Ouch, I Have a Charley Horse!
By Chris Leahy, PA-C Orthopedic and Reconstructive Surgery Chances are, you’ve had a sudden muscle cramp, often referred to as a...
In our Orthopedic Integrated Practice Unit (IPU), we bring together a team of Reliant clinicians from multiple departments to collaborate on your care. So, on your first visit, you may meet with clinicians from Orthopedics, Physical Therapy, Nutrition and Behavioral Health. This initial assessment visit is designed to be convenient because it’s a single appointment and all the clinicians come to you. This means you don’t have to deal with visiting multiple offices and can enjoy less time traveling to appointments. This program also helps to ensure that Reliant specialists work as a cohesive team to help improve your symptoms and quality of life.
Watch this video to learn more about the Orthopedic IPU Program:
Before your appointment
Before your appointment, we will send you a short survey to complete ahead of time. It is important to complete it before your appointment, as it helps our team know which clinicians and treatments are best suited to meet your specific needs. Your care team will meet and develop a unique care plan based on your symptoms and survey answers.
Day of your appointment
On the day of your initial appointment, you’ll arrive to our office on the 6th floor of Worcester Medical Center. Once checked in, you will be taken to an exam room which will be your space for the duration of your entire appointment. This visit won’t be a typical medical visit because you’ll be seeing more than one provider and the visit may last longer than usual, sometimes up to 90 minutes. Since each visit with a specialist is treated separately by your insurance company, you may have multiple copays on the day of your visit.
Your visit will begin with an Orthopedic Advanced Practitioner examining you. You may then be visited by an Orthopedic Surgeon, Physical Therapist, Nutritionist, and/or Behavioral Medicine specialist, depending on your specific needs. There may be some educational materials specific to your condition for you to review between visits with the team members.
At the end of your visit you will be given a plan of care to address your condition, and we will let you know if any further visits are needed. We’re confident that you will find this way of receiving care more rewarding as you move forward to recovery.
