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Good Neighbor Podcast: Auburn and Opelika
With her genuinely good heart and a wealth of experience behind her, Susannah works to connect local business and non-profit leaders to their neighbors. In a community like ours in which so many have invested their lives, there are fantastic stories all around us that motivate and inspire, often right next door. She hopes to share some of those here, on the Good Neighbor Podcast. Book an interview today at GNPAuburn.com
Good Neighbor Podcast: Auburn and Opelika
Ep #50:From Patient to Practitioner: Patrick Allen's Journey and the Evolution of Physical Therapy
Imagine discovering your life’s calling at just 13 years old. That's exactly what happened to Patrick Allen, the owner of PT on the Plains, following a baseball injury that led him to physical therapy. Tune into the Good Neighbor Podcast as Patrick shares his compelling journey from patient to practitioner, detailing the transformative power of physical therapy in alleviating pain and restoring mobility. With 13 years of experience under his belt, Patrick dives into the various methods and interventions that help patients reclaim their lives, whether they’re recovering athletes or individuals dealing with mobility issues.
But that's not all—Alabama's healthcare landscape is changing, and Patrick gives us the inside scoop on a groundbreaking new law. As of June 1st, residents can now access physical therapy services without a physician's referral, thanks to the introduction of direct access. This significant shift promises greater flexibility and improved access to care for patients. Join us for an enlightening discussion on the collaborative nature of physical therapy and its crucial role in holistic recovery, all from the perspective of a passionate and experienced therapist making waves in his community.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Susanna Hodges.
Speaker 2:Welcome, and with me is Patrick Allen with PT on the Plains. Welcome, Patrick. How are you today?
Speaker 3:I'm good. Thank you, Susanna, for having me. How are you?
Speaker 2:I'm doing well and tell me about PT on the Plains. That's pretty exciting. I of course, already know about you, but the listeners don't, so tell them what you do.
Speaker 3:Sure. So PT on the Plains, it is a small, privately owned outpatient physical therapy practice. So for anyone who hasn't had physical therapy services, that is a form of medicine conservative medicine that uses some form of physical measures, whether it be usually we're talking movement from physical therapy standpoint and we're using certain interventions to, for some reason or another, a patient comes to physical therapy for they're in pain, they don't move very well, they have bad balance, they had a surgery, so come to physical therapy, and then, through different measures and different things we do, we try to reduce the pain, we try to restore whatever the mobility issue is, regain strength to reach whatever personal goals or that a patient may have and ultimately get back to their prior level of function.
Speaker 2:Okay Now, how did you get into the PT business? You've been doing this for a while.
Speaker 3:Correct. Yes, yes, ma'am. So I have been. So I've been practicing now for 13 years and I found out at a very young age Dr Jim Whatley, a retired orthopedic surgeon, here in the area with the orthopedic clinic. He performed an elbow surgery on me when I was 13.
Speaker 3:And at the time it was a baseball-related injury. It was a baseball-related injury, so I had this surgery and then I had to do therapy physical therapy, and it was an awesome experience. But I thought all physical therapy was individuals. You work with athletes. I deemed myself an athlete at that time. Well, I found out it's not just about athletes, there's a lot of individuals involved.
Speaker 3:But that was my first experience with a kind of a team approach. You know there's an injury in place, a surgeon fixes, you know, repairs an issue, moves off to a physical therapy, physical therapist assistance, whatever their team, and then throughout that process and that journey, you're back on a baseball field in the near future and life's good. So that was 13. I was 13 years old and I know I just there was just it was very clear to me that that kind of was a calling of mine, kind of was a calling of mine, and so I finished up like a high school, went to Auburn University and majored in exercise science with a intention of going to PT school, physical therapy school, and just kept the head down and went that direction. So no changing majors, no changing in what's what's my plan, what's my purpose?
Speaker 2:yeah, so since age 13 you kind of knew you wanted to help people.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it's very true. And yeah, believe it or not, I mean, yes, 13 years old, and this is what I want to do and that's what we're doing.
Speaker 2:Very cool.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Now most people and I'm just really kind of speaking from my own experience with my father you go to the doctor, or he's my, I'm remembering when he had a stroke, and so the doctor said, ok, now you need physical therapy. And we went for several weeks and then it was over. But now there's been, I think, a new law that you can go to any physical therapist anytime you want to now and you don't even need a recommendation from your physician.
Speaker 3:Sure, sure, yeah, and that was a huge, that was a. It was a big win for for therapists in in the state of Alabama. So, alabama, we, we drove, we drove behind a little bit for a while, but as of beginning June 1st of this year, so the very first first of the month, governor Ivey signed in, signed in the law, so it's a form of what we call direct access in the physical therapy world. So, used to, the only way to receive physical therapy services was a primary provider of some kind. So in you know, regular doctor, md, chiropractor, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, dentist, they would have to refer the patient to a physical therapist in order for services to be provided and be reimbursed by insurance. Well, as of June 1st now. So now the form of direct access, we have it's labeled provisional direct access and what that means is now, so a patient can walk in to BT on the Plains without being referred by primary provider and they can be seen for 30 days or 11 visits, which is a big deal, because we as physical therapists now I mean it's a doctorate level program we do extensive education.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of issues that can be seen competently and confidently as well by a PT that doesn't require, say, in a medical doctor's service, and what that does is that it saves money. It's cost-effective for the patient, for the client, but also, with that being said too, there are a lot of times I mean often it may need further services, it may warrant a doctor's visit, whether it be hey, there needs to be some medicine involved here to control pain or to reduce an inflammatory process, or well, we have a big issue. We got to do some imaging, x-ray, mri, something along those lines. That's out of a PT's world, that's out of out of our scope and that needs to go off to a to a physician, um, so, so I know it's, it's, it's a big deal, it's a big, it's a big win for for everyone involved, um, not only, not only for physical therapists. It's just, it's just a final, it's a, it's a.
Speaker 3:The biggest win is for the patient, but it's a, it's a um. The biggest win is for the patient, but it's that, it's a um, it's just, it's finally a, a congratulations to the PT world and kind of getting that we deserve, and uh and yeah. So, and also in that same time, though, a PT should be knowledgeable enough to, to, to be able to send that patient back out the door. Hey, you're not a candidate for therapy right now, or you're a candidate, but you got to have some other help besides me, so we need to be able to make that decision appropriately.
Speaker 2:Right, right. Well, I think you know, like you said, for a lot of people it's, you know, your knees hurting or you're not walking as straight as you used to, and just being able to stop by a PT office like yours and get an idea of what you're looking at is, I think that's great.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it is.
Speaker 2:Thank you. So you've been in the business for a while now. You have certainly come across some misconceptions that people have about the physical therapy world. What are some of the most common things that you come across?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so physical therapy and physical therapists sometimes can have a bad reputation within the community Not personally bad reputations but there is a mindset out there that therapy, physical therapy hurts. It's miserable You're going to be crying Things along those lines. You'll often hear people refer to PT as pain and torture, and it doesn't have to. That is so far from the truth.
Speaker 2:No, yeah, I would agree, that is not true.
Speaker 3:Physical therapy. Really honestly, it should be enjoyable. Now I can't say it's going to be completely pain-free. Depending upon what the situation may be If there's a surgery involved. Yeah, it may be uncomfortable. There may be some discomfort, maybe some uncomfortable moments to restore shoulder range of motion or knee range of motion, some uncomfortable moments to to restore shoulder range of motion or knee range of motion. But it should always be it, it should be tolerable. Um, it should never reach a point where, hey, this is miserable, that has crossed the line. I'm not coming back. That's not the case as long as a therapist is weak. If we can respect healing process, the healing time, we should be able to get to that checker flag, reach our goals and it'd be a pretty enjoyable experience. Yeah, we'll look back and say, hmm, that first couple of weeks that was not fun, but it should not be. It should never be miserable.
Speaker 2:No. It shouldn't so nobody should ever be scared to have to go to yes you should never be scared.
Speaker 3:I'm not going there. I've heard horror stories. Well, that's just not. That's not true. It's not true here. I don't know about everywhere, but it shouldn't be the case.
Speaker 2:OK, well, let's shift gears a little bit and talk about you and your family. What do you guys do when you're not working? What do you do for fun?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so, so my, so, my wife, hillary Allen, uh, we've been married 16 years. Uh, we have three little boys, eight, six and four. We have Jackson, houston and Parker. So they, um, so it's wide open, it's chaotic, um, but it's a, it's a, it's a blessing. Uh, we're I mean, we're in a really sweet stage of life. Um, so if, when, we're not working from a, what are we doing? We are, um, we're trying to raise these three little boys to be the best, best things they can possibly be.
Speaker 1:Try for examples for them.
Speaker 3:Um, so we're always outside, we're in the yard, we're, we're big, we're working the yard all the time I like. From a hobby standpoint, I like to. I enjoy playing golf. Um, that's a passion of mine. They've kind of taken those rounds away from me, but that's okay.
Speaker 2:there's gonna be a season where I can play again you know you can take them with you when they get a little older to a point.
Speaker 3:Now they know how to be quiet a little bit, so we can go out there, um, but really that is what our boys consume, our life, I mean we're consumed by our children and um you know, yeah, we're busy. We're busy. Hillary's a big runner, she's running. I'm in the yard working, I'm playing golf. Those are hobbies, but ultimately it's it's keeping up with these three little, three little boys.
Speaker 2:Well, that sounds wonderful. So what is one thing that you wish people knew about?
Speaker 3:PT on the planes that they may not, you know, know about, about PT on the planes that they may not, you know, know about. Yeah, well, I think it goes back to the. Honestly, it goes back to the referrals not needed, what we talked about earlier. Honestly, that is a that's just knowledge that needs to get out to the community and I'm glad we're able to have this conversation. We moved that direction. In the state. Most people do assume they have to go to a doctor before they go to for to a therapist. Um, so, that is, that is something. It's just. We're at a point where that, that is not. It doesn't have to happen now. Um, that, um, yeah, that's, that's the biggest thing I would like people to know about pt on the planes and physical therapy um, is that physical?
Speaker 3:therapy we, you can walk in, we can see you first and we can make that call. It doesn't need to go somewhere else or not.
Speaker 2:So how do people find out more about you and how do they make an appointment? How do they get connected to you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we're in Auburn. We're at 1888 Ogletree Road in the Moors Mill area, cvs parking lot, phone number 334-209-0445. Anybody ever wants to call and chat? Website is physicaltherapyontheplanescom. There's some quite a bit of information on the website in terms of contact information, some. What do we do? What services do we provide? Then, from a social media standpoint, we're on Instagram and we're on Facebook. The door is always open unless we're closed. Unless we're closed.
Speaker 2:And that's very rarely. So, yeah, that's how. That's the best way to get in touch. All right, well, thank you, patrick, for being on the show today. I really have enjoyed learning more about you and PT on the Plains Appreciate you joining me.
Speaker 3:Thank you, Susanna, for having me.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast, auburn. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPAuburncom. That's GNPAuburncom. Gnpauburncom. That's gnpauburncom, or call 334-429-7404.