Compiled by Frank Long, Editorial Director

Managing pain through non-invasive and non-addicting means is gathering traction as a method of confronting the dangers associated with pharmacological pain interventions. Physical Therapy Products gathered insights from manufacturers nationwide to learn what choices physical therapists currently have to manage pain, and what awaits in the development pipeline. In this exclusive Q&A, manufacturers offer key tips about features, functions, and billing that can help PT clinics get the best performance and returns from their technologies.

ActiveWrap
Hot and cold therapy
www.activewrap.com

PTP: What are some of your latest product developments?
ActiveWrap: The ActiveWrap hip wrap is the newest in our line of cold therapy products. It can be highly effective for postop hip surgery and aging baby boomers looking for a no-mess, easy-to-apply solution at home.

PTP: What conditions or patient populations are best for your products?
ActiveWrap: ActiveWrap ice wraps are best suited for injury care and prevention before or after activity or rehab. Physical therapy clinics can benefit from using ActiveWrap as well as making them available to purchase for patients with direct-from-manufacturer pricing. ActiveWrap is not sold in stores.

PTP: Can you provide any tips to therapists about how to use your products?
ActiveWrap: ActiveWrap was designed in the physical therapy clinic. The modular injury specific design of all our wraps give the clinician full reign to customize the exact ice and compression treatment to each patient’s needs and body type. Ice is often the last modality used with a patient. Patients often tend to want to purchase the wraps and wear them home. They are completely mobile without the mess.

PTP: Are billing codes available for treatments your products provide?
ActiveWrap: No billing codes at this time. However, ActiveWrap is an affordable cash/carry modality for patients looking to enhance their rehab experience.

 

Flexall by Ari-Med Pharmaceuticals
Topicals
www.ari-med.com

PTP: What are some of your latest product developments?
Ari-Med Pharmaceuticals: Flexall Pain Relieving Gels continue to be effective, patient-friendly solutions to painful muscles and joints. These mentholated aloe vera gels with vitamin E are just as beneficial in rehab and pain management as sports medicine, where they continue to be used in the care of athletes worldwide.

PTP: What conditions or patient populations are best for your products?
Ari-Med Pharmaceuticals: Flexall Pain Relieving Gels are best for providing penetrating relief from painful muscles and joints. They are appropriate for treating athletes as well as seniors.

PTP: Can you provide any tips to therapists about how to use your products?
Ari-Med Pharmaceuticals: Use as a supplement with ultrasound therapy. Mix into a 25:75 blend of Flexall and a neutral coupling gel. The patient receives all the benefits of ultrasound while likewise experiencing the benefits of adding Flexall gel. Flexall gels are also valuable additions to other therapy protocols.

 

Battle Creek Equipment
Heat and cold packs
www.battlecreekequipment.com

PTP: What are some of your latest product developments?
Battle Creek Equipment: Our newest product is a line of Pain Relief Kits for people suffering from chronic muscle or joint pain. These kits combine Ice It! cold therapy wraps with Good2Go microwaveable moist heat wraps. Each kit targets a specific joint, including products for knees, backs, necks, shoulders, and a general use version. Therapists can recommend these for patients to continue treatments at home.

PTP: What conditions or patient populations are best for your products?
Battle Creek Equipment: Currently, we focus on the management of chronic and acute pain via hot & cold therapy. Our products are used in rehab clinics, postsurgical environments, in private therapy clinics, and at home. Home use has become increasingly important as therapists look to their patients to continue making progress outside of therapy sessions.

PTP: Can you provide any tips to therapists about how to use your products?
Battle Creek Equipment: We believe that combining simplicity of use/design with effectiveness in terms of therapeutic benefit is critical to successful outcomes. We design our products to be easy to use by both therapists in their practice and consumers at home. This way if the therapists determine that it is appropriate for the patient to use a product at home, they can recommend it, dispense it, or even offer it for purchase.

PTP: Are billing codes available for treatments your products provide?
Battle Creek Equipment: Many of our electric moist heating pads under the Thermophore brand and Custom-Touch brand are covered under E0215.

 

Accelerated Care Plus
Therapeutic modalities
www.acplus.com

PTP: What are some of your latest product developments?
Accelerated Care Plus: OmniVersa, electro- and ultrasound therapy system with wide range of protocols/applications. The technology is organized by clinical indications including treatment programs to address different pain conditions.

PTP: What conditions or patient populations are best for your products?
Accelerated Care Plus: All rehab patients with acute, subacute, and chronic pain conditions who present with no contraindications (pacemaker, active infection, active cancer). Conditions such as degenerative joint disease, knee osteoarthritis, low back pain, and post-surgical pain.

PTP: Can you provide any tips to therapists about how to use your products?
Accelerated Care Plus: The technology is made to be user-friendly with on-screen, step-by-step instructions based on condition treated. The OmniVersa also displays common electrode placement and setups to guide treating clinicians.

PTP: Are billing codes available for treatments your products provide?
Accelerated Care Plus: G0283 or 97032, based on treatment goals and required level of clinician’s supervision/attendance.

 

CranioCradle
Muscle therapy
www.craniocradle.com

PTP: What are some of your latest product developments?
CranioCradle: We are in the final stages of development for two new therapy tools. One is the BodyCradle, and the other is (working title)
NibsCradle.

PTP: What conditions or patient populations are best for your products?
CranioCradle: The CranioCradle works best to ease tight, tense muscles related to whiplash, migraines, headaches, TMJ, and several back and sacral issues.

PTP: Can you provide any tips to therapists about how to use your products?
CranioCradle: Try the CranioCradle as an extra set of therapy hands during your treatment sessions. The CranioCradle can gently soften tissue, elevate and isolate areas where you want to treat, keeping the weight of the body off your hands for easier access and specific treatment.

PTP: Are billing codes available for treatments your products provide?
CranioCradle: For some professionals, yes.

 

Dynatronics
Ultrasound, Electrotherapy, TriWave, Light Therapy, and ThermoStim
www.dynatronics.com

PTP: What are some of your latest product developments?
Dynatronics: The Treo—Active Tilt and Load Table was designed to increase patient and therapist safety while allowing the low-functioning patient to progress toward weight bearing and ambulation. Treo also functions as a full tilt table or a simple treatment table.

PTP: What conditions or patient populations are best for your products?
Dynatronics: The ThermoStim Probe, an optional accessory to the Solaris Plus, is a soft-tissue mobilization tool that also allows a practitioner to deliver heat or cold therapy in combination with electrical stimulation—all at the same time—significantly reducing the time typically required to administer three separate treatments.

PTP: What tips can you offer for using your products?
Dynatronics: We have several aids that we provide clinicians when they purchase our products, including quick start guides, detailed treatment manuals, and online videos showing treatment techniques.

PTP: Are billing codes available for treatments your products provide?
Dynatronics: Yes, billing codes are available.

 

LiteCure LLC
Therapy lasers
www.litecure.com

PTP: What are some of your latest product developments?
LiteCure LLC: Influence Technology is the newest innovation, which harnesses software and hardware advancements. The cornerstones of Influence Technology are that it enbles users to take into account patient-specific considerations to tailor optimal treatments. It also allows users to deliver the same effective treatment every time, and enables contact treatment delivery.

PTP: What conditions or patient populations are best for your products?
LiteCure LLC: Photobiomodulation (PBM) Therapy, often referred to as laser therapy, is an effective tool for dealing with pain and inflammation in most tissues. Laser therapy can help to relieve pain immediately after treatment and can impact a variety of mechanisms that participate in both chronic and acute pain in both central and peripheral nervous systems. Optimizing treatments with contact delivery, a key component of Influence Technology, supports treatment for a wider variety of clinical conditions.

PTP: Can you provide any tips to therapists about how to use your products?
LiteCure LLC: LightForce Therapy Lasers feature contact-delivery that can facilitate more effective treatments by minimizing reflection, and reducing superficial absorbers to reach deep target tissue. Another innovation, Perfect Protocol, can help therapists determine the most accurate dose for any condition. Enter the treatment area size, desired power and energy density, patient’s skin color, and Perfect Protocol does the math.

PTP: Are billing codes available for treatments your products provide?
LiteCure LLC: In 2016 a HCPCS II code (S8948) was developed which is a specific timed code that can be used to bill for low-level laser therapy (LLLT). Check with individual insurance carriers to determine whether a fee schedule is in place for this code. Medicare does not recognize the S8948 code. For carriers that do not recognize HCPCS II codes, the appropriate ICD-10-CM Code for LLLT is 97039, “Unlisted Modality.”

 

Pivotal Health Solutions
Cold lasers, Soft tissue tools, Vibration therapy
www.pivotalhealthsolutions.com

PTP: What are some of your latest product developments?
Pivotal Health Solutions: Pivotal Health Solutions’ Apollo Laser efficiently harnesses advance Class IV laser technology. Now offering a 5,000Mw probe, the medical grade Class 4 laser aims to be the perfect marriage of power and wavelength for pain management treatments.

PTP: What conditions or patient populations are best for your products?
Pivotal Health Solutions: The Apollo Laser and its 5,000mW probe work well in any setting. The desktop laser system is ideal for any office or clinic setting, allowing clinicians to work on two patients at a time. The portable laser system can move from room to room or out in the field. Apollo laser therapy is low-level laser technology that safely penetrates 1 to 2 inches below the skin to effectively stimulate regeneration of damaged cells and tissues, bringing more rapid healing and reducing pain.

PTP: Can you provide any tips to therapists about how to use your products?
Pivotal Health Solutions: Every Apollo Laser System includes 90 days of free support. Each laser system also has a built-in safety and fault detection software and a built-in power test to assess probe output.

PTP: Are billing codes available for treatments your products provide?
Pivotal Health Solutions: 97039, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation is recommend for billing for low-level laser therapy. Specify a 10- or 15-minute treatment, and provide the explanatory notation of “FDA cleared laser therapy.” 97139, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation is also a good code to use; however, note that this code specifies a “procedure,” whereas 97039 specifies a “modality,” which is a better descriptor. When using this code, make sure to provide the explanatory notation of “FDA cleared laser therapy” and a one-page description of the therapy. 97026, Infrared Modality: This code describes laser therapy well. However, many insurance companies consider this code appropriate for infrared heat lamps. Reimbursement is low, but it is a legitimate code. 97140, Manual Therapy Techniques: Use this code if using laser therapy for massage. In this case, you must be using a laser fitted with a head designed to be a massage tool.

 

Mettler Electronics
E-stim; Hot/cold therapy; Diathermy; Topicals; Ultrasound
www.mettlerelectronics.com

PTP: What are some of your latest product developments?
Mettler Electronics: Mettler recently introduced the Auto*Wave 695 for radial pressure pulse therapy. It produces bursts of compressed air to move a projectile to the transmitter which transfers ballistic energy into deep tissues.

PTP: What conditions or patient populations are best for your products?
Mettler Electronics: The Auto*Wave 695 helps to relieve pain and increase local circulation for orthopedic injuries that affect tendons and ligaments.

PTP: Can you provide any tips to therapists about how to use your products?
Mettler Electronics: This is a relatively new therapy that helps resolve both acute and chronic conditions, often showing results in the first few treatments. Patients appreciate the deep massaging action that radial pressure pulse therapy provides.

PTP: Are billing codes available for treatments your products provide?
Mettler Electronics: Bill under the manual therapy code.

 

Sore No More
Topicals
www.sorenomore.com

PTP: What are some of your latest product developments?
Sore No More: The Sore No More product has been patented for the treatment of the following physical issues: fibromyalgia, neuropathy, and cluster headaches. We are looking to schedule clinical trials to develop a protocol for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

PTP: What conditions or patient populations are best for your products?
Sore No More: No open sores, parental supervision, and do not get into eyes.

PTP: Can you provide any tips to therapists about how to use your products?
Sore No More: Two procedures tend to offer the best results: 1) begin with low volume applications, about the size of a pea, and then work up to more coverage, 2) apply no more than three times a day. For stress, or tired clients: place a large tablespoon of Sore No More in a jar with hot water, place on a lid and shake to mix thoroughly. Then pour into a hot bath, (a jetted tub is best) and relax with maximum body coverage. Do not use a hot tub or spa tub which has reusable water.

PTP: Are billing codes available for treatments your products provide?
Sore No More: We are willing to assist any therapist seeking unique solutions for their client.

 

Southwest Technologies Inc
Hot & cold therapy
www.elastogel.com

PTP: What are some of your latest product developments?
Southwest Technologies Inc: With more than 35 years of manufacturing, Southwest Technologies has developed its hot/cold therapy product line-Elasto-Gel, consisting of more than 40 different shapes and sizes to best accommodate each person’s needs.

PTP: What conditions or patient populations are best for your products?
Southwest Technologies Inc: Whether an injury from sports or other activity or a muscle degenerative disease, doing rehabilitation, having stress or sore muscles and other body aches, regardless of age or therapy needed, hot or cold therapy may be the answer to help aid with inflammation and swelling, thus reducing the pain and offering the body a sense of relief. Elasto-Gel therapy products are universal and can be used for moist therapy heat or soothing cold therapies.

PTP: Can you provide any tips to therapists about how to use your products?
Southwest Technologies Inc: Elasto-Gel therapy products are easy to apply as the soft gel component will remain soft and flexible, even at -20 degrees when used for cold applications.The products will not dry out or leak if punctured, or become hard or change form, and are re-usable after unlimited uses of hot therapy. The products have the ability to conform to all contoured areas and move with the patient, and are comfortable to wear.

PTP: Are billing codes available for treatments your products provide?
Southwest Technologies Inc: Some therapists can include hot/cold therapy as part of the treatment plan and may be able to bill for service as well as product.