Club therapy is success for Detroit rehab facility
April 1, 2002
Club therapy is success for Detroit rehab facility
Rehab model saves money
When administrators with the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan in Detroit began to explore expanding outpatient facilities to satellite sites that would provide a better geographic distribution, they quickly realized that a large new facility wouldn’t be financially feasible.
"So we thought of partnering with health clubs," says Patty Jobbitt, MSA, PT, administrative director of outpatient services.
"We had been working with metropolitan YMCA, and they were looking at bringing in a medical facility or health care environment into their club, so it was a match," Jobbitt explains. "We went on a tour of many of their facilities in the spring of 1998, and we found three locations that worked for us."
Six months later, the rehab institute opened three small therapy clinics within the fitness centers. The space used at the Birmingham YMCA measured less than 300 square feet, and the outpatient rehab services quickly reached capacity, Jobbitt says.
By 2001, the rehab institute was looking for a larger site with room to expand, so the next step was to move into the Oakland Athletic Club while keeping the facility within the Birmingham YMCA, Jobbitt adds.
"Within two months of going to the 1,000-square-foot space, we had more than doubled our volumes," Jobbitt says. "Since starting this, we’ve opened five different sites in health clubs, and then in January, we closed the Birmingham YMCA location because most clients were willing to come down the road a mile to the athletic club."
An inexpensive way to expand
Expanding through partnerships with fitness clubs has been an inexpensive way to expand and improve profits, Jobbitt says. However, the rehab institute continues to invest in renovations and physical expansions in the more traditional sense.
The difference is that expanding through partnerships with fitness centers is far less expensive. The capital investment typically is between $30,000 and $35,000, and the patient volume includes 20% of clients referred through the health clubs. "We’re finding that these small locations are very profitable," Jobbitt says.
Here are a few details about how the rehab institute established the small outpatient satellites:
• Staffing: Each location has an experienced physical therapist and an athletic trainer, and their hours are determined based on patient volume. Initially, administrators thought they would have therapists move between sites, but the volumes have been high enough to require that each site have its own staff, Jobbitt says.
• Scheduling and billing: All clients need a physician prescription, and their insurance is verified before their outpatient visit is scheduled.
All scheduling, billing, registration, and insurance verification are handled in the institute’s downtown office by that staff.
"Therapists fax in their charge sheets each day, and the remote clerical staff does the charging, as well," Jobbitt says.
This type of arrangement saves considerable costs with regard to support staff, she adds.
• Relationship to fitness clubs: "What’s nice for the clubs is this service is a retention factor," Jobbitt says.
Fitness club employees will promote the therapy services and refer clients who have questions about health and fitness to the rehab institute’s staff for advice.
"Then the rehab staff can recommend a type of doctor or answer a question about the injury," Jobbitt adds. "So we’re a health care resource for the club, and our patients at all the sites are offered a 30-day trial membership to the clubs when they’ve finished therapy."
• Fitness equipment: One of the chief benefits of partnerships with fitness clubs is that the rehab facility does not need to invest in expensive fitness equipment and exercise machines, because these items are already available for clients’ use, Jobbitt says.
"We have treatment tables and some of the lower weights, but when patients need real exercise equipment, we can take them into the wellness centers and health clubs and use all that exercise equipment," Jobbitt says.
• Rehab space: "The biggest benefit is we don’t need to build as large of a facility, so we do not have as large of a lease payment or capital outlay," Jobbitt says. "In the YMCA sites, we’ve retrofitted into spaces they had available."
• Patient visits: Most patients visit the small outpatient satellites two or three times a week, and the range of visits for each site is from 100 visits a month to 250 visits a month.
• Market share: By expanding to Detroit’s suburbs, the institute has been able to expand its market share and its geographical reach.
"Absolutely, we would be missing clients if we only had one large downtown facility," Jobbitt says.
The Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan already had three large free-standing outpatient facilities when administrators decided to open the smaller satellites. The larger spaces included 10,000-square-foot sites in Westland and Warren and a 24,000-square-foot site in Novi.
"After we did the Novi site, we realized we didn’t want to spend the time it takes to get one of those sites up," Jobbitt says. "With these small sites, we now can get into two or three of them in a year without a problem as far as planning, marketing, and starting to see patients." n
Need More Information?
- Patty Jobbitt, MSA, PT, Administrative Director of Outpatient Services, Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, 261 Mack Blvd., Detroit, MI 48201. Telephone: (313) 745-9779.
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