What ever your specialty, Licensed Exercise Therapy services will assist you in the treatment of your patients condition. This puts in motion the recent initiative by the American College of Sports Medicine called "Exercise is Medicine". It also borrows the principal tenants of physician-based or GP exercise-referral schemes used in the UK, Ireland and Australia.

Incorporating Licensed Exercise Therapy services in the treatment plans of your patients will enable you to effectively improve clinical outcomes (1), as well as make you current with recent treatment options. Furthermore, Licensed Exercise Therapy services play a crucial role in primary and secondary prevention of disease in all patients. Unfortunately, the general trend, demonstrated by studies, is poor adherence and compliance when the patient is just left on their own (2).

The physician can now rest assured that his patient is doing the right type of physical activity within safe ranges and in an effective and efficient manner rather then just recommending that the patient engage in some form of exercise such as walking!

Healthcare today is headed towards a more patient centric and integrative approach, which enables the physician to treat the patient more as a whole rather then just managing the condition the patient presents. This approach, taking into account all facets of an individual allows the patient to achieve better health overall and an enhanced quality of life, therefore the essence of true healthcare. Professional Exercise Therapy is an integral part of this formula! Now is the time to narrow the gap between the medical world and the fitness world. Professionals with the proper background such as Licensed Exercise Therapists, can now assist physicians in safeguarding and improving their patients’ health safely and effectively. This approach is evidence based and supported by the American College of Sports Medicine among others. Incorporating Licensed Exercise Therapy within the treatment plans of patient also helps reduce the overall burden of healthcare cost in society, which is fast becoming a major problem worldwide and is a crucial component of disease prevention. Everyone is beginning to pay for the exorbitant and non-sustainable costs related to disease management and medical interventions. By integrating Exercise Therapy within the treatment plans of patients, you will be playing a major role in a more sustainable healthcare approach.

Some Benefits of Referring Patients to a Professional Licensed Exercise Therapist:

• The physician can now use exercise therapy as it is now becoming common part of good practice in patient treatment.
• The physician or health care facility can be in an advantages position compared to others that may not offer Exercise therapy services for their patients.
• An effective way for the physician to maintain close monitoring of the patient’s condition and progress in between appointments
• An excellent method to improve patient compliance and adherence to treatment plan, medication and prescribed exercise. It has been shown that to many patients stop physical activity (up to 50 %) after 6-12 months (2,3,4)
• Can easily and immediately begin to implement an Exercise Therapy regimen within the treatment plan

(1) Piepoli, M.F., Davos, C., Francis, D.P., Coats, A.J. Exercise training meta-analysis of trials with chronic heart failure (ExTraMATCH). British Medical Journal, 2004;Jan 24;328(7433):189

(2) Woodard, C.M., Berry, M.J. Enhancing Adherence to Prescribed Exercise: Structured Behavioral Interventions in Clinical Exercise Programs. Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation, 2001;21:201-209

(3) Oldridge, N.B. Compliance and exercise in primary and secondary prevention of coronary heart disease: a review. Preventative Medicine, 1982;11:56-70

(4) Joly, K., Taylor, R.S., Lip, G.Y.H., Stevens, A. Home-based cardiac rehabilitation compared with centre-based rehabilitation and usual care: A systemic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Cardiology, 111, 2006;343-351