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Healthy Aging Through Physical Therapy
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When we can’t move without pain or our bodies aren’t balanced, it’s hard to live our best lives. In this episode, Millennium Physician Group’s Michelle McCormick talks with an expert from Cora Physical Therapy about the benefits of physical therapy from how to prevent injuries to healing our pain properly.
Welcome to Medicare connect radio sponsored by millennium physician group. I'm Michelle McCormick. Each week. We talk about the healthcare issues that are important to you, whether you're 65 or older, maybe approaching 65, or you're making the healthcare decisions for a loved one. Who's in their golden years, we're inviting providers and experts to share insights to help you take control of your healthcare decisions. Well, when we can't move without pain or our bodies, aren't balanced, it's hard to live our best lives. In this episode, we're talking about the benefits of physical therapy from how to prevent injuries, to healing our pain properly. But first millennium physician group has quickly become one of the leading independent physician groups with more than 800 healthcare providers across Florida and growing services center on primary care and complimented by some specialty care walk-in centers, radiology and lab services, telehealth, wellness programs, home health, hospital care, and so much more nationally recognized as a consistently top rated accountable care organization with consistently high levels of physician engagement, millennium aims to create a genuinely connected healthcare experience for our patients and to be your connection to a healthier life, learn more@millenniumphysician.com. Well, I think we all wanna function, move and live better. And at times that requires help from our doctors and sometimes we need a professional to show us just how to function and move better. And that's where physical therapy can help. Joining us today is cat bull deck . She's a physical therapist and regional manager for Northeast Florida and south Georgia for Cora physical therapy cat . Thanks for being here.
Speaker 2Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1I'm so excited to be talking to you. Um, this is , uh, a really great topic. I think we haven't really touched on physical therapy. A lot of people say do your physical therapy, but before we get to that point, tell us about you. What led you on this journey , uh, to , uh, Cora and beyond? Gosh,
Speaker 2I have a kind of wild journey bring it. Um, so I'm from New Hampshire originally , uh, grew up doing the sports thing, right? That's a very standard answer to why people get to PT. Um, but in high school, my dad was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and so I have maybe an unnatural journey to PT. I just saw that he was gonna need some additional care and saw what PT was gonna be able to do for him and wanted to be able to do that for others. Also wanted to have doctor in front of my name. <laugh> uh , there you go and realized that I could do that in a really unconventional manner, which was exciting for me. <laugh> yeah.
Speaker 1So from New Hampshire, what led you south? Right Florida. The , the weather, the sunshine, yeah ,
Speaker 2Meet my twenties. I became that traveling PT , um, actually had my own company up in ma um , Massachusetts Boston area , um, specialized in psych care , uh, and then realized that I hadn't had any fun in life and moved to Florida. All right . So started in Orlando, went to new Myrtle beach and now here in Jack's .
Speaker 1All right . So what as a regional manager, what is , what does that, do? You oversee all the Cora's in this region? It's a lot.
Speaker 2I do. I do. Yeah . So I oversee , uh, the north Florida region as well as south Georgia. Okay .
Speaker 1Yeah. So a lot on your plate, I'm sure the best plate ever
Speaker 2<laugh> I have an awesome team. So I spend my entire day supporting other therapists instead of helping patients. I help people help patients. Well,
Speaker 1Let's talk about that. So tell us about Cora, the Cora story. Um, what, what is , um, the origin of, of Cora?
Speaker 2Sure. So Cora started as small. Um, we actually started in Ohio , um, as an accountant and a lawyer who , uh, kind of procured healthcare companies and we procured pure procured, a company that didn't want to give up some of our staff and that staff happened to be some physical therapists. Mm . Yeah. Which is kind of cool. It goes to our motto of treating everyone. Right. Um, and so we were down in south Florida, we had just five clinics. And then the changes that hit insurance companies back in the nineties, early two thousands hit. And it really became kind of like this David versus Goliath story , um, where a lot of companies were having to go under and we looked around and said, well, we don't want PT to go away. PTs really important to our patients. Um, it makes a difference in patients' lives. So how can we figure out how to make that work? And so that's when we took the approach of, well, we're gonna find a way to, to take every insurance and we've been living that motto ever since.
Speaker 1Yeah. That's awesome. So the you've talked a lot about outpatient, you know, so what is , what are the types of therapy that you guys do?
Speaker 2Perfect. Yeah, so we do physical therapy, right. That's kind of what we're known for. Um , but we actually do occupational therapy as well. And speech therapy here in Jacksonville, we have three locations currently that do occupational therapy, and then we can do telehealth for speech therapy. So even though we don't have somebody locally, we'll make sure that you get that care with one of our therapists in a different area of the state.
Speaker 1So that's interesting, you know, you don't think of physical therapy as being with speech. So why do you think that was added as part of the, the Cora umbrella of
Speaker 2Care? Sure . It's really about treating the whole body. Right. So take your grandmother, your grandfather, who happens to have a stroke. Well, I'm gonna help them walk as a PT mm-hmm <affirmative> and your OTs gonna help them feed themselves or get dressed. Well, what if they have a swallowing disorder that goes with that feeding themselves? Or what if they have a speech disorder that's going with that we wanna make sure that we're able to help them with all of those functions.
Speaker 1Right . That's awesome. I love that because it's kind of like that one stop shop. So you're , you are helping the , the patient, their , their whole self. So , um, do you have any locations that, that are specifically a specialty beside , like , cuz you said no speech here, right?
Speaker 2Correct. Yeah. So we don't have any specialty locations like per se , that only treat one thing. Like I mentioned, we do have those locations that do have OT, that being said , um, we want to kind of present what the , the community needs. We , we call ourselves a community provider and that really means we shape ourselves to what the community needs. So I do have specialists that have , um, lymphedema certifications, women's health certifications, Parkinson's certifications. Um, I have therapists that do wheelchair evaluations. I have hand therapists. I even have a guy who does pro baseball players. Wow. So even though we don't specialize a clinic, mm-hmm <affirmative> , you can go to any one of my clinics, no matter what's happening with you. I might have a specialist at a specific location that could help a very specific issue for you.
Speaker 1Okay. So what if, you know, we are a huge running community, right? Jacksonville. We know that even the state of Florida, huge running community, people are always out in the sunshine getting their, their run on . I'm not a big, I used to be a big runner. And I remember when this new treadmill came to town, mm-hmm <affirmative> few years back. And in a previous profession I got to, to do to try it out. And I was like, this is the coolest thing either. A awesome. So you guys actually have some of these, let's talk about that. Alter G anti-gravity
Speaker 2We do, we have three of them actually. And we also have the pro version of one. So we have the fancy, fancy version. Yeah.
Speaker 1Let's talk about what, what it's used for, for the it's not just for runners.
Speaker 2No, actually. And that's, I think where the misconception comes with it is that it is for runners, but it's also for those who have loss of balance or for somebody who's had a total knee, which is really a lot of the population that you guys speak to is somebody who's had that total knee or just a knee arthoscopy. And they're just not quite confident in stepping on that limb, getting them into an anti-gravity treadmill where it's air holding them up. It's not water. So you have to worry about infection. Like you would have to worry about aquatic therapy. Mm-hmm <affirmative> you get all the , the weight off the limb. So you're reducing that pain that the patient might feel , um, and getting them moving with normal gait mechanics or walking mechanics. That
Speaker 1Is so cool. I had , um, knee men , I had meniscus surgery done , um, shoot almost two years ago now. And , um, my therapy, my , my PT was actually with a , with Cora. And um, thank you. Just fancy enough. Yeah. And , uh, you know, I, I told her , I was like, look, I just wanna be able to balance, I wanna be able to paddle board . Um , I wanna be able to ski again one day and balance was one of my very big things. Um, and I never have much of a balance issue, but I do yoga. So I , those were very, and I knew that going into the PT, that if I wanted to get back to that place, that I was gonna really have to pay attention to the physical therapy.
Speaker 2Yeah. What I love about that is you knew your goals that you wanted to get back to. Right. And that's the big thing for us is making sure that we ask you what those goals are and making sure that we're really clear on having a shared purpose. There's no point to you coming to therapy if I don't know what those goals are for you. So
Speaker 1Right. Well, and my kids, you know , it's funny, well, not funny, but my daughter had labrum surgery when she was like 16, she was a swimmer. And then, you know , I took her to PT. She kind of went through the motions at PT, but never did like the follow up at home, you know , as much as you tell them. And it was a total difference now that she's, you know , five, six years older, she's like, oh, my shoulder still bothers me. I'm like, you didn't do your PT. Right. You can go back and do it now. Correct. But you know, it's, it's one of those things that it really does pay. And a lot of people think it might be a glorified, physical, you know, a personal trainer
Speaker 2So
Speaker 1Far. Do you get that
Speaker 2All the time? All the time? And we get the, well, I did the exercises I saw on YouTube or , um, well , I do an exercise class every day on Facebook. That's a new one that I've been hearing lately and it is so different. It is very personalized to you. Not every person is built the same. So finding exercises online might not be for you. Uh , and that's why we exist. We do exist to be able to find out exactly what's going on with you , uh, very much. So we have the ability to do what we call special tests. Mm-hmm <affirmative> , which are kind of like , uh, a , a x-ray or an MRI of the hands. Right. I can see what's going on in your body by doing specific tests. Hmm . Be able to rule out specific issues. Now that being said, if I find something really specific, I might send you back to that ortho or to your primary care, but a lot we can address in the clinic and helping you through those exercises in a safe manner, instead of trying to go at it independently.
Speaker 1Well, and that totally makes sense to me. You know, we did do some things that seem simple, you know, at beginning, but the physical, the , you know, the , the physical, the , the therapist has a purpose to, to what they're doing.
Speaker 2Yeah. We, I mean, we do have a doctorate these days, right . Uhhuh <affirmative> , um, and there's a reason for it. We have the pharmacology that goes behind it. We have the imaging that goes behind it. And I think that sometimes that gets lost in the messaging of, of other industries and those industries have a place for sure. I love to refer out to a good personal trainer. I love to refer out to a good massage therapist because I want them to work with me. Mm-hmm <affirmative> I wanna be able to pass my patient on to a personal trainer when they are feeling better, but until they're at that point, until they're at that safe place, the best thing I've ever done is hiking, a , taking a football player who squats 350 pounds. Right. And I make him do the tiniest movement. And he's like, what the, I can't do that. <laugh> right.
Speaker 1A little bit, a little bit of pleasure there. I'm sure. For sure. All right . Well, we're gonna take a quick break. And when we come back , uh, cat , Bullick a physical therapist and regional manager for Northeast, Florida and south Georgia from Cora physical therapy is gonna continue our conversation. We're gonna , um, talk more about , uh, physical therapy. We're gonna talk about where their locations are and why physical therapy is so important. We're gonna continue that conversation. So stick around Medicare connect radio sponsored by millennium physician group will be right back. Welcome back to Medicare connect radio, sponsored by a millennium physician group. I'm Michelle McCormick. Every week. We're talking about healthcare issues that are important to you. If you're over 65 approaching 65, maybe you're just making healthcare decisions for someone who is in their golden years, we're inviting providers and experts to share insights, to help you take control of your healthcare decisions. When we can't move without pain or our bodies, aren't balanced, it's hard to live our best life. In this episode, we're talking with KA bold deck . She's a physical therapist in regional manager for Northeast Florida and south Georgia from Cora physical therapy. We're talking about the benefits of physical therapy and you know, how to prevent injuries, reoccurring injuries, healing our pain properly through physical therapy. So cat , welcome back. And , um, you know, we , we were talking at the end of the first segment just about how little movements make a big difference when they're feeling better. So let's talk a little bit about , um, about the, the why of physical therapy, you know, why is it so important?
Speaker 2Really? It's about quality of life, right? It's about not just going day to day , the best you can mm-hmm <affirmative> , but improving that best you can. And getting back to the things you want to be able to do in a fashion of not just pain reduced, but maybe pain free and then upping what you're doing. Right.
Speaker 1Well , why do you think people will just say, you know what, I have this ache in my shoulder, I'm just gonna deal with it. I don't have time to go see somebody, but I can barely live my shoulder over my head, or I can't reach behind my back. At what point does that person really need to seek help
Speaker 2When, before it gets to that <laugh> right , right . I tell, you know, my family members get it the best because I get them when I see just a twinge of something happening. Mm-hmm <affirmative> um, and it's so funny PTs, we treat ourselves all the time and that's the best moment to get into me is the moment you start failing something, cuz then I can fix it quickly. Right. If I can catch you at just the moment, you're starting to have a twinge, I can hopefully get you better in a few visits versus that moment where you're really starting to destruct tissue. You talked about that shoulder, right? Somebody who's just constantly like moving and shaken . They're lifting that arm overhead . Mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, you've all seen them. Right. Right. And what happens is you start to deteriorate that tissue. You may even start to cause a rotator cuff tear. Well, I can't fix a tear, but I can fix the pros, the problem that caused that tear. Okay.
Speaker 1So that's, that's awesome to know cuz um, when we get off the air, I , I can't reach behind my back. No , I'm just kidding. I got you . <laugh> so, you know, I remember I used to with, with , especially when the kids were going through P any PT for sports injuries or whatnot , that we always had to have a doctor referral. So sure . That is that still the
Speaker 2Case? No, that's the great news is that the healthcare industry really has recognized how important early access to therapy has become. They've figured out that because we can help you get better, faster. It's important to get to us quickly. So most insurances do not require a referral for care to a physical therapy. We are considered what is called direct access. So Medicare is a great example. You can come to us direct access for 30 days without a script from your primary care physician. Um , we will do what we call screening for red flags. Those are those big things that you might wanna go back to a physician for. We're trained to look for those and send you back to them if necessary
Speaker 1Is 30 days enough,
Speaker 2Sometimes not right mm-hmm <affirmative> but then it becomes my job to communicate with that primary care. The great news is we have relationships with almost every ortho in town, neuro in town , primary care in town. So I'm more than happy to reach out to them and say, Hey, we have a patient in common. I've been seeing them for 30 days. Here's what I think what's what's going on. I just need two more weeks with them . Are you willing to sign off on this note? Absolutely. No problem. KA . I'm more than happy to sign off on it. Send it over. I get it signed. You keep coming as a patient.
Speaker 1Okay. All right . That's great news. So what insurance do you guys take?
Speaker 2Well, that list would keep us here for about another two
Speaker 1Probably . Yeah. Cuz you're not just in Florida, right?
Speaker 2We are not just in Florida. We have 10 states now we , we are Florida grown, which is cool. Um , but we're in 10 states now and we take over 4,000 insurances. Ooh . So , okay . Yeah. We'd be here a long time.
Speaker 1Yeah, no we don't. We don't need to go down that road. No need to go down that road. Okay. So you have how many locations in north Florida
Speaker 2In north Florida? We have 19. Well, I I'll include south Georgia in that . Um , so we have two in south Georgia , um, 19 in the overall region, including our two newest ones. We just opened St . John's in kind of that fruit Cove area. And we also just opened our orange park location.
Speaker 1Okay, cool. That's good. That's good. We have, we have, you know, millennium primary care. We have we're in all five counties up here, not in south Georgia yet, but um, and also Gainesville Alachua plus 19 other counties in the state of Florida. So, you know , there's, there's some, some good synergy there, so, all right . So how, if , if we don't need a referral mm-hmm <affirmative> anymore and direct access is, is available. How do we know? Um, how do we reach out? I mean, you said before the pain gets to be a tear. How do you know if you're, you're not there yet?
Speaker 2So you can get to me in so many ways. It's not even funny, which is great. Um, you can go onto my website. Uh, you can go to core physical therapy.com. You can do online scheduling for a full evaluation. That is a full , um, half hour to hour time slot with a therapist for a full evaluation. You can also do what we call a free injury screen, which is just a 15 minute kind of short check in of like, Hey, I got injured this weekend. Maybe I was playing pickleball mm-hmm <affirmative> and went a little too hard. <laugh> yeah. Did that jab twisted my ankle. Can you look at it kind of like going to urgent care, but without all the,
Speaker 1Well , I like the word free, free . Yeah. We like the word free.
Speaker 2Yeah, me too. <laugh> um, so you can go those pathways, you can call any clinic , um, and they'll get you in the door. Not a problem. We'll schedule you for an evaluation. Uh , you can go onto the website and email us, so a bunch of different ways mm-hmm <affirmative> you could get into us.
Speaker 1Well, what other services do you guys do besides , um, you know, if , is the majority of what you see sports injuries?
Speaker 2No, not at all. No. A lot of people would think that, right? Yeah . That makes sense. And we definitely have collaborations with sports programs where, where we serve those communities, but no , we see everyone from weeks old. Um, so a baby with torticollis. Oh , I know, right. <laugh> all the way up to, so I always say two weeks old to 102 mm-hmm <affirmative> right. And everything in between. Um , we treat , um, patients who maybe have been injured at work patients who have been in auto accidents , um, and need care after that. So really we see patients all the way through their span of life , um, and try and really create relationships. So we have sometimes patients that we've seen three or four times within their life , um, in different moments, which is , which is cool. Yeah. And it's not just PT in terms of like, we might see you outside of what you would call a plan of care. Right. So I've talked about that direct access for an evaluation or coming through your doctor for an evaluation, but we also have what we call a LA heart services. So that's somebody who maybe has been a patient previously or has received physical therapy before and they know something just small helps them a ton mm-hmm <affirmative>. So one of those services that we provide is called dry needling and dry needling . Um, some might think is similar to acupuncture, but it actually goes into the muscle and the tendon. Um, and that is a service that is 10 to 15 minutes. And we can do all of cart without that full plan of care , um, where we're doing the exercises in the functional treatment and, and all of the components of PT.
Speaker 1Right. And so I'm gonna guess that dry needling , my insurance won't pay for
Speaker 2Some insurances are starting to, I know it's
Speaker 1Very for us <laugh> that I've only really heard about it for like my face, you know? Oh , that's true.
Speaker 2Yes . Yeah. So , um, TMJ. Yeah , really cool. Okay . Um, but low back pain. Hmm . Yep . So I actually have been treated myself for , uh, low back pain with dry needling . Um, I had a bout of low back pain that nobody could really kind of resolve mm-hmm <affirmative> um , nonspecific. Nobody could really find anything dry needling , fixed it in two visits.
Speaker 1Now, do you guys do like the gun seems to be a really big treatment right now? Tens machines , um, got me through a lot of my knee pain before I had knee surgery. For sure. Do you guys utilize , um, like those, those type of items?
Speaker 2Yeah. So we have , um, a wide variety of options. We really kind of, we talk about the tools in the toolbox <laugh> or the tools in the tool belt. We like to have a bunch of different options because every patient's a little bit different. Every body is a little bit different. So we have Asim , which is like a tool assisted massage, same as Grafton , which is more of a metal tool. Um , we do cupping we'll do kinesiology taping. We do , uh, tens or , uh, EIM depending on the clinic , uh, a wide variety of options, for sure.
Speaker 1Yeah. Do you think a thera gun is, is worth having at , at , at home?
Speaker 2So I really like the different products, right? Whether it's a thera gun mm-hmm <affirmative> or a hyper, I mean,
Speaker 1There's a , yeah . My think mine is some generic thera gun and I'll put that thing on settlement
Speaker 2On Amazon now for
Speaker 1That's where I actually bought my, and I , I , when I have like a , I feel like I have a pinch nerve kind of in my shoulder blade and my right shoulder blade and it travels, you know, it travels down to my bicep and my tricep and I take that fair gun thing and I'm like, boom. And I put it right on that, that muscle. And I'm like, please just
Speaker 2Relieve. I'm gonna turn you into a patient. I was about to say
Speaker 1At the end of this, you're gonna be like , um, come see me, come see me. All right , we're gonna take ,
Speaker 2There are gun works for the short term . Okay. We can actually fix the muscle. That's a good thing. I'm a fan of them. But only if you're doing the work to get rid of the original problem.
Speaker 1And that I think is , is the key to this whole conversation is you gotta do the work to get it fix . All right , we're gonna take a quick break. When we come back , uh, cat , cat bull duck , a physical therapist and regional manager for Northeast Florida and south Georgia with Cora physical therapy will continue. And we're gonna talk a little bit more about what Cora does in the community. So stick around Medicare connect radio sponsored by millennium physician group will be right back. Welcome to Medicare connect radio sponsored by millennium physician group. I'm Michelle McCormick. Every week. We're talking about healthcare issues that are important to you, whether you're 65 or older, maybe you're approaching 65 or just making healthcare decisions for a loved one. We're inviting providers and experts to share insights, to help you take control of your healthcare decisions. When we can't move without pain or our bodies, aren't feeling very balanced. It's hard to live our best lives. In this episode, we're talking about the benefits of physical therapy from how to prevent injuries, to healing our pain properly. Our guest today is cat bull up . She's a physical therapist in regional manager for Northeast Florida and south Georgia from Cora physical therapy. So cat , all right . We've had such great conversations so far. Let's talk a little bit about some of your outreach that you guys do throughout Quora. And one specifically is active tracks. What's that? Ah ,
Speaker 2So we've talked kind of our mission, right. Is to serve everyone. And we've talked about how that means touching everyone in the community. It , we try to not turn a single person away from our clinics. We really will try and take anybody that comes up to our doors, but it also means going out to their doors
Speaker 1Also, right ? <laugh> not everybody is as mobile. Correct.
Speaker 2Exactly. So active tracks is our outreach program. So that , um, started as our division for , um, sending athletic trainers to the high schools locally. Um, so providing those to the different schools , um, both high schools and colleges , um, locally, we include Edward Waters , um, Florida gateway , um, and some of the actual , uh, sports teams like the Jacksonville giants set , um, examples like that. Mm-hmm <affirmative> but cool. We grew that into more of a charity based program as well. So locally , uh, for example, we do the Donna race series.
Speaker 1Mm-hmm <affirmative> , I've seen you there. Yeah. Yep . I've seen you at a lot of the local runs. You guys set up your tables, you make it happen for people who are coming off the course and need a , a bit of a massage or they have stiff joints or, you know , frozen muscles or whatever it may be.
Speaker 2Yeah. A lot of you guys are putting in the work to do the run for charity. <laugh> <laugh> , we're trying to do the work to keep you running for charity.
Speaker 1<laugh> good point. Good point. I love that.
Speaker 2Um , and a lot of us are runners, right? A lot of us have , um, family members who might be afflicted by some of these charities as well. Um, so getting out there, being involved , um, I always tell my team, like you can't be a community provider. If you're not part of the community, you can't just put bingo business in there. You have to be out, you have to be participating, you have to get to know people. Um, so unless you're doing that, you're failing at that mission.
Speaker 1Yeah. Agreed. Agreed. So , um, is it only contracted work that you guys are
Speaker 2Doing? No. So our teams donate their time. Um, so we're out there. Um, our therapists will get out there. Our front desk even gets out there as well. Um, so it's not just athletic events. Um, that's probably the primary place that you you'll see us big time . Uh , those runs mm-hmm <affirmative> , um, the five Ks, but we also , um, will do tennis tournaments, but we also do like health
Speaker 1Fairs. Yeah.
Speaker 2Right. Um, we'll do some, even like county job health fairs. So employees coming out and getting free health screens and things like that. So that's awesome . We're really trying and diversify it across any walk of life. Mm-hmm
Speaker 1<affirmative> we talked so that you're trying to touch those people that wouldn't normally seek out your , your services , um, back to the athletic trainers though, real quick too. Are you guys doing like concussion protocols and stuff like that too, for those correct ? Yep . Those , uh, schools.
Speaker 2Yeah. And we even do education for athletic trainers who aren't ours. So , um, we have a huge continuing education program at Cora. Um, one of the, the best in the industry. And so we try and bring that education to other people, even if they don't work for us. Yeah. Um , because it is such a problem. Um, and absolutely we're gonna help the community. We need to help with education as well. Well,
Speaker 1In concussion protocol it's , I mean, it's huge right now, my, my daughter played soccer , um, and had, you know , one bump on the head from a soccer game will take you out of the game. And, and I'm so thankful that now there are more measures being taken to protect our children, especially when they're, you know, busting up on the field and getting hurt like that. And it's nice to have that, that treatment on the sideline available to them.
Speaker 2Yeah. And you add being in Florida and add the heat component to that. Right. Right . Um , and sometimes it's not seen that's the, the hard part about concussion is sometimes you as a parent might not know what to look for. So having our athletic trainers out there to know what to look for and give you that guidance as a parent, and really try and help you take care of your kiddo. Yeah . The best possible way.
Speaker 1God. It's so great. So you guys , um, do you guys have your own own event that you do for charity?
Speaker 2Um, we do. So , uh, we came up with a event called Cora unites and it is , uh, kind of centered around a 5k every year. Our team , uh, puts forth nominations of patients who have touched our lives. Right. I think , um, you might think of healthcare and think we touch patients' lives, but patients touch us too. Well . Uh , I talked about PT a lot in terms of, we're just different from standard healthcare . I get to spend three times a week with a lot of my patients. Right. Like they're not showing up once every six months. Like you might see your primary care. Right. So
Speaker 1That's true. I knew , I feel like I had a good connection with my PT when I was going in for my knee, because I'm sitting there doing my knee lifts or whatever I'm doing. And we're chit-chatting about, about what's going on in life
Speaker 2And half the time, like they bring their kids and <laugh> yeah . I learn about their weekends. And half the time, while they're a patient, they get engaged or they buy a puppy. Like you just have these life moments while you're a patient of mine. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So you touch me as much as hopefully I improve your life as well. Um, so sometimes those moments are bigger than others. And so we came up with a charity event , um, that we do every year called Cora unites, where therapists and staff at Cora can nominate patients. And we do a 5k where we collect donations. And as a team run, both virtual and live five Ks , um, here locally in Jacksonville, we try and get together and do that together. Um, we include some of our partnerships , um, and get them out for the event. Uh , last year we did a trunker treat . So all the kids, all the staff kids came out so much fun. Um , have a little competition, cuz if you've ever met a PT, you'll know that we're a little competitive
Speaker 1<laugh> cuz you guys are all ex sports people ,
Speaker 2Correct? Yes. Half of us came from ,
Speaker 1Come on sports
Speaker 2World. We won
Speaker 1Be real cat . Be real. <laugh>
Speaker 2Absolutely.
Speaker 1I know. It's true. So well that is awesome. So when is this year's event?
Speaker 2So that happens in October. Okay.
Speaker 1But I figured around trunk or treat yes . It was happening around that
Speaker 2Time, correct? Yeah. That is also um, PT month. So we celebrate ourselves as an industry at the same time. Okay.
Speaker 1Try . And where is it this year? Do you know yet?
Speaker 2I don't know . Yeah . I mean , if anybody's listening and wants to like bring a location to the table, feel free to reach out. Um , usually we host it at one of the local schools. Um, that way it's big enough for anybody to come out that wants to come and join us. Yeah. It is kind of free game. Anybody wants to come out, have fun, run a little bit. Usually we play games, eat food, have fun. That's awesome. Just , you know, about creating community and, and my team becomes a family very quickly.
Speaker 1That's awesome. I love hearing that. All right . So we're gonna take a quick break. And when we come back, we're gonna continue the conversation with a cat bull duck , the physical she's a physical therapist and regional manager for Northeast Florida and south Georgia with Cora physical therapy. We're gonna talk about , um, some more stuff about education. We're gonna kind of summarize a little bit of what we've already talked about, the benefits of physical therapy. So don't go anywhere. We'll be right back millennium physician group, Medicare connector radio will be right back. Welcome to Medicare connect radio sponsored by millennium physician group. I'm Michelle McCormick each week. We're talking about healthcare issues that are important to you, especially if you're 65 or older, maybe approaching 65 or you're making healthcare decisions for a loved one. We're inviting providers and experts to share insights to help you take control of your healthcare decisions. Well , our guests today, we have been talking about physical therapy about getting rid of the pain before it really becomes a problem that we have to see an orthopedic or some, some other kinda surgeon for , uh, cat Bullock. She is a physical therapist and regional manager for Northeast Florida and south Georgia for Cora physical therapy and preventing injuries, healing, our pain properly. These are all things we , we kind of know, but getting to that point, it's kind of hard, but before we kind of summarize what we've talked about, let's give a little bit more about what you guys do, you know, the schooling for becoming a physical therapy, right. Therapist, you know, what's the process there.
Speaker 2So to become a physical therapist, you either are going the route of a bachelor's and then a doctoral program, or they have what's called a direct entry program. So in high school, you're applying straight to your direct , um, doctoral program. Wow. So yeah, a little intense.
Speaker 1Yeah. <laugh> especially for that high schooler. I mean, that's, that's a big commitment
Speaker 2If you've met a high schooler lately. Yeah. Thinking about them becoming a doctoral candidate
Speaker 1At 18 yeah .
Speaker 2Is a little daunting. It is daunting is probably a good word, right ?
Speaker 1Yeah. It's very daunting. It's very daunting. Yeah .
Speaker 2Um, so as PTs who believe in serving the community, we also believe in giving back to our profession as well. Um , when you look at Cora, one of the cool pieces and one of the pieces I really got attracted to at Cora is that our entire leadership team is a homegrown PTs. Um, so my COO is a , somebody who started as a PT when we were the only those five to 10 clinics. Wow. And he's been around for all that time. Mm-hmm <affirmative> my vice president has been around for 20 years. My regional vice president has been around for 20 years. Yeah. So looking around you and being able to see people who have grown through the profession and being able to see yourself in those shoes is important. And that's something we try and give to the next generation of PTs as well.
Speaker 1Yeah. I like that. Um, at millennium we also have a, a physician executive, you know, committee, you know, so the doctors are, are helping to make decisions for the company. And I think that's very important because they they've lived it they're , they they're walking the walk and talking the talk right
Speaker 2At the center of everything we decide, right. Has to be the patient. And by having people who are clinicians, whether it's a physician in your case or a PT, in my case, at the center of those decision making groups is important. Yeah.
Speaker 1Agreed. Agreed. So how do you take care of your staff then? What kind of growth opportunities are there from a PT to a C CEO position?
Speaker 2Sure. Um, so we have an industry shattering continuing education program in terms of the clinical skills. And I probably could talk for another 40 minutes On just that component of things. But I think one of the pieces that's really unique to Cora is actually what we call Cora leadership university. Um, so as PTs, we learn the clinical pieces in school, but we don't necessarily learn how to be a good leader or how to be management. Right. And so Cora has created an entire , um, schooling, I guess, right. Um, entire tracks, 12 month programs on how to be a good leader , um, teaching skill sets that are sometimes forgotten, right. Um , and these days are more and more important in the workforce to really be able to support people because PT can be a little bit of a difficult profession. You're hearing a lot from patients you're taking on a lot of emotional , um, burden from them, right. Um, they're coming in your door in pain, which sometimes can be difficult. Um , and so being able to help people through that , uh, you need a , another level of skillset . And so we're trying to help our staff best to get through that.
Speaker 1That's a really great point that you have there cat , because I remember my , I just wanted my knee to be better. I mean, when I went to have the knee repaired, he's like, well, we can do shots and we can do physical therapy first. I'm like, I want surgery. I want it done. Right. And I wanna move on and then I wanna do my physical therapy and I wanna have my, my best life back. You want your life back? Yeah. Yeah . So I do remember when I first went into PT and I was like, I I'm , I'm ready. Let's do this. I want, I want the least amount of time. And, and as I did my three days a week, or, you know, for my hour of, of just doing random, like small little movements and I'm kind of more of a let's go go person. I realized that I needed to the care that I needed to give myself
Speaker 2Self care . Yes.
Speaker 1Was gonna help my future self mm-hmm . <affirmative> not re-injure myself. Correct. And I learned that pretty much from my physical therapist. <laugh> yeah. Who became more the , you know, she it's that we're therapist I think is really important.
Speaker 2Correct. Exactly. Yep . We spend a whole lot of talking <laugh>
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2We do a whole lot of education. Um, a big part of being a great physical therapist is ed educating a patient about themselves, how they move, why they move the way they do, why does something hurt? Why is something not moving the way they want it to? Um, and in order to be able to communicate that and have a patient buy into that, right. Because we're not the fun medical, right . We're not the easy fix. Right. You gotta put in some work. So to get someone to do that takes some extra special skills.
Speaker 1It's true. It really is true. I , I think, I think you have a really good point there. So , um, what do you do with people who are currently in school? Do you work with, with any, like we do budding uh , physical therapists while they're already in the program?
Speaker 2Absolutely. So I think it's really important to support them when they're still in school. Um, this is a , a profession where you learn through experience, right? People mm-hmm <affirmative> are not something you can learn from a textbook. So getting those that are in school, in the clinics to get experience with patients and to learn from my experience , um, to get the experience of those therapists who have been out for 20 years , um, is incredibly important. So we work with many programs. We have contracts with over a hundred different schools. Um, locally we work closely with UNF USA . FSCJ um, we go as broad, many states mm-hmm <affirmative> Pennsylvania and New York. Um, but those students will come and do rotations for eight and 12 weeks. Spend their time with us treating patients alongside us, learning those skills hands on , um, as well as learning the professionalism of the medical field. Um, so really cool experience for them. They get a wide variety of patients at Quora, which I think is nice for them. That it's a different experience from different medical settings of that. They really are getting that two weeks to 102 patients. Right . We talked
Speaker 1About right. I mean, I think that's great now is there's a PT, like assistant, right. That doesn't require as much schooling. Correct. You guys hire for that too. We
Speaker 2Do . Yeah. So we also use physical therapy assistance and they are licensed medical practitioners as well. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and incredibly important to the profession. Um, I learned a lot of my first job. I learned a lot from my, my PTA that I worked with. Um , she had 25 years experience. I learned a lot of that people piece from her, right. As well as just those little secret sauce items of different exercises that you might not think of. Um, so we absolutely hire them. FSCJ has a good program for them as well. So we take their students in , um, so a PT is required to do an evaluation. So that's that incoming piece to get into physical therapy and OT is required to come into occupational therapy. Um, but then an OTA or a PTA can do those follow up treatments , um, will prescribe a plan of care as a PT or an OT set out exactly what we think you need and that OTA or PTA will follow out that plan of care. Um, kind of with the set exercises or , um, modalities as you had talked about, right. Tens, the
Speaker 1Cupping, et , right . The cupping and everything too. Yeah. So in summary , um, the, the , the stuff that you guys do, the PT, the OT, even the speech therapist, correct therapy that you talked about earlier too. Um, and you quality of life. We all, I do. I wanna be able to get on the floor with my potential future grandchildren and, and be able to play sure. And not be in pain. Um, you know, the shoulder issue that I'm having right now is annoying. Um, but I say manageable with some ibuprofen and maybe a little ice and a tense machine. I know your face right now is killing me, but you're like , you're like, please come see me please. I'm begging you.
Speaker 2My doors are open
Speaker 1<laugh> , but you know, how do you really, you know , convince a patient to, to make that, that first initial reach out
Speaker 2It's you just have to try. Right. I would say , um, a lot of PT is about that relationship. Find a PT that works for you, right? It is about finding somebody who you feel like listens to you and you feel comfortable with, and who's listening to your goals and what you wanna achieve out of it. Um, some people are just gonna wanna be pain free and that's okay. Some people are gonna wanna get on the floor and play and be wild. Some are gonna wanna run. I mean, my grandfather was 93 and still goes to the gym three times a week. So there is no limit to your goals other than what you want to achieve and finding a PT that's willing to listen to that is the big piece. Um, you do have to get over that hurdle of at least getting in the door to come find one of us
Speaker 1Well, and that free injury screen that you guys offer is a great place to start. Right?
Speaker 2Absolutely. Yep . And like I said, you can also sign up for that evaluation on our website as well. So if you have something that you really do have something that you want to get checked out with a full evaluation, you can do that online scheduling@corephysicaltherapy.com.
Speaker 1And that was, I was gonna ask finally, was your contact information, so you just said it right there.
Speaker 2I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1Say it again. Cora Sarah
Speaker 2Physical therapy.com
Speaker 1Find a location near you.
Speaker 2Absolutely. Yeah, you can look up locations there. Um , and you can sign up for PT or OT or speech therapy there.
Speaker 1Awesome. Well, thank you. A cat bull deck , physical therapist and regional manager for Northeast Florida and south Georgia with Cora physical therapy. Thank you so much. Thank
Speaker 2You for having me. This was great. You're the best. Aw .
Speaker 1Back at ya . Well, the conversation will continue next time on Medicare connect radio. We also know you have questions about Medicare enrollment and we have the answers. Just learn the basics and discover the latest plan options by going to your Medicare connect.com or you can always go to millennium physician.com find a primary care provider near you as well in good health . I'm Michelle McCormick have a great day.
