Our Physical Therapy Approach –

Patient-Centered, Evidence-Based

Thousands of physical therapy patients turn to the experts at Bon Secours Physical Therapy in Richmond each year for exceptional care. Our patient-centered and evidence-based approach means that each patient can expect a unique and strategic Physical Therapy plan.

What distinguishes our Physical Therapy services as patient-centered? We:

• Believe and practice the Bon Secours values of: Respect, Quality, Justice, Compassion, Stewardship, Integrity, Growth, and Innovation
• Treat clients with respect and dignity at all times
• Actively involve the client in decision-making and their comprehensive treatment plan
• Are accessible to clients for communication via phone or email
• Actively seek your questions and suggestions
• Provide interpretative services for non-English speaking clients and the hearing impaired
• Recognize your time and money are important and strive to achieve your treatment goals in the most efficient and pleasant manner
• Advocate for the client when there is discord between referral sources and health insurance companies

The Physical Therapy services that we provide are evidence-based because we:

• Believe evidence-based medicine is the integration of best research evidence, with clinical expertise, and patient values
• Believe outcome research has repeatedly documented that those patients who do receive evidence based therapies have better outcomes than those who don’t
• Are critical of what we do. We ask ourselves if the current standard of care is based on the best available evidence
• Turn clinical problems into questions and then systematically locate, appraise, and use contemporaneous research findings as the basis for clinical decisions
• Contribute to the body of knowledge of peer reviewed literature by writing detailed case reports
• Will explain why our treatment recommendation varies from the standard Physical Therapy intervention for your problem, and show you the evidence as to why we recommend a particular intervention
• Provide citations when we write patient hand outs and when we write in our blog
• Are more likely to be skeptical rather than certain
• Will appear comfortable with ambiguity or uncertainty, and may say “I need to do some research on that question; I will get back to you.”

How Patient-Centered and Evidence-Based Medicine Relate to Each Other

Ideally the paradigm of evidence-based medicine and patient-centered medicine should be complementary and synergistic, but in reality they can be at odds. We will use scientific evidence to make recommendations, but the evidence based recommendation may or may not match your expectations and desires.  If you sense that your healthcare provider is providing a service that is:

• Both patient-centered and evidence-based; trust him/her
• Patient-centered and weak on evidence; be skeptical
• Strongly inclined toward evidence and not patient-centered; be assertive
• Neither patient-centered nor evidence-based; find a new provider

Awareness and improved communication between the healthcare provider and the patient is important to have a balanced approach between patient-centered and evidence-based care.

Appointments are available within 24-48 hours.