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Article
NEWS-Line for Physical
Therapists & PT Assistants-February 2007
From Babies To Back Pain:
Providing Relief with the
Healing Touch
For many athletes, sustaining
an injury can signal the end of a sports career. But for Cindi A. Prentiss
Lattanzio, instead of closing a door, her college injury opened one for her
in the field of physical therapy.
Ms. Lattanzio was motivated to
pursue a career in this health-related business after she sustained shin
splints while being considered for her college track team. “The coach
immediately sent me to the athletic trainer. I was so excited by what I saw
in the training room – athletes were being ‘fixed,’ and I realized that this
is what I wanted to do.” And so, her story begins: Ms. Lattanzio became a
student athletic trainer while taking her first physical therapy classes.
Today, Ms. Lattanzio is the
owner of her own private practice, Physical Therapy & Beyond. She is
also the founding owner of Healing Hands Massage Therapy, P.C.,
which has suites within Physical Therapy & Beyond at both locations in
Smithtown and East Setauket, Long Island, New York. Both facilities offer
orthopedic care, specializing in spine care and the treatment of pregnant
women. “We offer pregnancy-related seminars to midwives, doctors, and
pregnant women,” she says, and we love to educate our patients!” One of the
many resources used by Ms. Lattanzio and her staff includes a pregnancy and
postpartum video series she produced herself. This furthers her goal of
teaching pregnant women how to alleviate some of their pain through the use
of proper posture, body mechanics, and exercises.
Ms. Lattanzio’s Pregnancy &
Back Pain Program has received national attention and has been featured on
CBS News and in several important publications, including Baby Magazine,
American Baby, Glamour, and Newsday. This program was her creation,
developed in response to her own back pain during pregnancy. It incorporates
pain relief, range of motion, strengthening, stabilization, and balance
training exercises, along with proper lifting techniques. The result is a
body that moves and functions more effectively, allowing the client to
perform daily activities with less pain. Ms. Lattanzio explains that
although the program was created to help women who suffer from back pain and
other related symptoms during pregnancy, the techniques can also be
incorporated into women’s post-baby lifestyles. The valuable information
they are provided with helps them to live with less pain throughout their
lives.
In January of 2000, Ms.
Lattanzio opened the doors of her first physical therapy practice, in which
she shared both an office and a secretary. However, only eight months later,
she was already looking to expand her business. She reasoned that the most
natural location for a physical therapy practice is within close proximity
to a gym, and so, Ms. Lattanzio opened her new facility next to Gold’s Gym
in Smithtown. With this move she acquired a lot more space—2,000 square feet
in which to set up her practice. After deciding to use some of her extra
space for massage therapy, she returned to school in order to pursue her
massage therapy degree. While focusing on refining her manual skills in a
more gentle and healing manner, she hired a massage therapy consultant who
ran a successful business in a neighboring town. She was off and running!
Because of her rapidly
expanding business, Ms Lattanzio opened a home office a few months later, in
May of 2001. Then, last March, after gutting a 3,000 square foot warehouse,
she had a ribbon-cutting ceremony at her newest location in East Setauket.
Of course, she opened her new doors next to a gym—Evolve Fitness. “I find
that my clients enjoy one-stop health, where they can work out, get a
massage, and be treated when an injury occurs. When ready for discharge, I
encourage them to continue exercising and I work closely with the personal
trainers. We offer free injury screening and free ten-minute chair massages,
so many of the gym members are visiting us often.”
Ms. Lattanzio serves many of
the same clients in both her physical and massage therapy businesses, and is
often asked why she doesn’t just open up her own exercise facility, too. She
prefers to have a great referral source nearby where the physical therapist,
massage therapist, and gym can all benefit.
At both locations Ms.
Lattanzio sees patients of all ages with a wide range of injuries and her
daily responsibilities include treating a full orthopedic caseload. The
staff at her Smithtown location primarily treats women who suffer from
pregnancy-related back pain, while in East Setauket, the main caseload
consists of ankle sprains and shoulder impingements. In addition to treating
patients, Ms. Lattanzio is responsible for all of the office insurance
forms, as well as keeping her patients’ physical therapy charts updated.
Although she enjoys owning and
operating her own facilities, Ms. Lattanzio admits that one of the greatest
challenges is keeping abreast of the pile of paperwork on her desk.
Explaining that she still believes physical therapy to be a very gratifying
career, she adds that, “Insurance companies have made it a paper-intensive
job, in which we are constantly trying to keep up with authorization forms
and minute details. The paperwork is both exasperating and endless! In
addition to this, reimbursement is always a concern, which makes it
difficult to manage cash flow and survive in private practice.” She
describes how the Medicare cap creates obstacles because of the way it
limits the number of visits a patient can make to his or her therapist. “It
is problematic in that if patients have an average of thirteen physical
therapy visits, they are often unable to complete their treatment plans.
Even if they begin to pay out-of-pocket, most of these people cannot afford
to continue the care they have been receiving.”
Although she has seen many
aspects of physical therapy change during the time she has been practicing,
Ms. Lattanzio notes that the greatest change that has taken place within the
field involves the patients themselves. “People are living healthier and
more active lifestyles. As a result, they sustain more injuries and
increasingly are becoming candidates for physical therapy. Older people are
more apt to come in for treatment instead of blindly accepting that because
they are aging, they should take medication for their ailments.” She is glad
to see that older people are playing a more active role in their own health
care and are interested in seeking ways to remain active. According to Ms.
Lattanzio, “This not only facilitates the job of the physical therapist and
the process, but it increases the likelihood of a successful outcome for
these patients as well.”
Ms. Lattanzio has no plans of
slowing down in the future. She is anxious to return for her transitional
DPT and is awaiting a women’s health specialty. She may even help to
initiate one! “Women’s health was not introduced when I was a student, and I
am thrilled to see that so many of the new graduates are interested in
joining me in this much needed niche market.
Because she goes to a job she
loves every morning, Ms. Lattanzio advises students and others who may be
considering a career in physical therapy to, “Choose your job with the
intention of helping that company grow and avoid choosing work because it
pays the most; money is very low on the motivational scale. Find great
mentors. Learn something new every day. Get involved in your community. Make
a difference. Be motivated and love what you do!”
Cindi A. Prentiss Lattanzio,
MBA, PT, OCS, Cert. MDT, LMT, received her Bachelor of Science degree in
physical therapy from Boston University in 1987 and her MBA from Dowling
College in 1992. She became an Orthopedic Certified Specialist (OCS) through
the American Physical Therapy Association in 1998 and received her
certification in mechanical diagnosis and treatment (MDT) in 2000 from the
McKenzie Institute. She earner her Associates degree in massage therapy (LMT)
at New York College in 2004. She is a member of numerous professional
organizations, including the American Physical Therapy Association’s
Orthopedic, Women’s Health, and Private Practice sections.
Lattanzio is the proud and
successful owner of Physical Therapy & Beyond, as well as Healing
Hands Massage Therapy, P.C., her two privately-owned businesses in
Smithtown and East Setauket, Long Island, New York.
www.CindiPrentissPT.com
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