Month: September 2017

Cerebral Palsy Patients Can Benefit from Botox Therapy

Posted on by VettersEnt

One of the most common off-label uses for Botox is continuing to gain popularity and helping countless cerebral palsy patients. Botox can be used to help combat spasticity, or the muscle stiffness associated with the condition. Muscles that are spastic make it difficult to move and perform basic tasks. While there are conventional oral medications, Botox can treat spastic muscles at the exact site.

What Is Botox?

Botox is a material created by bacteria. It can be used safely and effectively to treat spastic muscles in patients with cerebral palsy. Botox treats the muscles by blocking the signal between the nerves and the muscles that tighten or contract. As a result, it can give patients major relief from muscle spasms and discomfort.

How Can Botox Help Patients with Cerebral Palsy?

Botox can provide cerebral palsy patients with:

  • A radically improved gait
  • Increased range of motion
  • A decrease in pain in spastic muscles
  • Reduction in spasticity
  • Less discomfort when stretching
  • Increased comfort in braces

How Long Does Botox Help?

Most cerebral palsy patients experience relief from spasticity within 5 days, with maximum relief occurring around 3 weeks after the injections. Patients will typically experience symptom relief for up to 3 months after the injections, and the symptoms and spastic muscles will gradually return until they have another injection. As with any medication or treatment, make sure that parents fully understand the potential benefits and risks to their child. Since Botox is created from the bacteria that causes food poisoning, there are risks involved with treatment.

Reach Your Patients More Effectively with Help from Vetters Enterprises

Vetters Enterprises specializes in practice management, revenue cycle optimization, and private practice business support. We can perform detailed assessments of your practice or facility and identify potential issues. Let us keep your business as healthy as you keep your patients! Give us a call at (443) 352-0088.

Entitlements and Insurance

Posted on by VettersEnt

Entitlements and insurance are two of the most common partial payment methods practices encounter on a daily basis. Each entitlement and insurance policy grants the holder different benefits, so it is critical to understand the differences between the two.

Entitlements 101

Entitlements guarantee access to a certain range of benefits by either established rights or by federal or state legislation. Entitlement benefit programs are not just restricted to healthcare, and include Social Security Disability Insurance, Social Security Retirement Income and Medicare. Some of the common entitlements you will encounter at your private practice include Medicaid, Medicare, TRICARE and CHAMPVA. 

Every practice chooses to see patients with certain types of insurance or certain entitlements. Since each entitlement has different requirements, they each offer a certain amount of reimbursement to your practice. On average, Medicaid only pays 60% of what Medicare pays. Medicare already only pays a portion of the “retail” value of your services, so if your patient sees a large number of patients with entitlements, you will also need to see patients who pay in full to offset the cost.

Entitlements vs. Insurance

Unlike insurance, entitlements are either promised or needs-based. Medicare is a federally guaranteed health insurance offering for adults who are 65 years or older or disabled. Anyone receiving Social Security Disability Insurance payments will be able to use Medicare after 24 months of benefits. Medicaid, on the other hand, is needs-based. Medicaid is a state program that also receives federal funding. It is used to provide healthcare for low-income people.

Insurance, on the other hand, can be purchased by individuals through a variety of sources, whether it is their employer or the ACA exchange. Most private practices choose to accept at least one or two types of insurance, but not all of them choose to accept Medicare and Medicaid.

Reach Your Patients More Effectively with Help from Vetters Enterprises

Vetters Enterprises specializes in practice management, revenue cycle optimization, and private practice business support. We can perform detailed assessments of your practice or facility and identify potential issues. Let us keep your business as healthy as you keep your patients! Give us a call at (443) 352-0088.

Fitness Boxing for Physical Therapy Patients

Posted on by VettersEnt

The right low impact, high intensity workout can completely transform the lives of physical therapy patients. One local class, Rock Steady Boxing, is hoping to do just that.

Rock Steady Boxing: Charm City

Rock Steady Boxing uses a compelling combination of fitness and physical therapy to treat a wide range of clients with movement disorders. Physical therapy clients respond differently when focusing on the traditional elements of boxing—rotational movement patterns, speed, endurance, accuracy, hand-eye coordination, agility and footwork. The Charm City chapter of Rock Steady Boxing was founded by Patty Wessels to help treat those with Parkinson’s Disease.

In addition to their classes specifically for those with movement disorders, Rock Steady Boxing Charm City is also adding fitness boxing classes to their line-up. Boxing is an awesome form of aerobic exercise that can be both low impact and high intensity. This allows you to receive a phenomenal workout without putting excess strain on your joints.

High Impact vs. Low Impact

High impact exercises are those where your body is making continuous contact with the ground, like running, jogging, jumping or other active workouts. Low impact exercises are those where at least one foot stays in on the ground, like walking, riding a bike or boxing. High impact exercises typically put an increased amount of stress on your joints including your knees, hips, back or ankles. As a result, low impact exercise is the best option for those dealing with movement disorders.

High Intensity vs. Low Intensity

Intensity, in the world of exercise, is used to refer to how hard you are working. Intensity also refers to how intense your concentration is and how high your heart rate can climb. Boxing is definitely a high intensity workout, which is part of why it is so effective for patients with Parkinson’s Disease. Your body will experience a great workout without doing excess harm to your joints. Other low impact and high intensity workouts include dancing, power walking and swimming.

Get Local with Rock Steady Boxing Charm City

Through her a passion for movement and dedication to the Baltimore community, Head Coach, Patty Wessels developed a plan to open a boxing gym for individuals with Parkinson’s Disease, in cooperation with Mind Body Physical Therapy. There is now a gym that functions solely as a boxing space at the Mind Body office, located at Coppermine Fieldhouse. Patty couldn’t be more thrilled to bring Rock Steady Boxing to Charm City!

Learn more about Patty or sign up for a class here!

Reach Your Patients More Effectively with Help from Vetters Enterprises

Vetters Enterprises specializes in practice management, revenue cycle optimization, and private practice business support. We can perform detailed assessments of your practice or facility and identify potential issues. Let us keep your business as healthy as you keep your patients! Give us a call at (443) 352-0088.