Industry visionary Dr. Micheal Clark has spent his entire career pioneering treatment techniques for physical therapists, and there’s no end in sight. He’s heavily invested in the health and wellness world: the letters DPT, MS, CES, PES follow his name and Dr. Clark also founded the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). Every outlet recognizes him as one of the top physical therapists of all time. It’s fitting that Dr. Clark has spent years treating, training and rehabilitating elite athletes from every kind of professional sport.
Now, he’s focused on extending his keen insight into Fusionetics, a Performance Healthcare System designed to help PTs and patients understand, monitor and improve performance at all levels. Dr. Clark spoke with MeyerPT about the evolution of treatment processes, what Fusionetics can do to improve clinical outcomes and how their team hopes to create the gold standard of movement efficiency testing. We spoke to Dr. Clark about Fusionetics and how it can impact each patient’s performance.
What sets Fusionetics apart from the traditional movement-testing models?
With Fusionetics, our team is trying to evolve from the general practice, PT orthopedic-driven patho-anatomical model. Based on our collective experiences, we’ve created a model that is more focused on the patho-kinesiological approach, which should be the gold standard for anyone in the movement space.
The Fusionetics model is an impairment-based model; we’re 100 percent focused on identifying the area that’s causing the dysfunction and potentially the pain in any given patient. The whole goal of our system is to implement a very specific strategy to improve function where a patient has a recorded deficiency. We know that if you improve your movement efficiency, your function improves. And if we improve your function, pain is removed and individuals can get back to normal activity.
How does your model impact how a PT would work with a patient?
Physical therapists should be trying to identify what’s causing, say, the right knee to hurt–but not the left knee–by looking at the whole body. They should ask themselves: how does the problem knee move in transitional movements, on two legs and one, and how does each segment move from a range of motion, strength and alignment standpoint.
So ultimately, for a PT to fix this patient with a hurt right knee, our industry has to start to change healthcare and drive functional outcomes as practitioners. We have to move towards the Fusionetics gold standard – that’s how we’ll truly evolve from the general practice process.
So if a clinic is interested in using Fusionetics, how would you set them up with the system?
When we give the Fusionetics system to someone in the healthcare professional world, it’s customized for him or her with the intention of a physical therapist being able to use it clinically.
So the way they will use our system and testing software is three-fold: one method is to go out into the community and actively get more patients. The system is not focused on a specific population segment : athletes from grade school to professional level, military, police, fire and even school programs are community organizations that can benefit from Fusionetics testing. We’ve seen clinics find great success with offering testing as a new method for increased patient visits.
In fact, we’d estimate that between 20 to 25 percent of the individuals getting tested get referred back into the clinic so the administering practitioner can do a further assessment. This creates an opportunity to refer that individual to their favorite referring physician who can determine if that person needs imaging, surgery – and then that physician is going to send them back to PT with a script for therapy.
This system helps you create patients for yourself instead of just waiting for the doctor to send them to you. At the same time, you’re building a great referral rapport with your local physicians.
What about the clinics more interested in using Fusionetics with the patients they see currently?
Say a patient is referred in with knee pain; in the clinic, the PT would take the individual through the Fusionetics assessment for the total body, not just the affected knee. They would measure the range of motion and the software program would pop up with a custom treatment program and follow-up. The PT would be able to recommend soft tissue release, mobile tissue, neuromuscular reeducation – all of these are CPT billable. We provide the CPT codes you can bill against with Fusionetics.
Throughout the treatment, all of the created changes are saved and stored right into the PT’s calendar from the software platform. The PT can take notes and send patients specific information concerning their scores right from the program.
When the PT is ready to discharge the individual, they could leave with a basic home exercise program and the quantifiable knowledge that their knee has a 45.8 percent range of motion score that’s now up into the high 50s following treatment. There are three levels of scoring and they provide feedback for patients concerning re-injury and function risks. A knee with a score in the low 50s presents a moderate risk of re-injury, so the PT could schedule appointments for every three weeks to reassess and could bill for cash at that point.
What kind of patient would benefit most from using Fusionetics testing?
Somebody who is active, a non-surgical candidate – but you could certainly use it on surgical patients after they’ve been cleared to work on basic functional movement. Really, anybody who comes in with general pain is the ideal Fusionetics candidate.
When you look at the trillions of dollars spent in health care, upwards of 900 billion of it is spent on orthopedic musculoskeletal, and out of that number, 80 percent of it is pain related, so it’s non-surgical… So all of those patients with plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis, patella tendonitis, muscle strains, low back pain, the different “itises” of every joint, all of those can be identified and treated with the system. Then, from an outreach standpoint, anyone who can be moving and active and improved, you can get your brand in front of these people and get your facility more care.
What else can Fusionetics provide a clinic?
The after care as a retail strategy helps users to stay connected with each patient and monetize above and beyond just compared to traditional insurance. This includes an online store where patients can log into their account and purchase at-home equipment, as well as the automated emails that trigger future appointments.
Our platform is completely technology-enabled and has a business model that will bring more patients to you. The built-in retail strategy does not affect or take away from one-on-one care, so you can make more money per patient without modifying your treatment session. Fusionetics is accessible in a mobile environment so you can scale your use because it’s not paper-based.
Fusionetics provides facilities, their physical therapists and staff with the appropriate evidence-based tools, applications and analytics to connect better with their patients, attain better results and advance their business performance.
Fusionetics, developed under the leadership of Dr. Micheal A. Clark and a group of scientists, sports medicine professionals, coaches, athletes and business leaders, is a system that was designed and utilized in the world of professional sports to help athletes improve their performance, speed their recovery and avoid future injury.
It is scientifically valid and accessible on any digital platform, phone or tablet. This program platform allows for any individual from age 9-99 to move better, perform better and feel better. Learn more about Fusionetics and request a demonstration for your clinic at www.meyerpt.com/fusionetics.
Click here to read more about Dr. Mike Clark. The author’s opinions are their own and PT Aligned does not take responsibility for content statements and opinions. You should seek expert counsel in evaluating opinions, treatments, products and services. For more info see our Editorial Policies.
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