October 2018 PULSE

OCTOBER 2018

- COMING UP THIS MONTH Sunday, October 7th at 8:00 am Westbrook clinic at the Aegis Wealth Vineyard Half Marathon & 10k Thursday, October 18th at 10:00 am Joe Allen at West Hartford Elmwood Community Center

EIGHT IS GREAT!

Saturday, October 20th at 4:00 pm Plainville clinic at Plainville Pumpkinfest

PTSMC’s Mission and PT for Life Culture Recognized Again I went to visit my Dad on Sunday and he was all smiles. At 90 he remains an avid reader. Mentally and physically he is in very good health considering the year and the mileage. He greeted me while holding the Hartford Courant insert “Best Places to Work in Connecticut.”

East Hampton and Middletown did not exist yet. As of today, we have 250 full and part-time employees on the PTSMC team. “Yes Dad, a LOT has changed”.

“Do you think you can do it again next year?” he asked. I answered the best I could.

He had the booklet open and was pointing at the number 5 spot in the Top Employers: Small category. “Is that you?” “Dad, I am fortunate to work with people who love what they do. They take great pride in improving the quality of he asked, and there we were, Physical Therapy and people’s lives.” I went on to explain PTSMC’s mission and Sports Medicine Centers. Pretty awesome! what having a “PT for Life” culture means. He listened “Yes Dad, that is PTSMC.” He went on to point out that we intently, occasionally nodding in understanding or approval. were one of only seven companies to receive a Top Workplace honor for the entire eight years that Workplace Dynamics has conducted the survey (he reads everything Many things have changed in eight years, yet the fundamentals have not. cover to cover).

In our conversation I went on to explain the format of the story -- that our people respond anonymously to a series of questions about work life at PTSMC. Sections about mission, culture, benefits, pay, communication and leadership provide opportunities for feedback. Positive and constructive comments are gathered and presented to PTSMC leadership. I explained that over the years, the information has helped us better understand what we do well as a company and areas that need more attention.

He stated, “A lot has changed in eight years...aren’t things different today?” That got me thinking.

In April of 2010, the month the survey is normally generated, PTSMC had 10 locations and 106 employees.

Our locations in Wallingford, Orange, Windsor, Southbury, Branford, New Haven, Newington, Plainville, New Milford,

• Hire great people and help them grow personally and professionally.

• Be “customer-centric” and go above and beyond for those we serve.

• Create relationships rooted in capability and trust.

• Strive to be better tomorrow than we are today.

As I was leaving, he gave me a big hug. “Your mom would be really proud of what you and your people do.” I nodded, “I know she would Dad”.

Thanks everyone for making PTSMC great!

Alan

Congratulations to Mike Antunes on a successful Grand Opening!

Middletown hosted its grand opening on Tuesday, October 18th drawing PTSMC staff, members from the Middletown Chamber of Commerce, the Mayor, local community members, and past and current patients.

Delicious food was served by Silvana’s Catering and a great time was had by all as we celebrated the opening of our 20th clinic.

Congratulations Mike!

CHECK OUT...

POLICY UPDATE

The holiday/personal time policy update effective January 1st in the HR BUZZ!

Your input needed!

A night full of games, prizes, food, and drinks needs an awesome soundtrack to set the mood.

That’s why we’re asking YOU to play DJ! If every clinic submits a playlist of 10 songs by Oct. 10th to Mallory, then we’ll have enough jams to listen to all night!

StriveHub Fab 5

“Best PT I’ve received. I have had a few sessions with other PTs with little relief. PTSMC met all my expectations! I feel better than I have in a long time.”

- East Hampton ”My entire experience has been excellent, from the front desk to the PT helpers, but especially my physical therapist!” - New Haven “Bryan and staff are great. I’m very happy with all the personal services. You can really tell when someone loves their job and cares about the client.”

- New Milford “The staff are intelligent, knowledgeable and kind.

They listen to patients’ needs, work with your body to heal itself and are impressively up to date on current practices.” - Newington “The staff at the Windsor location are all pleasant and very helpful from the moment that I walk in the door until the time I leave. Jason takes excellent care of my therapy. He works extremely hard with me to ensure that each time I leave there is a progression in my mobility. The physical therapy sessions with Jason have gotten me on a faster track to healing than I expected” - Windsor

CLINICIAN’S CORNER

BY COLLEEN MENARD, NEW MILFORD, PT, DPT

RECENT ADVANCES IN THE REHABILITATION OF ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT INJURIES Approximately 200,000 ACL injuries occur annually in the United States, leading to nearly 100,000 ACL reconstruction surgeries. In regards to rehabilitation, surgical procedures are a main aspect of successful outcomes. However, a well-designed rehabilitation program is a vital and key component to return to prior level of function. Current rehabilitation programs are now focused around a more aggressive approach than previously used. Programs have more emphasis on achieving full knee extension, immediate motion, immediate partial weight bearing status and functional exercises. Previous studies have reported improved clinical outcomes following an accelerated approach, showing better strength and range of motion with fewer complications and fewer patellofemoral complaints resulting in earlier return to sport.

The rehabilitation process should be started before surgery when possible. With a goal of reducing swelling, inflammation and pain, and emphasis on restoring normal range of motion, normalizing gait and preventing muscle atrophy. It has been shown that those who participated in preoperative rehabilitation programs progressed more easily throughout post-operative programs, particularly with regaining initial range.

Key principles of ACL rehabilitation to ensure satisfactory outcomes include regaining full passive knee extension, restoring patellar mobility, restoring post-operative inflammation, regaining range of motion, re-establishing voluntary quadriceps control, restoring neuromuscular control and progressing to sport specific training.

The most common complication and cause of less favorable outcomes following ACL reconstruction is due to loss of motion, particularly loss of terminal knee extension.

Low-load long duration stretching for 15 minute sessions 4 times a day, or a total of 60 minutes a day, has been proven to be beneficial in regaining range. Focusing on restoring patellar mobility is essential, as a loss can lead to range of motion deficits and impaired quadriceps contraction. It is also thought that pain may play a role in inhibition of muscle activity. A recent study examined quadriceps activity in acutely swollen and painful knees by using local anesthesia. The control group had significant post-operative pain and quadriceps inhibition (30-76%), while the treatment group had minimal pain and mild quadriceps inhibition (5-31%). Another study

focused on the effect of joint effusion on muscle activation. The threshold for inhibition of vastus medialis was found to be 20-30ml, and 50-60mL for rectus femoris and vastus lateralis inhibition. Recent studies have shown that using neuromuscular electrical stimulation in addition to exercises is most beneficial in re-establishing voluntary quadriceps control, compared to exercise alone.

Early on in the rehabilitation program it is also essential to restore neuromuscular control with proprioceptive training. In addition to exercise, the use of elastic bandage after surgery has a positive impact on proprioceptive and joint position sense. When addressing strengthening exercises, patients performing predominantly CKC weight bearing exercises tend to have less knee pain, more stability and more satisfaction with end results, with quicker return to sport. Initially, performing squat training in approximately 25-30 degrees allows for the greatest amount of hamstring and quadriceps cocontraction. Studies have also been done to examine the efficacy of perturbation training and there have been more satisfactory outcomes and lower frequency of subsequent “giving-way” episodes. The final step in the rehabilitation program involves restoration of function throughout sport specific training for athletes. Gradual return to athletic competition occurs around 6 months after patient demonstrates at least 85% contralateral strength in quadriceps and hamstrings. Final goal is to restore full, unrestricted function and assist patient to return to 100% of preinjury level while achieving excellent long-term outcomes.

Kevin E. Wilk, Leonard Macrina, . Recent advances in the rehabilitation of anterior cruciate ligament injuries. Journal of Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy . 2012;42:153-171.

FIRE Policies and Procedures Student Program Update

Coming this fall: a video to be viewed by all employees regarding Fire policies

and procedures. This is being created to ensure that all employees understand how to respond in case of a fire and that all staff and employees remain safe during an emergency situation. Employees should expect to view this video at staff meetings in November.

On September 5th, Michael Ronando STUDENT PROGRAM UPDATE

Once the training video has been sent out, each clinic will receive a poster with necessary information in case of an emergency requiring evacuation of the building. It will be important to appoint one person in your clinic as your location Fire Marshal. Begin to think about who would be a good person to be knowledgeable about all things fire and remain calm and collected to direct people in case of an emergency.

Specific details coming next month from Emily Hansen!

DEDICATION RESPONSIBILITY EDUCATION ATTITUDE MOTIVATION

Upcoming Courses Email coned@ptsmc to RSVP

October 27th & 28th December 11th Email coned@ptsmc.com to register Sat. 8:30 - 4:30, Sun. 8:00 - 3:30 4:00 - 8:00 Mulligan UE Exam and Treatment of the Cervical Spine Presented by Russ Woodman in Presented by Steve Platt and Mike Gans Wallingford in Guilford Waiting list only!

presented on Chronic Shoulder Pain Management at the Southington clinic. He concluded his affiliation, working with Ali Filer, at the end of the month.

Paige Allen finishes her affiliation with Avon this month. Her program requires she complete a research project calculating the cost for a single patient’s episode of care, from a self-selected insurance company at the PTSMC reimbursement rate.

Part Time 20 (PT 20) 28 hours (24 continue to be used for holiday only and 4 personal time)

Updated Holiday Time Off Policy Effective January 1, 2019 the Holiday and Personal Time Off policy will be updated as follows.

The policy will be renamed the Holiday Time Off Policy.

The accrual will remain the same for all employment categories however the total hours will include personal time hours. The reason for this change is that it just makes sense to streamline the total hours that are tracked on the calendar year schedule.

The updated holiday time off accrual schedule is listed as follows: Full Time (FT): 56 hours (48 continue to be used for holiday only and 8 personal time) Part Time 30 (PT 30) 42 hours (36 continue to be used for holiday only and 6 personal time)

Holiday time will continue to only be used on the actual holiday. The additional personal time hours must be used during the calendar year - January – December.

Effective January 1, 2019 you will find the total accruals under “Holiday” in Time and Attendance.

Vacation Time Balances

“How much vacation time do I have left to use before I lose it?” - This is a very common question asked by employees.

The answer is: • Click on your Time Off icon in Time and Attendance • Add your balance and remaining accrual (green arrows) • This total is the vacation hours you must use the day before your reset date or you will lose it (red arrow)

CURRENT JOB OPPORTUNITIES AT PTSMC Physical Therapist Avon Southbury Southington Westbrook

Patient Services Coordinator New Haven

Director of Payer Relations Admin

Patient Benefits Coordinator Admin

Athletic Trainer Admin

Physical Therapy Aide Branford Groton New London Southington Wallingford Westbrook

Check PTSMC.com for our most up to date postings and feel free to share! We’re always interested in connecting with referrals of colleagues and friends.

Get in the Spirit

It’s Time to Fall into Autumn Pumpkin decorating Contest

It’s almost that time! Does your clinic have what it takes to decorate the BEST pumpkin in the company? Each clinic will create their own pumpkin and then we’ll post them all on social media. Whichever post gets the most likes will win a prize.

Westbrook won last year with their Olaf pumpkin!

By Jim Hungerford, CPA A beginner’s guide to financial terms you often hear...

APR: an Annual Percentage Rate is the rate that determines the cost of a loan, mortgage or credit card debt, including fees and interest. At some point in our lives we become borrowers, and the lower the APR the less interest you will pay over the life of the loan.

Bear/Bull Market: these terms describe general stock market conditions. A bear market occurs when there has been a downturn of 20% or more over the past year in major indexes that track the market, such as the S & P 500 or Dow Jones Industrial Average. A bull market is the opposite, and reflects investor optimism, where markets have risen by at least 20% over the past year. Watching these can tell you if you are about to buy a stock or mutual fund in a “high” or “low” market.

CPI: Consumer Price Index is a monthly measure of over 80,000 domestic prices for basic household goods, indicating whether there is inflation (rising prices) or deflation (declining prices).

Watching this item will help you know how far your paycheck can take you.

Credit Score: since most of you are likely borrowers at some point through a mortgage, car loan, student loans, etc., it is important to know how the three major credit bureaus are scoring your credit history. Your credit score directly affects your access to funds and what rate you pay. A free annual credit report can be obtained from annualcreditreport.com. A clean credit report will enable you to access the best rates on car loans, mortgages, etc.

Roth IRA: an individual retirement account wherein the contributions are not tax deductible (they are made post tax), but all earnings in the account are tax free upon withdrawal (along with your contributions). Younger people should consider a Roth IRA or Roth 401 (k) (which PTSMC has) as part of their retirement strategy, especially since most experts think tax rates will never be lower than they are now because of looming federal deficits. A Roth will allow you to withdrawal your retirement money tax free when rates could potentially be higher.

401(K): Speaking of retirement, everyone should be taking advantage of the 401(k) that PTSMC offers. You should save the maximum amount you can now, as a little bit of income reduction pain now (less net pay) is worth the later gains of tax deferred growth at retirement.

We are hosting our annual PTSMC food drive again this year from mid-November through mid-December.

What can you come up with?

Mallory will be checking in to see if each clinic need bins and where you will be donating in your communities.

Pumpkins will be delivered the week of October 22nd!

We hope both employees and patients will donate, and whichever clinic donates the most will win a pizza party!

Look how much Avon collected last year!

Net Income/Worth: You should know your net worth. For a household, net income is your income minus the income tax and other deductions from your paycheck. Net worth is your assets (what you own, i.e., value of your house) minus your debts (what you owe, i.e., loans, credit cards). Net worth is important to manage. Net income, or your take home pay, can mean little if it is immediately consumed by big debts - you should always try to live within your means.

Prime Rate: Prime rate, or prime lending rate, is the rate at which banks will lend money to their most-favored customers, usually those with a strong credit report. The prime rate will move up or down in with changes by the Federal Reserve Board.

Life Beat

NEW EMPLOYEES

Welcome to PTSMC. We’re so happy to have you!

PUMPKIN NO BAKE ENERGY BITES

Delicious and healthy energy bites celebrating the mighty pumpkin!

Holly Bertschmann

Madelynn Burgess

New London PT Aide New London PT Aide

Danielle Butsch

Cassidy Caputo

Practice Liaison

Wallingford PT Aide

Total Time: 10 mins Prep Time: 10 mins Yield: About 25 1-inch balls INGREDIENTS: • 8 oz. (about 1 packed cup) chopped dates • 1/4 cup honey • 1/4 cup pumpkin puree • 1 Tbsp. chia seeds or flax seeds • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon • 1/2 tsp. ground ginger • 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg • pinch of salt • 1 cup old-fashioned oats (dry, not cooked) • 1 cup toasted coconut flakes • 1 cup toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) DIRECTIONS: Combine the dates, honey, pumpkin puree, chia (or flax) seeds, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt in a food processor, and pulse until smooth and combined.

Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, and stir in the oats, coconut flakes and pepitas until evenly combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Hannah Fields

Zachary Currie

Middletown PT Aide

Guilford PT

Yair Lazar

Jason Lombardo

Westbrook ATC

Southington PT Aide

Sierra Gelsomini

Allyson Hemstock

Wallingford PT Aide

New Haven PT Aide

Mallory Mason

Bailey McPherson

Administrative Coordinator

Guilford/Wallingford

Once the mixture is cool (and easier to work with), use a spoon or cookie scoop to shape it into your desired size of energy balls.

Alternately, you can line a small baking pan with parchment paper, and press the mixture evenly into the pan, let it cool, and then cut into bars.

Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks (storing them in the refrigerator especially helps the energy bites hold their shape).

Andrew Mead

Guilford PT Aide

Cassidy Murphy

Branford PT Aide

Jason Peter

Newington PT Aide

Tip: If you feel like adding a little extra sweetness, these would also be great with some cinnamon or white chocolate chips tossed in.

Dan Spaargaren

New London PT Aide

Janet Tarasuk, MS Practice Liaison

PTSMC Happenings

New Haven and Orange attended the Faxon Law New Haven Road Race and stretched runners out.

Rebecca Petrosino, Joe Caligiuri, and Kristin Gilbey helped out as the stretcher crew at the US Men’s National Soccer Team’s game against Brazil at MetLife Stadium.

Groton took a staff outing to Block Island to soak up the last bit of summer!

Social Media Sensation!

EVERYONE!

We hope you enjoyed the PT for Life delivery of peaches and pears.

Thank you to everyone for sharing pictures of the deliveries!

New Haven enjoyed classic New Haven pizza and then met up with Branford for happy hour.

PTSMC Spotlight Congratulations on your progess Dylan!

OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS

ANNIVERSARIES

Marylouise King Nicole Wilson-Reyes Meaghan Battige Sandra Balavender Becky Passante Katie Urycki Miranda Jasienowski Jonna Tomasello Cindi Theriault Fred Havlicek Susanne Mantz Stephanie Santos Gabe May Noah Rattet Logan Edwards Lori Dietz Meghan Blanusa Caty Halpin

Amy Fichman Ted Fifield Marianna Nasiakos Kaitlyn Pearson Daniel Rosati

2 3 3 4 5 5 9 9 12 13 13 14 18 21 23 26 28 29

Groton Branford Windsor Admin Guilford Westbrook Groton Westbrook Southington New Haven Watertown Middletown Wallingford Guilford Windsor Naugatuck Guilford Westbrook

Newington Watertown Middletown Windsor Orange

PSC PT PT Aide PSC PT Aide

Congratulations!

Ryan Balavender got engaged to Meghan McFee on August 18th on Block Island.

Congrats to Lindsey Scianna!

Holden Jude 5 lb 10 oz 18.5 inches Born September 14th

Congratulations to Chelsea Cordova!

She has been promoted to Patient Services Administrator in our Guilford location.

Chelsea joined PTSMC this past May as a Patient Services Coordinator. Prior to joining Guilford, Chelsea was a Fitness Manager, responsible for financial performance of departments, hiring and training of employees, supervision of 15+ employees and for developing and maintaining a high performing team. A recent graduate from Southern Connecticut State University, Chelsea wanted to be in a healthcare environment. Her administrative and management experiences are a great match for the PSA role at PTSMC. She hails from East Haven and loves to spend time her free time with her family.

In Chelsea’s words, “I am very excited to be starting my new role and absolutely love the PTSMC culture. I can't wait to see where this journey takes me! “