We understand you might have some questions about your first PT appointment. Alpha Physical Therapy has 25 years of experience in the therapy business. We are certain that we can assist you in all of your therapy needs and are here to answer all of your questions. All you need to do is ask! We are here to help.
What Should I Wear?
Please wear loose fitting, comfortable clothing to your appointment, such as athletic wear. Your therapist will need to be able to evaluate your injury. This means they will need to see, touch and move your affect body area. Sturdy, comfortable shoes should also be worn to allow you to participate fully and safely in your evaluation.
What Should I Bring?
We need you to bring the following:
- Photo Identification (valid driver’s license, valid state ID, school ID, or valid passport)
- Doctor referral/prescription for physical therapy
- Insurance card(s)
- List of all of your medications, vitamins, supplements and what you take them for
- Any MRI/CT/XRAY reports
- Your medical history – this should include any prior surgeries
- Your calendar so we can set up future appointments that are convenient with your schedule
Alpha Physical Therapy is a provider for Medicare and most all Private Insurance Plans.
Alpha Physical Therapy will verify your insurance coverage prior to treatment; however, we recommend the patient verifies coverage too, on the rare occasion that providers are not given accurate information, especially in regard to amount owed on deductibles and copays.
What Should I Expect?
Foremost, you should expect to be evaluated by a Licensed Physical Therapist, and treated by a Licensed Physical Therapist or a Licensed Physical Therapist’s Assistant. You should expect for your treatment to include, appropriate for your condition, all or some of the below activities:
- Education about your condition, injury
- Stretching to reduce stress on joints and improve flexibility
- Manual therapy to improve or maintain range of motion
- Exercise to strengthen muscles and to improve coordination, balance and endurance
- Postural reeducation
- Home Exercise Program and instruction
- Injury prevention
- Pain management
- Modalities such as ultrasound, Electrical Stimulation, Traction, heat and/or cold therapy to relieve pain.
Your first visit will last one hour to one hour and fifteen minutes and will include a comprehensive evaluation by a Licensed Physical Therapist. This evaluation includes a detailed review of your medical history, prior level of function, current level of function, cause of injury, and review of diagnostic tests.
You will be asked to complete a functional ability survey and communicate your goals for physical therapy related to your functional ability. Alpha PT has partnered with Focus on Therapeutic Outcomes Inc (FOTO®), a database for rehabilitation outcomes to measure and compare our patients’ results with national data from thousands of clinics and millions of patients across the United States. We will explain your survey to you and use this as another tool to formulate your treatment plan.
By the end of your evaluation, you can expect your physical therapist to have communicated the evaluation findings and developed a treatment plan with your input to assist you in meeting your specific goals. Finally, after your evaluation, you will also begin to receive targeted treatment based on your evaluation findings. Your therapist will provide you with a home exercise program (HEP) to complete between therapy visits to allow you to be an active participant in your recovery.
PLEASE READ BEFORE YOUR FIRST VISIT