Call 281-633-8600 for an appointment. In this article, Dr. J. Michael Bennett talks about the factors you should consider when picking good rehab centers for physical therapy. This article is taken from a recording of the Dr. Jay Show on AM1560TheGame in Houston, TX. Doctor Bennett serves patients from Metro Houston from clinics in Sugar Land and in Houston, near the Houston Galleria.
Doctor J. Michael Bennett is a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon with a Certificate of Added Qualification as a Sports Medicine Doctor. We accept Aetna, Cigna, United Healthcare and most other medical health insurance plans.
This is the transcript of the fifth section of a Dr. Jay Show on 1560TheGame with the discussion focusing on how to choose a doctor. With Dr. Bennett is Bob Lewis of 1560. This section discusses picking good rehab centers, and things to think about when your doctor insists on using a rehab facility that’s part of your doctor’s medical center. If you have questions about the information here or you’d like to arrange a second opinion with Dr. Bennett, please call 281-633-8600 for an appointment.
BOB LEWIS: I guess an off-topic question for me would be what percentage of your patients has some sort of rehab after seeing you?
DR. J. MICHAEL BENNETT: I would say a large portion of orthopedics is non-operative. Probably about 80 percent. And it involves a lot of rehab. Now that also depends on the physician. I’m a big rehab advocate; I love rehab and I think it does great.
Now some of these doctors that are working for hospitals, they’re a little more conservative regarding rehabilitation because some of these places will limit the amount of rehab you’ll get because they’re trying to keep certain costs low. I think that’s where the future is heading and unfortunately, when it comes to medicine, these accountable care organizations and things like that you’re going to hear more and more about in the future where they want to keep the costs as low as possible which I think in the broad scheme of things is great, but when you look at the patient care and the general aspects is not so good.
For me, like in an ACL reconstruction, I think it needs about six months of rehab whether it’s once or twice a week, etcetera. But if you go to a hospital and they have a CEO who’s looking at the numbers and they say, “Well, this guy can get his motion back and he can move his knee in about four weeks, I think that’s good enough.”
LEWIS: I had hoped I wasn’t going to have to ask that question but is there situations where they are like paid to save money and not actually perform what maybe should be done?
DR. J. MICHAEL BENNETT: I think that’s a legitimate question because I think that’s what’s going to happen. That’s the shift that’s going to occur.
LEWIS: They give you the minimum care, not the right care.
DR. J. MICHAEL BENNETT: There will be facilities where they’re going to look at it, try to minimize your rehab and try to minimize the operative costs, etcetera. I saw a patient the other day that was treated for almost two years with a full thickness rotator cuff tear; she’s been in pain, she’s weak. Because of this system this patient was in, they did not want to operate or do anything for this patient. So that’s two years of pain; she probably couldn’t work, couldn’t do her job. So there’s a downside to all of this. You’ve got to hear both sides before you make an educated decision.
Doctor J. Michael Bennett is a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon and a Fellowship Trained Sports Medicine Physician with offices in Sugar Land and in Houston, near the Houston Galleria. Dr. Bennett is available for second opinions and encourages them for his own patients. If you have questions about picking good rehab centers for physical therapy, please call our office for an appointment with Dr. Bennett.
