Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why Cash Based Physical Therapy?
Patients often have a high deductible insurance plan and many patients often have to wait for their insurance company to authorize treatment or even obtain a physician's referral prior to being seen, which can delay the start of treatment and prolong the patient’s pain and add additional costs to recovery. We have decided not to directly bill insurance to allow us the opportunity to practice our craft the way it is intended- with one-on-one treatment sessions for the full duration of your time, no limit in treatment visits, no cap on services, no need for pre-authorization from insurance, no need for referrals, no surprise out of pocket billing, no wasted treatment time during your session having to document necessity for continued treatment.
Cash based services allow for the patient to have the opportunity to take control of their health without insurance dictating how. Thrive Wellness Physical Therapy and Personal Pilates is considered out of network with ALL insurance companies. We do not directly bill insurance for the services provided by our therapists, and therefore payment for the service rendered is due at each treatment session. We accept cash, check, and all major credit cards including HSA and FSA credit cards. Check your FSA/HSA plan to see if you may need a doctor’s prescription to justify the necessity of therapy. Most NON-Medicare patients can send “self-claims” to their insurance company for their treatment provided at our clinic. A Superbill will be provided for you upon request. Claim forms should be available to be printed off of your insurance company’s website which can then be sent in along with the needed receipts and treatment codes that will be provided upon your request for the services provided at our clinic. The amount of reimbursement or application towards your deductible is completely dependent on your insurance plan and we highly recommend that you contact your insurance company to learn the details of your plan. If you call your insurance company to inquire about what you can expect to receive, you should ask about reimbursement for “out-of-network physical therapy” expenses sent in via self-claims.
***Medicare Beneficiaries: Due to current Federal Regulations, we cannot provide physical therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries wanting to use their Medicare benefits. Because we are not enrolled as a Medicare Provider, we can only accept Medicare beneficiaries as patients when the patient does not want Medicare billed for any physical therapy services. This request to not involve Medicare in payment must be made up front by the patient and be made of the patient’s own free will. In other words, if you are a Medicare beneficiary and you are adamant about seeing us for your physical therapy care even though we are “non-enrolled” Medicare providers, we can help. However, the only way we can provide you with physical therapy services is when you truly don’t want Medicare involved and you ask up front that Medicare not be billed or involved in your physical therapy care. If you do want to use your Medicare benefits for physical therapy, we would be happy to refer you to a participating Medicare provider. If at any time during your therapy with us at Thrive Wellness Physical Therapy and Personal Pilates you become Medicare eligible or you change your mind and choose to want to use your Medicare benefit, we will be happy to cease treatment and refer you to a participating provider upon your request.
Q: Do I need a prescription from my doctor?
No. The state of Ohio allows a physical therapist to perform an evaluation without a prescription, however we will need to contact a physician to inform them of your physical therapy plan of care so please fill in their contact information in your intake forms so we can contact them according to our state practice act. If you have a written prescription already, please bring it in with you to your appointment. If you are paying with your HSA/FSA account or submitting to your insurance for reimbursement on your own, check with your insurance company to see if they require a written prescription as each insurance company is different.
Q: What forms of payment do you accept?
We accept cash, check, and all major credit cards including HSA and FSA credit cards. Check your FSA/HSA plan to see if you may need a doctor’s prescription to justify the necessity of therapy. You may keep a credit card on file with your account for ease of payment. Payment is due at time of service and if a late cancellation fee or no-show fee is indicated your credit card on file may be charged the $100 fee at the time of your scheduled missed appointment.
What happens if I am late to my appointment or cannot stay the entire time?
Your time slot is held for you alone and our clients all have busy schedules therefore if you are late to your appointment no additional time will be added and no discount will be given. You may choose to come to whatever portion of your scheduled time slot you are able to make however the full fee for that session will be assessed. If it is 15 minutes past your scheduled appointment time and you have not informed your therapist that you are on your way, your appointment will be considered a "no show" and the $100 fee will be assessed. You have the ability to opt in for appointment reminders for your physical therapy sessions on your registration forms.
Q: What should I wear to my therapy appointment or Pilates class?
You should wear comfortable exercise clothing preferably form fitting to allow the therapist or instructor to make sure you are performing all exercises with proper alignment and form and to assess your posture. When using the Reformer, you will be bare foot or wearing Pilates/yoga or grippy socks. If receiving integrative dry needling, you may need to remove your shirt so wearing a sports bra or bathing suit is appropriate and you may be draped with a sheet as well. Similarly, if you are receiving lower body dry needling, shorts or loose clothing is recommended. Please let your therapist or instructor know if you are too hot or too cold at any time so that modifications to the environment can be made if able.
Q: What exactly is Pilates?
Pilates is a type of mind-body exercise that was developed in the early 20th century by German born Joseph Pilates which is practiced worldwide today. It can be adapted to anyone regardless of current fitness level, age, size, or gender. It recruits abdominal, low back and hip muscles of your body's "powerhouse" to improve strength, flexibility, posture, balance, coordination, and muscular symmetry. During your Pilates workout you may adopt a posture and challenge your core by moving your arms or legs. It can improve your posture while bringing awareness to your alignment while strengthening your neglected underused muscles. Pilates is a low impact form of exercise that creates optimal strength and range of motion through muscle balance and fine-tuning of neuromuscular patterns. If practiced regularly, it can help you move and breathe during your regular everyday activities with more freedom and power and less pain allowing you to thrive in everyday life or in sports.
Q: What is a Pilates Reformer?
A reformer is a versatile machine that uses a pulley system consisting of a sliding carriage, ropes and springs which, depending on the exercise, can facilitate movement or resist the movement to improve strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination. You can use the reformer for a full variety of exercises that can be performed while standing, sitting, kneeling, and laying down. Exercises can be modified for beginners and challenging enough for the avid fitness enthusiast and is suitable and adaptable for those recovering from an injury or while pregnant. Use of a reformer requires controlled stabilization, and every exercise will engage the smaller weaker muscles of the body to help perform the desired movement. Jump boards can be added for plyometric training, improved muscular endurance, motor coordination, and strengthening. The Allegro 2 is the reformer of choice at Thrive with its' adjustable moveable footbar, SoftTouch Rope System and smooth and easy transitions.
Q: What is fascia?
Fascia is densely woven connective tissue that surrounds and holds every organ, blood vessel, nerve fiber, muscle and bone in place. Our body is encased in fascia in a continuous manner from head to toe without interruption. Healthy fascia is smooth and flexible. When injured or stressed, fascia tightens up. When our body undergoes trauma from a fall, collision, injury or surgery the fascia is stressed and injured as well resulting in muscle and nerve pain. Fascia has the ability to heal itself, however instead of restoring itself in its normal smooth and flat previous structure, it may heal itself in a jumbled-up fashion. Inactivity, repetitive movement, poor posture and injury can cause the fascia to be balled up/ crinkled up and gummy resulting in pain and dysfunction and poor movement patterns. Because of its continuous structure, each part of the body is connected to every other part thru the fascial system- just like the yarn of a sweater. If your pull on the right bottom corner of your sweater you will notice how there is pulling all over that sweater- across the stomach to the left shoulder as well as spanning out across the whole sweater itself including the front and the back. A high percentage of people with pain and/ or lack of range of motion may have undiagnosed fascial problems as trauma, inflammatory responses and surgical procedures can create Myofascial restrictions which can produce about 2,000 pounds per square inch on pain sensitive structures which do not show up on many of the standard tests including x-rays, CAT scans, myelograms, etc.
Q: What is Myofascial Release?
Myofascial Release is a hands-on technique involving applying sustained pressure into the myofascial connective tissue restrictions to eliminate pain and to restore function. A variety of hands-on techniques as well as instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization and self-treatment techniques may be used to restore the function of the fascial system and to decrease the "straight jacket" of pressure causing pain and movement restrictions from the bound down fascia. In addition to hands on techniques to release the myofascial restrictions, multiangle and multi joint stretching may be used to facilitate the release of the fascial system that connects our body from head to toe to make sure that you get the best stretch for your time spent to continue your progress and to move your best to continue to thrive at home.
Q: What is cupping?
At Thrive Wellness Physical Therapy and Personal Pilates, we may use cupping as part of your treatment session to improve myofascial mobility, decrease pain, and to increase blood flow to an area of bound down restriction on your body. Round plastic cups may be placed on your skin and manually pumped to create a suction and the cups can be left on for several minutes. The primary side effects of cupping are bruising and skin irritation, both of which should heal on their own in 7-10 days.
Q: How are you different?
At Thrive Wellness Physical Therapy and Personal Pilates we treat the whole person and not just the dysfunction. Your time is important to us and your treatment session and/ or Pilates session is 100% dedicated to helping you achieve your goals in our private treatment and/ or workout environment where there is no intimidation. Your plan of care and frequency of treatment is not dictated by insurance. Quality of care, customer service, and prompt communication are important. We will not waste your time having you do exercises that you can safely do on your own at home once you have been educated on them in physical therapy. With over 20 years of experience in treating orthopedic and neurologic clients from young athletes to the elderly and learning from some of the best physical, occupational, and speech therapists thru the variety of settings I have had the opportunity to work in, as well as taking a multitude of hands-on quality continuing education and certification courses, I continue to evolve my treatment methods and I look forward to continuing to learn thru each and every body that I have the privilege to meet and work with.
Q: How do I schedule?
You can leave me a message on my cell phone at 513-600-5164 via text or voicemail.
You can reach me via email at thrivewellnessptpilates@gmail.com.
You can check my calendar to schedule your free 10-15 minute phone consultation to see if we are a good fit.
If a convenient time is not open on my calendar for us to chat, please send me a text/ voicemail or email to let me know a time frame that may work for you. Please note that I will not interrupt a treatment session during normal business hours to answer phone calls so please allow up to 24 hours for messages to be returned, although I do my best to promptly return all messages.