Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a Doctor’s Referral to book an appointment?

No.  California allows Direct Access to physical therapy for up to 12 visits or 45 days (whichever is first).   Our SDSPT team will work with your doctor to obtain a prescription if more visits or time is needed

What is Direct Access?

People can now get evaluations and treatments directly from a licensed physical therapist (PT) without first obtaining a doctor's prescription or referral. It essentially means anyone can visit a physical therapist whenever they want.

Do you take insurance?

SDSPT is an out-of-network provider and does not contract with any insurance companies.  We would be happy to provide you with a "superbill", which is an itemized invoice that lists the therapy services that you received, and which you may be able to file with your insurance for reimbursement.  We collect full payment at the time of service.  We accept credit, debit, HSA and FSA cards.

What are the benefits of going to SDSPT instead of an in-network physical therapist?

One of the biggest advantages is that more can be accomplished because your physical therapist is not splitting their time among 3-4 patients/hour.   So, ultimately LESS treatment sessions are usually needed, and you can get better FASTER!!!  This can translate into less out-of-pocket expense and less time.  
There are a lot of other advantages….We generally have shorter waiting times – no more overcrowded waiting rooms!  We gain a solid patient-therapist relationship because you will be seen by the same Therapist EVERY session. This allows for better carryover of treatment and increased recovery time.
Also, treatments are not dictated by insurance companies.  Your Doctor of Physical Therapy gets to know and focus on you and your goals, which will allow a more individualized and effective treatment plan.

What are your rates?

Our sessions are $175 for a full hour appointment with a Doctor of Physical Therapy.  Unlike other Physical Therapy clinics, you won't have to share your time with other patients or be treated by a PT Assistant.  All sessions will be blocked for 60 minutes, including the last few minutes are reserved for final questions, scheduling, and payment

Should I schedule Physical Therapy or Body Work?

You should book Physical Therapy if you have an injury or pain.  Body Work is a wellness service and helps prevent injuries, maintain mobility, and increase flexibility.   But if you’re not sure what to book, it’s okay if you book either one, because your therapist will do an assessment when you arrive for your first appointment.  They will advise the best treatment for your condition.  Both the physical therapy and body work sessions are “hands-on” treatments with a Doctor of Physical Therapy.

Which SDSPT Physical Therapist should I choose?

All of our practitioners are highly skilled Doctors of Physical Therapy.   They will provide the same level of care and treatment for you.  You can feel confident in scheduling with any doctor.

Do you accept “walk-in” appointments?

Unfortunately, we do not accept walk-in patients. In order to minimize waiting time and allow adequate time and attention, appointments are scheduled in advance.

What is your cancellation policy?

SDSPT requires a 24-hour notice to cancel your appointment. If you cancel within 24 hours, you are required to pay a $75 for a missed appointment fee.

What should I expect during my first visit?

The first session is an initial evaluation that allows for the physical therapist to understand all past and current medical histories. Initial evaluations are important to ensure that treatment can be completed by a physical therapist, and if not then referred to the appropriate medical practitioner.   Initial evaluations usually include an examination, diagnosis, prognosis, creating a plan of care and some treatment after we have established your plan of care.

Before a physical therapy appointment you will be emailed our physical therapy forms, for your convenience please have all your physical therapy forms completed prior to your scheduled appointment time; if you need to fill the forms out at the time of your service it will take away from your evaluation and treatment time

Do you offer Free Consultations?

During your initial visit, a Doctor of Physical Therapy will have a conversation with you about your history of pain or injury, including how long you’ve been dealing with it and what might have caused it. Then, they will provide recommendations for treatment. If you choose not to move-forward with treatment, you will not be charged. If you decide to have treatment, you will be charged for your visit.

Good Faith Estimate

If you are uninsured or decide not to file a claim with your insurance company, you have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for your Physical Therapy services. We would be happy to provide an estimate in writing prior to your appointment. Please contact us so we can share our current fee schedule with you. If you receive a bill that is higher than the Good Faith Estimate provided to you, please contact our office and we would be happy to discuss it. You also have the right to dispute the bill. Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate for your records. For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises

What are the Advantages of using an Out-Of-Network PT?

Short Answer: RESULTS! Here’s why….

1) One-on-One time with your Physical Therapist

PT offices are usually quite busy.  You see large rooms filled with endless tables and endless patients.  Typically, there aren't the same number of PT's as there are patients.  You can do the math or we can just give you the answer - most PT clinics have their PT's see multiple patients at the same time, usually only giving each patient a fraction of their hour appointment spent with the PT.  That means your entire appointment isn't just for you.

When you go out-of-network or cash pay, that drastically limits the overhead usually involved with billing insurance as well as low reimbursement that drives many clinics to be forced to see multiple patients at once.

We only see 1 patient per PT at a time.  That means when you come in for your appointment - you literally come in for YOUR appointment - it's just you and your PT focused on reaching your goals. That increase in time spent with your PT cuts down on the number of visits you need overall because you can accomplish so much more in a single session (this has been researched).

2) Who's providing your treatment while you're in the clinic - a Doctor of Physical Therapy? Probably not -

A lot of busy clinics employ support staff to assist with your physical therapy treatment. This further decreases the amount of quality time you get to spend with your physical therapist and having to switch between multiple people during a treatment session diminishes the continuity of care from your provider.

At SD Sports Physical Therapy, your entire appointment is spent with your PT  and you won't get shuffled around to another person.  This means you get educated throughout your treatment, can have adjustments made on the fly as needed, and always have the most highly skilled therapy eye on you during your treatment to ensure you're doing everything right and getting the most out of your visits.

3) Insurance limitations

Insurance.  It's a tricky thing.  It's usually a good thing but not always when it comes to PT.  We'll let you in a little secret - insurance companies are not non-profit organizations and they don't always have a patient's best interest in mind.

While patients can see a PT without a referral, there are still quite a few insurance plans that do require a referral or worse - an authorization - meaning you can't start treatment until they say you can.

Many plans also have visit limits or markers that when you meet them, they won't cover any more visits. The fact that you may not have reached your ultimate goal means nothing - Imagine being a football player, tearing your ACL, and after rehabbing just 8 weeks your insurance company says you no longer need treatment because you are fully "functional"...Yikes.

Also, what about that insurance plan that's supposed to cover health care costs and you just pay a copay or coinsurance payment?  That's great, but there's this thing called a deductible that you have to meet and in most plans, PT is a covered service but only after the deductible has been met... meaning you're paying full price out of pocket anyway until you reach that $3000, $4000 or $5000 deductible (some are even higher than that!).

We believe that we (your PT and you) should be the ones making decisions about your PT care, not your insurance company.  That's why we choose to go out-of-network.

4) How often do you need to go to PT?

Have you been to PT before?  How many times a week did you have to go?  2?  3?  Now how many weeks did you have to go?  6?  8?  12?  That could end up totaling as many as 36 visits (assuming your insurance doesn't cut you off before that).

With a cash pay model, because of the complete 1:1 time with your PT, you usually need far fewer visits.  Many of our patients only need to come once a week and our average number of visits overall for a plan of care (or a course of treatment for a certain injury/pain/dysfunction) is about 5-6 visits.  What sounds better, 5-6 visits or double digit visits?

5) How easy is it to reach your PT if you have a question?

If you go to a big PT practice and you have a question in between sessions, chances are you'll have to call and leave a message with someone at the front desk and then wait for a call back before you get your answer.

Part of our model is having open communication with our patients, even between sessions.  You can reach us anytime between appointment through email, a direct message through the patient portal, or a call or text message.  We welcome it!

6) Is your PT visit full of passive things you could do at home?

You go into your session, see your PT for a few minutes, do some exercises with a support staff supervising, and then sit on some heat or ice or e-stim for the last 15 minutes of your visit.

Can't you just heat or ice at home?  Yes, you can.  And that's exactly when you should do it if you need to.  While it might feel good to sit there on those passive modalities, they ultimately won't fix you.  Don't you want your appointment spent doing the things that will actually address your problem and fix it?  Those are things like exercise, manual therapy and education.

We don't use any passive modalities in our practice because we believe your valuable time and money are better spent doing the things that will make a lasting change and fix your problem, not just put a temporary feel good band-aid on it.

7) Can you get wellness, preventative or injury prevention visits?

Unlike the annual check-up by your physician, most insurance companies do not  cover musculoskeletal wellness or injury prevention by a physical therapist. This is why you typically do not find any wellness services at large outpatient practices.

However, those services are incredibly important. It is MUCH less expensive to prevent injuries than to treat them once they have occurred. It's also less time missed doing your favorite things if you can prevent them as well. We would much rather work with patients on getting strong and mobile and preventing injuries instead of treating them after an injury has occurred.

You have annual physicals with your MD, you take your car in for maintenance to prevent engine failure, you might even do preventative services on your HVAC unit at your house to prevent costly repairs in the future.  Why wouldn't you do the same for your body?!

We offer wellness, maintenance and injury prevention services to keep all our patients healthy and happy.

We know if can be hard to understand why you should forgo your insurance benefits to pay out of pocket for PT services.  Hopefully this information was helpful to understand the benefits of doing so.  We want to provide the best care and get the quickest positive outcome so you can return to your favorite activities as fast as possible!

If you've been to PT before and it "didn't work" or you - Please understand SD Sports Physical Therapy is a different monster.