ANDRE'S INSIGHTS

What is the “Missing Link??”

May 26, 2019

Before I get to the meat of this blog I want to start with a few disclaimers. I am a Physical Therapist. There will be things I will write and say that cannot be verified by research. This blog and future ones will be based on my years of experience as a Physical Therapist, father, husband, son and friend. Health care is more than just the science. I believe that it is a balance of an individual patient in combination with treatment. Providing the right treatment is not the only thing that matters but rather how you make the patient feel during and after treatment. I hope other health care providers understand me, because there are times when you do everything right and the outcome is horrible and there are times when you do everything wrong and the outcome is favorable. What is the reason for this? I believe that interaction with the patient is 70% of your results.

So, now that you all understand that I am a free-lance medical practitioner rambling on about nothing, let’s get started. In 2014, I opened a Physical Therapy clinic called Missing Link Physical Therapy (MLPT). Looking back, if I had gotten the appropriate business/ financial counsel prior to opening, I would have been told that this venture would be a failure. I was starting a business with low Capital, low financial reserves, poor personal finances…and the list goes on. But, little did everyone know that I received counsel from GOD (sorry, didn’t put in the disclaimer that there would be GOD talk). Anyway, during the course of planning MLPT too many financial, professional and personal miracles happened for me to do anything but walk in faith. This is a very summarized version, but I just wanted to give some background.

“What is The Missing Link?” We are a Physical Therapy clinic designed to make bold, confident, educated decisions in order to make immediate dramatic changes in a patient’s function. We are the body mechanics and difference makers in every person we meet. We provide this change through hands on treatment and exercise of course but most of all we provide this change through a loving safe environment for all. What do you mean loving and safe? Well, it is just authentic. You may not be able to understand but it goes much further than assessing, diagnosing and treating. It is the intangibles. We provide a prayerful environment to help guide us to make decisions when we are not sure how to proceed. We provide laughter in the tough times so to ease your physical, emotional and mental pain. We listen to all you have to say whether it is directly involved in your care or not (it is the patient’s story that usually reveals the answer to the treatment). We provide a shoulder to cry on and in fact, we cry together because often your pain becomes ours. We have developed community. We are family. We share each other’s burdens. We provide life-changing moments.

A lot of you reading may not understand the previous paragraph if you have not experienced it. But, it is our utopia. Missing Link Physical Therapy is combining all the great things in medicine with a personal touch. This is one of the major ways that we will change the lives of others who are misunderstood. The medical world is created for the 70% of individuals who fit into the ‘normal’ treatment models but if you fall outside that model life can really suck. We are there for those individuals. We are there to hear their story and come up with answers.

That is the end of my introduction as to what MLPT is. I believe it is an experience and therefore difficult to put into words. Every blog after this will be authentically discussing situations at Missing Link. How we assess, how we treat, our business model, our victories and our losses. I have written this blog because I think Physical Therapy has so much to offer, but we as Physical Therapists have been lazy, regimented and lack creativity. I believe that what we do as Physical Therapists is an art backed by science and can dramatically change an individual’s life instantly.

Well that’s it for now! Please feel free to leave comments about my blog (be honest, you won’t hurt my feelings). If you have experienced “The Missing Link” please write comments about your experience as you may be helping someone in need.

Our Mission Statement:

Missing Link Physical Therapy and Affiliates will become the difference makers in the lives of many through providing unique Health and Wellness services. We will dramatically create changes that will immediately provide individuals with HOPE that they can return to the life they love. This difference will start in our community and then branch out to the nation.

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

-Proverbs 17:22

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”

-Hellen Keller-