Web-Based PT Software: Advantages For Any Size Physical Therapy Practice

The right physical therapy software can bring the management and organization of your PT practice to the next level, giving you valuable tools for everything from EMR to patient billing. You may opt for a stand-alone program that focuses on records, like electronic documentation therapy software, or something more comprehensive that includes invoicing, patient instructions and a variety of other services, but nothing beats the flexibility of a web-based PTprogram. When you're able to manage your physical therapy clinic via a remote server, you gain several advantages other systems simply don't have, including:

Scalability

While many physical therapy managementprograms tout their adaptability to small, medium and large facilities, most have their limits. They can either handle only so many patients or professionals, or they can't scale up for multiple locations. If your business is growing, this can be quite limiting. With a web-based solution, however, you can have an infinite number of employees as well as an infinite number of locations, all with fully-customizable access to EMRs, invoice management and treatment protocols.

Integrated Solutions With Web-Based PT Software

Do you want users to be able to tie EMRs to invoices, or therapists' schedules to different locations? It's easy with an integrated approach through web-based PT software that works not only for your prime location, but any additional offices or clinics. An off-site solution will also tie up less of your own computers' capacity, since data is securely stored elsewhere but always readily available.

Remote Servers

One of the most expensive investments you'll need to make when opting for electronic documentation therapy software or an electronic billing system is servers. As your business grows, so will your server needs. You may need to upgrade to larger, dedicated servers and put an IT plan in place, including at least one IT specialist who would be in charge of networking your computers, maintaining the servers and making sure all crucial documents are backed up on a daily basis.

Or you could invest in web-based PT software and eliminate the need for your own IT department. After all, wouldn't you rather focus on running your clinic and helping your patients recover? A web solution includes reliable, secure servers dedicated to your needs, but monitored and maintained by an off-site IT specialist. In most cases, back-ups of your information and patient records will be backed up at least daily, eliminating any worry about losing information if your computer or computers crash. You'll never even have to worry if your clinic location experiences a break-in or theft: all information on our servers will be instantly recoverable for quick download.

Focus On Physical Therapy

The unique nature of a PT practice means that your physical therapy management program has to process an incredible amount of information across several platforms, including invoices, office management, patient management and instructions, employee management and health insurance claims and documentation. When you are looking for a the right solution, web-based PT software can carry the load and back it up without your company having to continually upgrade servers and add to your IT department, saving you money as you grow and expand.

To find the right solution for your clinic, explore various physical therapy software solutions, comparing their features and benefits. Most will offer a free, online demo so that you can compare them with your current program and those offered by other physical therapy management manufacturers. You'll quickly come to the conclusion that nothing else compares to a customizable, web-based PT software solution.

Can Massage for Sciatica Really Heal Your Pain?

A massage certainly feels good. After a massage session, you feel so relaxed and light. But is massage therapy a good way to treat sciatica or back pain?

If it is done correctly, massage therapy can be extremely helpful for people suffering from sciatica or any other form of back pain. If your massage therapist has a solid understanding of the human anatomy and sciatica, then you're in even better hands (sorry for the pun).

Massage for sciatica can have lots of benefits for you and your body. Many massage therapists these days will use a number for different techniques during a given session. Anything from traditional massage to energy work or even correcting muscle imbalances. Many studies have even shown that massage can improve flexibility, decrease back pain, encourage sound sleep, and decrease feelings of depression.

When you're looking for a therapist to give you a good massage for sciatica, try to find one that has an understanding of muscle imbalances. This type of therapist is incredibly rare, but if you can find one, they are worth the effort. Most cases of sciatica are the result of muscle imbalances, so a massage therapist that knows about this subject will be especially beneficial.

There are quite a few benefits to massage for sciatica. Massage can help to increase circulation in the body, which in turn can help reduce inflammation. This helps by moving lymph, which can actually inhibit circulation when there is a build up of it in your system. Additionally, you'll also benefit from an increased range of motion, muscle relaxation, a better night's sleep, and more endorphins to lift your spirits.

Massage can help relax tense muscles that may be putting pressure on your sciatic nerve, as may be the case with conditions such as Piriformis Syndrome. But can it help be an effective treatment in all cases of sciatica?

Although getting a massage feels great and can help with a lot of things related to sciatica, massage should not be your only weapon against sciatica. Simply put, massage does not deal with many of the important underlying factors that are responsible for back pain and sciatica such as muscle imbalances, poor posture, or other personal habits we might have about how we hold our body throughout the day.

If used in conjunction with other treatment plans, you will get great results from massage for sciatica. But by itself, massage will not completely correct the problem in most cases. You may wish to consider massage for sciatica in conjunction with stretching exercises specifically designed to correct muscle imbalances that are the underlying cause of most cases of sciatica.

So, go and get a massage. I'm sure it will help you feel better and relax you. But do yourself a favor and look a bit deeper than immediate gratification and address the root cause of your sciatic pain with a more comprehensive treatment plan in addition to the massage.

Physical Therapy For Returning Soldiers

Thousands of soldiers are returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with moderate to severe physical injuries. Such injuries include head tram, loss of limbs, and debilitating injuries to such areas as the arms and legs. Medical providers are utilizing a number of treatments to help these brave men and woman return to civilian life.

Service dogs are helping to counteract the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by providing dogs to help calm and relax a soldier suffering from PTSD. The dogs sense a soldier's anxiety helps calm the soldier through the use of touch. The dogs are a loving distraction from stress. The dogs have two years of special training to help people with cognitive disorders and physical disabilities.

The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) is the central point of helping soldiers recovering from traumatic injury. The Walter Reed Health Care System (WRHCS) consists of ten facilities in three states. Physical therapy services include rehabilitation treatments in areas as neurorehab, orthopedics, and amputees. The service is divided into five major sections: inpatient, orthopedic inpatient, outpatient, amputee, and aquatic therapy.

For physical injuries medical providers deliver various methods of treatment such as ultrasound, heat, ice and massage therapy, as well as a carefully designed exercise program. They also employ such treatment techniques as bands, medicine balls, stretches and exercise bikes to help e purpose is to strengthening and condition weak, sore, and injured muscles and joints. Often physical therapy has been more productive than surgery.
The physical therapist will also perform different tests to diagnose the patient's condition. After completing the assessment, a treatment plan is discussed and therapy begins. Pain management is a key component of physical therapy.

Other physical therapy treatments include postural training and ergonomic training. Also called Human engineering, the applied science of ergonomics is focused on designing and arranging objects that patients use regularly so that patients and objects can interact adeptly and safely. For instance, work arrangements to accommodate the patient could consist of providing a more comfortable chair, sitting closer to a work desk, lowering the computer keyboard, arranging items to be at easy reach. This is often done for soldiers with back pain. Techniques and modifications are implemented to fit the patient's specific medical condition.

Exercises are an essential part of physical therapy treatment. This can include swimming, using a treadmill, stretching techniques, breathing techniques, lifting weights. These exercises are not only for clinic use, but also for home exercise. As well, therapeutic techniques are designed to help soldiers learn how to function with artificial limbs.

The trauma of war can be emotionally debilitating. For returning injured soldiers, physical therapy includes mental health therapy. This can include providing coping strategies on how to deal with a loss of a limb, overcoming the feeling of helplessness, overcoming the feeling of isolation and depression, and showing the soldier that life can still be productive and meaningful.

Soldiers deserve the best medical treatment for their service. Because there are so many soldiers returning from war seriously injured, it is important that heath care providers are there to help them return to civilian life.

What Kinds of Qualifications Does a Masseuse Need?

Massage therapy is both an art and science that requires special training. It is one health career that has become popular in recent years due to more people requiring the services of a professional masseuse. A masseuse will apply medical massage techniques to sooth and alleviate aching muscles and tissues to promote healing of an injured area or an area that has a lot of tension. As well, a therapeutic massage promotes relaxation and stress relief. To become a qualified masseuse, it requires the proper education, training and one must have essential skills to properly massage specific areas. Kneading and massaging skills are essential to treating a client.

To become a qualified masseuse, one should take a massage therapy program from an accredited massage therapy school or program. To be accepted, one must have completed their high school diploma. There are a number of accredited schools that you can attend where the school will provide a certificate as a massage therapist that will meet the licensing requirements for your area. It is essential for one to become a certified massage therapist. For instance, in the United States, one will take the National Certification Board of Massage Therapy certification exam once they have graduated from an accredited massage therapy school. Each state requires a masseuse to be certified.

Currently, thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have massage therapy regulations and mandates. It is essential that one completes a massage therapy program that is accredited by a national massage therapy accreditation agency. When choosing a program or school, it is important to inquire about that school's accreditation.

There are a number of areas one can specialize in when considering a career as a masseuse. Such specializations can include: Swedish massage, sports massage, and clinical massage. In order to special in a particular massage area, one will have to undergo more training in that area as well as acquire a particular certificate. It is recommended that one attend a school that provides the necessary education and training for a specific massage area.

When searching schools, it is important to check the schools to see what types of massage programs are available. A good research tool is the internet. You will find a broad number of accredited massage therapy schools online and each will describe the programs they offer as they can vary according to the type of massage programs they offer. Costs of attending massage therapy school can vary from hundreds of dollars to a few thousand.

After you have completed the massage therapy program, you will have to get licensed. It is important to check your area's licensing requirements as it can vary from state to state. Many states require a specific number of hours of training that must be completed before one is granted a license. Once one has a license, they can work in such areas as a physical therapy clinic, physical rehabilitation facility, hospital, wellness clinic, own their own business, doctor's clinic, sports medicine, nursing homes, spas, and fitness centers. A masseuse can even have their own portable massage business where they go to the location of a client to provide a therapeutic massage.

A career as a masseuse is one area that is growing in demand. It is a gratifying and financially rewarding career for people who enjoy helping to improve individual health and wellness.

Physical Therapy Marketing Tools For Physical Therapy Private Practice

You went to school, put the time in, and now you are off to create your own practice. Before long, you quickly realize that you need physical therapy marketing tools. Your practice, as you realized, is a business and it takes more than just opening the doors in order to get business and grow your practice.

There are a couple of very effective physical therapy marketing tools that will help. There are a couple of very effective physical therapy marketing tools that will help you to grow your business by leaps and bounds. It doesn't matter if you have the best mouse trap if no one knows that you even have a mouse trap. You have to get the word out, and these tactics will help you do just that.

The first tool is simple, it's customer service. It's a dog eat dog world, and even the smallest complaint can cause problems for your business. It's essential that you work toward delivering on your promise all the time, every time. This includes accepting more different kinds of insurance, getting patients in on time every time, and other small details that matter to the patient.

The second effective physical therapy marketing tools is to create word of mouth. A person talking about your business is worth a hundred ads in the newspaper or on television. Be creative, and find incentives for people who refer other people to your practice. This could include specialized free information, a banquet, a preferred customer card with discounts or money to spend at the local super store. Be creative and you will get results.

If word of mouth is the most effective way to get more clients and patients, where are the people who are most likely to use or need your services? Local sporting events and teams are one example, as well as local factories and big industries. Find ways to get in front to these people. Possibly a free consultation or a seminar on worker safety techniques in order to avoid injury.

The key is that you need to be creative. The more creative you are, the more results you will get when using these effective physical therapy marketing tools. Marketing doesn't take a degree, but it does take some thinking and understanding about the way people think and work on a regular basis.

The Best Time to See a Physical Therapist

Body pain can be experienced by all types of people, whether they are hard working individuals or couch potatoes who stay home all day and watch television. Luckily, Physical Therapist (PT) are present to help manage these problems. There are a wide variety of Physical Therapists that specialize in different fields like cardiopulmonary, geriatrics, orthopedic, and other classes of care. As a patient looking for care, it would be easy to find which type of physical therapist to seek help from because of these specializations. However, a common question usually asked by those who are in search of therapy is: what would be the best time to see a physical therapist?

This question is similar to that of when the best time to get a check-up is, and the answer is as early as possible. An important theory of medicine is that preventive care is better than curative care, meaning preventing a disease is better than curing one. This same theory can be used with physical therapy as well. It is important to see a physical therapist once acute body pain begins to try to prevent it from becoming a chronic problem. Once a problem becomes normally chronic, it would obviously be harder to get rid of it. It can also save a lot of money to seek early treatment, since treating a minor problem would call for less therapy time and therefore fewer expenses.

For some problems, physical therapy can prevent the need for corrective surgery. This is a huge advantage in seeking physical therapy as early as possible. The main advantage is the amount of money being saved when choosing to take therapeutic exercise. If physical therapy is used, extra expenses would not have to be spent on medication or possible surgery. Another advantage is avoiding the risk involved with going under the knife. Although the surgery may be a minor one, there is always a chance of something going wrong during the procedure and having a bigger problem afterwards can indeed be inevitable.

Lastly, and probably the most fulfilling benefit, is the satisfaction of recovering from an injury or problem on one's own accord. By learning exercises to cure the current problem, one can also use those same exercises to prevent future recurrences. It is also interesting to note that physical therapy has been proven to not only heal, but also strengthen muscles and bones. This is one reason that athletes commonly resort to physical therapy after surgery to revitalize their strength.

The phrase "The early bird gets the worm" perfectly describes seeking physical therapy. Simply put, the best time to see a physical therapist is as early as possible. Numerous problems can be avoided by looking for preventive care rather than having to search for curative care in the future. Not only would problems be prevented, but plenty of money can be saved by treating them before they turn serious. It is also safe to say future problems can be avoided by continuing the therapeutic exercises learned from treatment.

Where Can I Learn Shiatsu?

Popularly known as a Japanese technique in natural healing, shiatsu is considered as an alternative medicine that aids in the healing and recovery of an individual by applying different finger, elbow, palm and knee pressures on the meridian points of the human body. By doing so, the therapist releases bad or clogged chi that are said to be disrupting the natural flow of energy in a human body, thus allowing the body to be susceptible to sickness and diseases.

Ancient Japan had at least one member in each family learned in shiatsu in order to have a better health in their community. However, you don't need to be from Japan or a Japanese in order to know and understand the techniques of shiatsu massage therapy. Wouldn't it be great if you can do these healing techniques to your loved ones and save money by preventing sickness?

There are lots of shiatsu schools everywhere for those who are interested in practicing this art of alternative and complementary medicine. Although it may require some of your time as you need to go to the school in order to learn the method, it is worth all the effort as you will be able to apply what you learned by maintaining your friends and loved ones' health through shiatsu. Some people use this knowledge to start their own massage business.

Another way of learning this type of alternative healing and relaxing method is by purchasing books and magazines related to this topic although it may be expensive and less interactive as compared to studying at a shiatsu school. There are many good books pertaining to shiatsu that tackle very well all the aspects a person in search for valuable learning will find from these great materials. Shiatsu magazines and articles are frequently updated and will keep you on track on what's new although they may not be a sufficient source of information if you ask me but they will do just fine in giving you valuable tips and information.

Getting a personal tutor who is experienced and knowledgeable regarding shiatsu is also a good idea if you want your learning experience to be more of a one-on-one teaching. This may be expensive though as your teacher's time will be limited only on teaching you.

Perhaps the easiest and inexpensive way of learning shiatsu is by learning it online. There are tons of great information you can find helpful through the internet that teaches shiatsu in the simplest way possible. There are also tutorials such as video clips that can help a lot in giving you information and ideas regarding shiatsu massage therapy. You can choose from affordable to free teaching services from various websites in the internet. Most of these websites offer a step by step guide on a shiatsu massage therapy session. The history will also be tackled so that you will have an idea on where and how it all began. Watch videos on how massage therapists apply pressure on the meridian points of the human body as you pay close attention on where they are situated in the human anatomy.