Courtesy of MVPT Physical Therapy
By Susan Elise Campbell
MVPT Physical Therapy opened a second clinic in Glens Falls last month.
The business was founded by Zachary Cole, PT, DPT, a former athlete who started Sports PT of NY 16 years ago in Saratoga Springs, now located at One West Avenue. But he rebranded after merging into Cypress Heath Partners, a network of clinics spanning five states. Under this model, Cypress Health owns both clinics and Cole is their managing partner.
MVPT is bringing to the North Country the same needed therapies and guidance that has grown his Saratoga clinic to a staff of six. Cole is the sole practitioner at the new clinic.
“To grow our business and serve as many people as we can, we are confined by the space of the Saratoga clinic,” he said. “We expanded into Glens Falls because from a health care perspective there are a lot of people, but from a physical therapy perspective it is not as dense an area.”
“The new clinic puts within reach the range of physical therapy services residents may not have had at their fingertips,” he said. “North Country patients who had been traveling down to Saratoga now get easier access to physical therapy in their home town.”
Research shows that when people have easy access to physical therapy, they are more likely to attend, and much more often, he said.
“If you attend sessions more often, you are going to get better quicker and spend less money to do it,” Cole said.
“The message I want to get out to the community is, if you are injured get to the clinic early,” he said. “I’m building relationships with high school coaches and athletic directors to get their athletes to the therapist quickly and then safely back onto the field.”
Cole said his practice treats all kinds of injuries and patients, from young ones to weekend warriors, and with skiing being a “good and popular sport” in nearby mountains he is able to provide patients “high quality care” without the travel.
One specific factor behind the growth of physical therapy as an industry is that more people are steering away from pain medications in favor of the common physical therapy treatments and modalities, he said.
“Medication is a bandaid that won’t address the concerns, whereas physical therapy can be utilized as a frontline approach to health care,” said Cole.
While physical therapy is not considered primary care at this time, as is internal medicine or urgent care, Cole said professionals like himself and organizations like the American Physical Therapy Association are pushing to be Direct Access providers, Cole said.
“Direct Access would open the way for physical therapists to be the first provider to see patients without a prior referral,” he said.
This means practitioners like Cole actually help triage patients who would otherwise have to go to another provider for x-rays, MRIs, and other diagnostics, he said.
“Direct Access differs from state to state, and in New York the law requires physical therapists to have practiced at least three years here,” he said. “It would cover ten visits or thirty days, whichever comes first, as long as the injury is deemed something that can be treated with physical therapy.”
Without this access, the patient would have to see an orthopedic specialist or primary care physician first for a referral, which would take more time and likely also necessitate a follow-up visit to that provider. These added steps increase the cost of care, Cole said.
“Their physician may have just told them to go to physical therapy in the first place, so we want to bypass the obstacle and get help quickly,” he said. “Then we become the leading providers for orthopedic care.”
Cole believes his clinic’s connection with Cypress Health benefits both patients and his business. His decision to partner his smaller practice with a bigger group opened up resources like an updated medical records system and updated equipment, plus the opportunity to expand with less risk.
“The goal is to establish ourselves, build a strong case load in Glens Falls, and add staff as our patient base allows,” he said.
The location at 14 Larose Street was chosen because it is “very open and clean” and in a high traffic area near Hannaford at Exit 18, Cole said.
“Passers-by may not need physical therapy services at this moment, but when they do we hope they will remember us,” he said.
“The people we have met so far have been very welcoming and accommodating,” said Cole. “We strive to be more than a physical therapist and to have a deeper connection as part of the community supporting local charities and events for people in need.”
MVPT Physical Therapy treats all common needs and some that not all practices offer, such as vestibular rehabilitation, cupping therapy, and golf rehab.
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