More Support for Physical Therapists as the First Line Interventionists for Back Pain

One of the primary obstacles to quick resolution of back pain is the medical gauntlet that many patients have to endure before seeing their physical therapist. This medical gauntlet often creates an unnecessary delay by waiting to be seen by a primary care physician, the typical course of several weeks of anti-inflammatory medications, then off to an orthopedist, then x-rays, then MRI THEN the physical therapist. By the time the patient has navigated this gauntlet of interventions mostly unsupported by the current best evidence, their condition is ingrained and the time required for resolution is dramatically increased. Nothing better demonstrates this that what has transpired at Viginia Mason Medical Center at the urging of Starbucks. This video from the local Fox affiliate should be of great interest to back pain sufferers as well as insurers and employers who bear the brunt of many unnecessary expenses in the treatment of back pain.

Here is the Video

*special thanks to the EIM folks again for bringing this to my attention.