Patients/Clients

OUR PHYSICAL TREATMENT APPROACH AND PHILOSOPHY

Every patient has unique needs and a complex history, which is why thorough evaluations and understanding their life circumstances are crucial for effective treatment. Our goal is to swiftly restore patients to their desired lifestyle in a well-organized, clean, and safe environment, filled with positive energy. Our team of highly qualified therapists, boasting over 90 years of combined experience, collaborates closely, ensuring each patient receives the best possible care while typically seeing the same therapist each visit.

Overview

After your physical therapy evaluation, we'll discuss our findings, explain your condition, and outline a recovery plan to get you back to your desired lifestyle. Your physical therapist will provide specific recovery instructions, and both your initial evaluation and ongoing progress reports will be shared with your referring physician(s). Your treatment plan will be continually adjusted in collaboration with you and your physicians to ensure effective progress, emphasizing the importance of maintaining open communication with our team throughout your rehabilitation.

Our Process

The process begins with a client service representative gathering necessary information and verifying your insurance benefits for outpatient orthopedic physical therapy as a courtesy, though you are encouraged to double-check with your insurance provider as well. Once your insurance is verified, they will match you with a therapist suited to your needs and schedule your appointments, typically twice a week for 4-6 weeks.

Adjustments to this plan are made based on feedback from you, your therapist, and your referring physician. Note that insurance verification is not a guarantee of payment, and you are responsible for your account.

Confidentiality and HIPAA Compliance

Because your confidentiality is important to us at BreakThrough Physical Therapy, we strive to comply fully with all HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) regulations. To further ensure your identity and security while under our care, prior to the treatment our client service representatives will obtain your social security number and a copy of your government issued identification (ie. valid driver’s license). This helps us to ensure proper account setup, identification, and billing through your career.

What to Bring to your First Visit

Completed Physical Therapy prescription
Insurance card
Valid driver’s license or government-issued identification
Loose, comfortable clothing (shorts, t-shirt, tennis/gym shoes)
Completed New Patient Forms
Note: If the patient is under 18 years of age, a parent or legal guardian must be present during the first visit

What to Expect on your First Visit

Please arrive 20 minutes before your first appointment to complete your paperwork (15 minutes if you’ve completed the intake forms online and brought them)
Lockers and bathrooms are provided
Meet your physical therapist and spend approximately 40 minutes with him or her while he or she asks appropriate questions and performs appropriate tests to set up an effective and individualized treatment program based on your goals
Total appointment time is typically 1.25 hours to 1.5 hours. Individuals who require a more extensive gym program may spend more time than this at future sessions
If you have a limited amount of time for your visit, please inform your therapist at the beginning of the session so that he or she can ensure that your time is used most efficiently

Keys to your Success

At BreakThrough, when you are successful, we are successful. Please be sure to communicate openly and honestly with our client services team and your physical therapist so that we can be sure to provide you the care and results you deserve. Physical therapy is a process and you are a key part of the team so we need consistent feedback from you.

It is critical that you maintain consistency with your scheduled appointments. Many times patients have family or work issues that arise and put themselves last on the list. We have found that our patients who schedule all of their sessions from the beginning, prepare for a regular schedule and adhere to this schedule receive the best results with the least overall time away from work and family and ultimately reduce the total costs of their rehabilitation.

SCHEDULE EARLY AND SCHEDULE OUT FOR YOUR ENTIRE PRESCRIPTION, OFTEN BEYOND. Our PT schedules book up fast and in order to help you attain the appointment times that are best for your busy schedule, the patients who schedule in advance and schedule out end up spending the least time and money with us and achieve their BreakThroughs! If you are undergoing surgery, please schedule your post-operative therapy in advance.

How to Choose a Physical Therapy Clinic

You realize it’s time for a change. You want to decrease pain, improve motion, improve strength, improve endurance and/or learn better postures and body mechanics so you can live a healthier, happier life. But where do you start?

There are many factors that make up an exceptional physical therapy experience. Too often we see people at our facility, BreakThrough Physical Therapy in Sunnyvale, California, who have little faith in physical therapy. They have been to several other clinics, but their doctor or friend strongly urged them to try one more series with us rather than go the route of surgery. After over 20 years in physical therapy, I have compiled the top seven criteria to help you make an educated decision regarding the physical therapy portion of your healthcare team. You should make the commitment right now to play an active role in your care.

Click here for the full article which provides an in-depth and comprehensive look at the key factors to consider when choosing an outpatient orthopedic or sports-oriented physical therapy clinic.

Insurances Accepted

Because of the changing medical insurance environment, we do not have a specific listing of all insurance companies with whom we have contracts. We are able to serve patients with the following insurance/payment classifications:

PPO
Medicare
Private Payment
Automobile Claims – Please note that all auto claims are accepted on a case by case basis

Prescription Form

Many local physicians have our prescription forms available in their office for your convenience. If not, you are welcome to download and print one and ask your physician to utilize it for you. Most importantly, you should know that you can go anywhere for physical therapy even if the prescription is for another facility, just like you can utilize any pharmacy for your medications.

Direct Access

On January 1, 2014 the law changed to allow the following provisions:

Allows patients to directly access physical therapist treatment for 45 calendar days or 12 visits after which time the patient must be seen by a physician who must approve the plan of care developed by the physical therapist. Note: this time limit impacts only patients who receive direct treatment from a physical therapist. Patients who see a physical therapist for wellness services or who already have obtained a medical diagnosis from a licensed diagnostician before or during care are not subject to the 45-day/12 visit time limit.
For more information, feel free to contact the PT Board of California and/or the California Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association.
Note that some insurance carriers do not support this. Our Care Team will help you understand your benefits so that there are minimal surprises for either of us!
Save time, frustration and money on your healthcare. Check out and share our Direct Access Video

Search by Body Part

At BreakThrough Physical Therapy, we specialize in all orthopedic conditions – back, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands, hips, knees, ankles, and feet. We work not only to improve the pain complaints of our patients, but more importantly, to treat each patient as a person rather than as a diagnosis. Taking this comprehensive approach to orthopedic conditions provides our patients with the best results for their goals. We look forward to working with you to achieve your goals.

Click Here for our Body Parts Portal where you can click the region you are interested in to learn more.

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