BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

Spotlight on….Avi Friedman

BUSINESS NAME AND POSITION: LINK HOME THERAPY, COO

YEARS IN BUSINESS: 2

LOCATION: NY AND NJ

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 100+

How do you assure that virtual sessions are just as effective as in person therapy? By measuring the results. Our team is constantly looking for outcomes. We’re here to help our patients heal and get back to their prior level of function. By assessing a baseline and then consistently monitoring benchmarks like strength, balance, and range of motion, we’re able to assure effective therapy.

How do you modify your treatments when they are done online? We can observe our patients and see how they’re responding to different treatment methods. Each patients treatment can be modified at any time based on patient feedback and the therapists clinical analysis.

How long is a typical session? On average 1 hour.

What do you do if sessions are not being seen as effective? It’s all about communication and setting realistic goals. If we see that a treatment method isn’t working, our team will discuss and consider different methods to help patients succeed in achieving their goals.

How do therapists communicate with patients’ doctors and family members to track progress? Communication is a core value of ours and something we focus on all the time. Aside for being available for patient updates, we send progress reports to our patients referring physician to keep them updated and in the loop.

Do you service only seniors? The majority of our patients are seniors. However, we do treat all ages and especially with COVID-19 we saw a dramatic increase in younger adults in need of therapy at home.

What are the benefits to doing at home therapy? Therapists that come to work with their patients at home are 100% focused on helping them get better. Our sessions are one-on-one and personalized based on each persons individual needs. We can also work on helping patients get better at moving around their own home as opposed to being in a simulated environment. For example, if we’re working on helping improve a patients mobility going up and down stairs, the height of the stairs, where the railing is, and how many steps there are can all be unique. By working at home we’re personalizing our patient care.

Your website claims you use cutting edge technology to achieve set goals. Can you elaborate? Two examples for how we incorporate technology: 1. we offer Remote Patient Monitoring technology which allows a team of physicians and PAs to monitor vital signs with the assistance of a small device roughly the size of an Apple watch. 2. we utilize a cool system that allows patients to play “video games” that incorporate therapy and help make sessions fun while getting stronger.

What are some issues you have dealt with these last couple of months and how were  they resolved? When COVID-19 began, we immediately purchased PPE for all our therapists to keep them and their patients safe. Ensuring that every therapist in the field had all the PPE supplies they needed was a logistical challenge that we dealt with head on. We setup systems, allocated resources, and shipped supplies almost daily for a period of time.

What is the biggest challenge of doing your job? When running a company where the majority of the team works remotely, we’re constantly innovating and thinking about ways to build a culture of excellence and a sense of camaraderie. It is hard to establish a feeling of unity when everyone is not working together in the same environment. It is really important to me to make the therapist feel like part of a team, part of a family. 

What do you like most about your job? I enjoy knowing that our devoted therapists are helping their patients rehab better with one-on-one quality therapy in the comfort of their home, and when a patient calls to share their success story, it really makes my day.