Practice Makes Perfect: Q & A with Current AlterG Users
May 25, 2010
On Monday, I had the opportunity to meet with Darwin Fogt, MPT and President of Evolution Physical Therapy. We got to chat a little about how he is using the AlterG in his practice. He has a beautiful facility in a penthouse suite across from the Los Angeles Clippers practice facility. You can read more about him at his website @ www.evolution-pt.com. The following are some excerpts from our conversation:
Q: Thanks for meeting with me Darwin. I appreciate you taking the time out to assist AlterG in learning how we can help private practice owners take advantage of all the benefits our Anti-Gravity Treadmill™ can provide. So how long have you had your private practice and how long have you had the AlterG?
A: I’ve been in practice for about 8 years, initially at another location. We moved to this facility several years ago, when the space became available. It was actually built out already for a spa, so it was the perfect fit for us with locker rooms and an open layout. I got the AlterG in this facility about 1.5 years ago.
Q: How did you know that AlterG was a “must-have” for your PT clinic?
A: As soon as you get on an AlterG, you understand what it does. And for any clinician, that will allow you to begin thinking about how you want to incorporate it into your rehabilitation sessions.
Q: How many patients use your AlterG and what types of diagnoses do you use it with?
A: At the current time we have about 8-10 patients on it a day and about 1-2 cash paying clients on it a day. Obviously most Lower Extremity (LE) patients will benefit from time on the AlterG, but we have also found it very helpful with lumbar microdiscectomy patients and we even have a patient with cerebral palsy using the AlterG.
Q: That’s great. So from a clinical perspective the AlterG makes sense. Something both you and I know because we’ve been on it. Another set of questions we are getting is from the business aspect of being a practice owner. How about from a business standpoint? Has AlterG helped you at all on that side of the practice?
A: The AlterG has provided opportunities for me to market to physicians when I contact them to discuss its benefits for their patients. I treated a physician after he had a lumbar microdiscectomy and now he’s a big believer and advocate of the AlterG. I have also had some exposure for the clinic through local media coverage and will be doing an interview with Triathlete magazine tomorrow. It’s interesting when people see us volunteering at a race or other event and they come up and say ‘Hey, aren’t you the guys with the AlterG?’ It’s definitely created a little association/recognition for us with the public.
Q: That’s good to see that you are getting some recognition for having an AlterG. One of our goals at AlterG is to become a standard in physical therapy practice. So the association between having an AlterG and that facility being focused on excellence in clinical care is something that we want to encourage and that reputation is something that we will help owners with. Now lastly, what advice would you give to other practices having questions about purchasing the AlterG?
A: I think once you experience it, the AlterG makes sense. Clinically, it’s easy to see how patients would benefit from the treadmill. We’ve been able to see it help different patient populations at our facility. We gained some recognition from the public for having one. And we’ll continue to use it to market to different groups that we couldn’t otherwise. With the barefoot running trend, for example, we can let people adjust carefully and progressively to that in an AlterG. This could help protect those that are overzealous from running to any pitfalls or obstacles along the way.
I want to thank Darwin again for taking the time to meet with me. It is always a pleasure to talk with other clinicians about their practice philosophies and to get their input about how AlterG is serving them and their patients.
If you are interested in being featured on this blog, please contact Jacon at jacon@alter-g.com.