P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F P E A C E H E A LT H - S T. J O H N M E D I C A L C E N T E R
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InMotion patients can count on the collaboration of providers (left to right) Tim Kelly, MD; Robert Arnsdorf, MD; Natalie Squires, MD; Mark Reis, MD; Jonathon Wong, PA-C; Michael Brown, MD; James Nakashima, MD; Kim Christensen, DC; Linda Conaway, PhD; and Kirsten Iverson, DC.
InMotion
Gets You Moving CLINIC GAINS ATTENTION FOR INNOVATIVE COLLABORATIVE TREATMENT
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hen St. John Medical Center opened its new InMotion physical rehabilitation clinic three years ago, something big began to happen. The clinic hit on a new approach to working with patients that is gaining attention across the region. The key word, according to InMotion Manager Julie Suek, is “team.” InMotion’s 13 medical treatment providers consistently collaborate to diagnose and treat patients. Whether the patient is in treatment for physical therapy, physiatry (medical and physical rehabilitation), chiropractic health, pain management, orthopedic surgery, rheumatology (arthritis) or health psychology, the various associates meet and discuss the treatment and brainstorm solutions. This type of intensive teamwork is a revolutionary approach to physical therapy. “In the muscular-skeletal system, all of these areas affect each other,” Suek explains. “Our philosophy is that the patient benefits when we consider all aspects of their well-being. It might be your foot that hurts you, but more than likely, it’s hurting you in more ways than one.” The approach was made possible by new investment in building, personnel and resources at St. John. The building that houses InMotion actually consists of offices that join a common area. A health provider from one discipline can simply walk out of his office and casually confer about a patient with a provider in the next office.
Beginning this year, representatives from all of the clinic’s muscular-skeletal disciplines also will come together for regular meetings to go over patient progress and solicit insight from one another on each case. “This is what smart medicine looks like,” Suek says. “You can’t practice medicine in a vacuum any more. We want to treat the whole person and all of the related issues. And to do that, we’re developing better ways of communicating with each other and learning from each other.” The approach is another improvement made possible by St. John’s expansion of services. InMotion not only is expanding the number of professionals working in orthopedic service–including the addition of a spine specialist; the clinic also has moved into the burgeoning new fields of health psychology and pain treatment. Health psychology stems from the more enlightened view that physical problems, such as joint aches or painful injuries, often have serious psychological echoes. “Chronic pain is depressing,” Suek says. “The frustration of slow recuperation affects your mental outlook. It begins to affect other aspects of your life. And in some cases, there really can’t be full recovery. So you must learn to say goodbye to the way you used to live, and hello to a new way of living. “These cases can get complicated,” she adds. “It’s difficult to know how to solve every aspect of a patient’s case coming at it from only one point of view. That’s why we want to involve an entire team.”
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