YES! We can provide a large portion of physical therapy and wellness remotely because a large portion of what most clients need is education and resources on how to manage pain, modify movements and activities to generate healing and progress function. Many testing procedures and assessment tools can be performed without touching the patient which allows the therapist to establish a PT diagnosis and a treatment plan. Treatment via telehealth can include: education, movement awareness training, exercise prescription, activity modification, self manual treatment, self stretching, postural training and strengthening. We love seeing you in person because nothing really beats hands on care:)

This can be confusing for most people because it is confusing. The short answer is 1. Not all physical therapists are doctors of physical therapy. 2. We, as doctors of physical therapy, are not medical doctors. What is important is that the person you are working with has the knowledge and skill to help you with your specific needs. Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) A Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree is the required qualifying degree in physical therapy in the United States. As of 2015 all accredited physical therapy programs are DPT programs. This is an entry-level professional degree. The typical time frame for completion of the DPT is 3-4 years after earning a Bachelor's degree. A physical therapist with a DPT is educated in many areas of rehabilitation. Doctorate of Science in Physical Therapy (DScPT) This is an advanced clinical science doctorate which requires the completion of a post professional physical therapist education program intended to provide the experienced clinician with advance knowledge, clinical skills,and professional behavior, usually in a specific specialty practice area. The culmination is a contribution of new knowledge to clinical practice in the profession through research and clinical residency in a clinical specialization. Physical therapists who graduated from physical therapy programs prior to the DPT may continue to practice with their Bachelors (PT) or Masters in Physical Therapy (MPT) or may have chosen to advance their degree to match the current system by taking the required coursework to earn the DPT.

YES! We love to see our clients in their own homes. We most commonly go to homes however have been known to meet clients at their place of business, track or public space appropriate for the specific circumstances.

We do not bill any insurances directly. We are an out of network provider. This means that we will accept payment from the patient or client for services prior to the appointment time. A receipt/bill with services rendered, payments made and pertinent information needed for the client to submit information to your insurance company can be provided. This is sometimes referred to as a superbill which just means a receipt with pertinent information. Some private insurers will reimburse the client at an out of network coverage rate if they have out of network benefits in their plan. This is not common. If it is determined by the physical therapist that this mode of providing care is not going to meet the clients needs every effort will be made to get you connected to the health care provider that can help get you on your road to recovery.

Currently the doctors of physical therapy at Dawn Thomas Physical Therapy are licensed in the state of Michigan only. We will update this information as it changes. This means that we can provide skilled physical therapy to anyone in the state of Michigan. However, if your needs are more wellness based, education based or fitness we are not restricted to a geographic area for those services. Having a conversation with you about your specific needs with one of your therapists will help determine that.

We encourage you to have a conversation with us so that we can first and foremost determine if we can help you or not. If we don't think we are the best to assist you we will tell you so and HELP you find the right person or place to help you. We have done this many times. With 30 years in the field and a building team of experts we know a lot of people in this industry and we can in most cases give you great recommendations and connections that you need. Rates are dependent upon your needs. That being said once we can determine if we think an assessment is appropriate there is full transparency in pricing. You will know exactly what you are paying and never ever get a surprise bill.

This is a great question! This differentiation is usually made mostly to determine if the service is something insurance would pay for. Typically labelling a session as physical therapy involves a specific injury or medical diagnosis that has led to the particular problem. For example having a shoulder replacement for an arthritic shoulder, or suffering a stroke or tearing a knee ligament are situations in which a person has a specific injury that has a medical diagnosis attached to it that leads them to seek physical therapy. The physical therapy service requires the level of education and knowledge of pathology and injury to appropriately prescribe movement, education, manual therapy and exercise. On the other hand, wellness services can also include things like exercise, manual stretching and education however does not involve the complexity of an acute medical problem or an acute injury that would require a level of detail and skill as the previous description. That being said, as physical therapists, we can apply our level of knowledge to wellness in a different way. We are happy to help you with both! Often we transition clients from what we would consider skilled physical therapy to wellness sessions when they have reached a certain level and no longer need the level of skill that necessitates the physical therapy category but still desire the level of service and attention to detail we provide from a wellness perspective.

I'm glad you asked! Concierge Mobile Physical Therapy is a model of providing physical therapy in which the client pays for the services and the therapist does not bill insurance. This allows the physical therapist to not be restricted by insurance companies rules and regulations attempting to dictate what can be provided. This allows the physical therapist and the client to together determine their needs and make decisions based on meeting their goals and not restricted by the allowances of the insurance company. You can read more about this in an article published in Home Health Care Now written by Dawn Thomas herself:)

There are several reasons and scenarios that clients prefer to utilize services that their provider does not bill insurance for OR insurance does not pay for. 1. They simply want to best care possible. They have determined that working with us is going to get them toward their goals and solve their problems with the least amount of friction, most amount of enjoyment and they do it. 2. Sometimes clients simply desire to have the convenience and time saving aspects of us coming to their homes or workplace. 3. Clients realize that the one on one intensive work we do with them simply gets the job done without any time wasters or underskilled service of any kind. 4. Clients insurance only pays for so much and they have been "cut off" from their paid for therapy and do not want to stop working toward their goals. For example, a person who has a chronic condition like a stroke, parkinson's or arthritis will only be approved for physical therapy for so long in a traditional outpatient setting. Once those benefits are utilized the person sometimes would like to continue working hard or harder to make more gains even though they have a chronic condition. 5. Clients insurance paid services only cover a frequency of 1-2 x a week and they desire to have skilled care and feedback more frequently. For example when a person is sent home from a hospital stay and they have insurance send a therapist to the home 1-2 x week for 2 weeks. The client is struggling with mobility and making progress the other 5-6 days a week and this slows down their progress.

No. You do not need special equipment. Our physical therapists have equipment that they travel with including all safety equipment like blood pressure cuffs, pulse oximeters and gait belts as well as exercise bands and treatment tables. We are very creative and always utilize what you have in your home. We are always looking at ways for you to integrate the treatment and exercise training into your daily life. Occasionally, we will recommend purchasing small items to enhance your carry over but this is almost always not necessary. If, for some reason, you have special circumstances and we feel you would benefit from specialized equipment only available in a facility we will tell you so!

We are physically based in Royal Oak, Michigan which is central Metropolitan Detroit. We spend most of our time in Royal Oak, Birmingham, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge, West Bloomfield, Bloomfield Township, Detroit, Grosse Pointe Woods, Grosse Pointe Shores, Franklin and all the cities in between. Whether or not we are available to travel a bit further for care or to a city not listed is determined by therapist availability and our discussion about your needs on the phone!

No! You do not need a script from a medical doctor to see us. In fact, sometimes it proves to be more efficient to have our expert physical therapists evaluate your situation and determine a PT diagnosis. One of the determinations we can make is if you need to see a medical doctor and if so, what specialty you would most benefit from. The state of Michigan allows licensed physical therapists to provide physical therapy services without a prescription from a medical doctor for 21 days or 10 treatments for the purposes of recovering from injury, preventing injury or promoting fitness. If you plan on submitting your bills for potential reimbursement of fees having a prescription from a medical doctor is advisable. If or when an evaluation or prescription from a physician is needed we are happy to communicate with a physician of your choice or recommend one that we think would be able to help you. If you are seeking wellness services like stretching, fitness, senior wellness or performance training you do not need a prescription from a physician regardless of the time frame you would like to receive and benefit from services.