It's like the heavyweight championship of the orthopaedic physio world ... and I can just hear the ring announcer now ...
"In this corner, wearing the white trunks ... from various authorities worldwide ... weighing in at 180 pounds ... 'Manual Therapy' ...
"And in this corner, wearing the blue trunks ... the challenger ... also weighing in at 180 pounds ... hailing from New Zealand ... 'Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy' ...
A revolution in the world of health ... is needed. And it needs to start ... here ... and now.
Let's face it - as it stands right now, the current system of health care, injury prevention, and health promotion - faces some tremendous problems. From the provider side, if you are providing exemplary care you're no better off than if you provide average or outdated care. You don't get paid any more or less for the quality of your work. From the payor side, we're told that "well care" is covered - but this typically amounts to an annual check-up and not much else (if that). From the patient side - I may not want to partake in any of this because they (the powers that be) either aren't going to pay for it, or the cost is exhorbitant (without health insurance), or they're just going to tell me to rest and take some pills anyways. And from the health promotion side - well, good sound educational programs are hard to find and even harder to have reimbursed by a third party payor.
Allan Besselink, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Dip.MDT has a unique voice in the world of sports, education, and health care. Read more about Allan here.