is sharp, concise, effective. We offer both 30 minute and 45 minute appointments. Is it surprising to you that most patients choose and only require 30 minute appointments? These appointments are for you to ask questions, for your PT Doctor to correct your technique, and to move you forward. And, it’s “the forward,” “the progressions” that actually make change. We are not your “personal trainer” or your gym buddy - our job is to improve your pain levels and get you as far past your injury as your body will allow. We are physical medication with the most wonderful side effects like a stronger core and improved endurance. 

SOMETIMES, the PT Doctor will actually regress you because you’re not quite ready or having a flare or … there are SO MANY reasons why “regressing” is just as important and powerful at effecting treatment as “progressing.” This is the power, the change, the discernment of Physical Therapy. The whole point of PT is to guide you towards independence so you don’t need us anymore. You understand your body; you take care of your body; and move out. 

And, Techs - assistants running your care. An Insurance based clinic makes so much more money if a physical therapist is "overseeing" 3-4 patients an hour while "the Techs" actually provide the care - it doesn't matter to them but it should to you that the Tech is not trained in progressions, regressions, to see you need a change - this delays your care and your progress. Delayed care and delayed progress, well, that makes them even more money.

More Time = Money

The more effective your treatments, the less time you are in physical therapy. With the Insurance System, this actually encourages a clinic to be less effective. The longer you are there, the more money that is made. The temptation to do this is built into the structure of the Insurance System.

Stepping out of the Insurance System, the patient gets control of his visits. You could go visit-by-visit OR you could get a Package - the beauty and flexibility of packages. These allow you to work hard within the confines of your package AND IF YOU GET BETTER FASTER than average then you can “bank” those visits - they’re not lost (use them against future need, for future questions, for Private Yoga Sessions). Your Insurance Company will give you “20 visits” (and still make you pay a co-pay each visit - try to explain that to yourself as you also pay their monthly fee) then cut you off even if you only go to 10 visits, even if you need 23. To go back again or need more visits, you actually have to “re-qualify” for those visits and sometimes even have to do another medical doctor’s visit to get those visits (this costs you more money every time). 

Multiple Body Parts Getting Involved

Your body is utterly connected. Your head, your feet - connected. The Insurance System makes it so if your ankle starts to hurt while you’re working on your back, Insurance based clinics will refuse to work on both even if they’re related. A separate prescription is required (there goes another medical doctor visit) and a whole other, separate course of care. That means if your ankle pain is actually referred pain from your back instead of connecting the dots and seeing your physical therapist for 6 weeks, the average course of care, you see your PT for 12 weeks - all that time, all that money. And, then, of course, months can go by if there's a "delay" between the multiple courses of care.

Delayed Care

There is a delay in even starting care that often plagues Insurance based clinics because they have their patients packed in like sardines. Forget the burn out this often causes your physical therapist - it makes it so your “-itis” your “acute phase” starts making the shift towards “sub-acute” and worse, towards “chronic.” All phases of pain are treatable but “the length of care” to treat them and “outcomes” are both significantly affected by how quickly a problem is addressed and, as you’ve already guessed, the longer the care and the worse the outcomes, the more money it costs you. 

Multiple Physical Therapists

Again, because Insurance based clinics structurally require patients to be packed in like sardines, it is very challenging for these clinics to allow for a single physical therapist to provide consistent care to her patients. The result is the patient sees multiple physical therapists throughout her course of care, again, with the natural consequence of extending a patient's course of care because of the nature of a physical therapist having to re-learn the case every time. There is a whole body of evidence our there that makes it undeniably clear that patient outcomes are significantly improved by consistent care. At Second Arrow, that is exactly what you get - consistent, one-on-one care that not only improves your overall outcomes, but saves you time and money.

The GAP in Traditional Physical Therapy

There is a gap, a hole in Insurance Based, Traditional Physical Therapy. The idea of Physical Therapy is that physical therapists treat you until you reach about "80%." That means you tell me (and show me) that you are "80% back to your normal, your goals, your baseline." Then, you discharge (goodbye!). And, this is great - exactly where you should be. But, then, you ask: how does a patient get to 100%? By being "independent with your exercises," - you, at home, or in classes, with regular activity, doing the work - taking charge of your own life. Most likely, this means continuing your exercises you've learned at home 3-5x/week another 3-6 months THEN hopefully, weaning off those exercises.

It is the underlying principle of Physical Therapy to assist a patient become as independent as possible with managing their bodies - and every human body needs to be active on a regular basis, period. This is where so many patients drop off. They do so well with the accountability of their physical therapist then they don't find their group class, don't get their gym membership, don't continue their exercises at home, and roll backwards - and eventually, well, sadly, they circle back around into physical therapy to be treated for the same thing.

Conclusion

So, no, Second Arrow does not accept insurance. We offer competitive and flexible Treatment packages so you get the care you need when you need it, and when you no longer need it, we send you to yoga for 4 weeks to offer you the opportunity to continue your practice of being independent and active on a regular basis, safely without the assistance of the physical therapist - another bridge to independence.