Falls for older people can cause debilitating injuries with slow, painful recovery.
“A fear of falling is forefront in many older adults’ minds,” said McDermott. “By utilizing the Biodex Balance System, St. Luke’s rehab therapists concentrate on rehabilitation and remove that fear. Building confidence and strength only improves results.”
The Biodex Balance System enables St. Luke’s rehabilitation team to perform balance testing and identify fall risk candidates, determine ankle and knee status and determine limits of stability. This system also provides balance training including stabilization exercise, range of motion exercise, and weight shift exercise.
Another important benefit for seniors, McDermott said, is that the $1,880 Medicare cap on therapy services does not apply to Critical Access Hospital-based outpatient therapy departments, such as St. Luke’s Hospital Outpatient Rehabilitation.
This cap is a combined amount for Physical and Speech Therapy. A separate $1,880 cap is applied to Occupational Therapy. This means a patient may have to pay out of pocket for any therapy provided beyond this amount in other practice settings if certain conditions aren’t met for Medicare.
For more information about St. Luke’s Outpatient Rehabilitation Services call 828-894-8419.
– article submitted