COVID-19 Policies & Procedures

COVID-19 Policies & Procedures

At CIMT, our top priority is the health and well-being of our clients and staff.  After extensive and thorough review of CDC, NIH and APTA (American Physical Therapy Association) guidelines, as well as Governor Hogan’s executive orders, we have decided to resume in-person physical therapy treatments, for low risk, acute, and post operative clients, starting on May 18, 2020. In order to keep both clients and therapists as safe as possible, we have made the following changes to our policies & procedures.

• Before every treatment, our clients must fill out our screening questionnaire, which will determine if they are appropriate for in-person treatment

• Clients can only come in for in-person treatments if they have responded “NO” to the following questions on our screening questionnaire…
  • Experiencing any of the following symptoms…
    • Fever
    • Cough
    • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
    • Sneezing
    • Sore throat
    • Runny nose or postnasal drip
    • Recent onset of diarrhea
    • Recent loss of taste or smell
  • Coming in contact with an individual who has a confirmed case of COVID-19 for the past 14 days

• If you have tested positive for COVID-19, you must meet the following criteria before coming in for treatment…
  • You must self-quarantine for 14 days, from the day of your positive test.
  • After the 14-day quarantine, you must have two consecutive negative tests, greater than 24 hours apart, and not had a fever for 72 hours, without fever reducing medications.
    • A fever is considered anything 99 degrees or higher

• If you have been exposed to COVID-19, you must meet the following criteria before coming in for treatment
  • You must be tested for COVID-19. If the test is positive, follow the procedures above.
  • If the test is negative, you must self-quarantine for 14 days before coming in for treatment

• If an individual falls within a high risk category (65 years of age or older, immunocompromised, medical co-morbidities, pregnant) he/she needs to cleared by a physician to resume in-person treatments

• We ask that you come alone for your physical therapy appointment. If you need a family member to escort you for safety reasons, please contact your therapist ahead of time. The therapist will come out to the car to help the individual inside the clinic. We ask that the accompanying family member wait in the car or outside the clinic.

• Parents that are accompanying a minor will be asked to be inside the treatment room during the session, or wait outside of the clinic in your car.

• In order to minimize traffic in the waiting room, please wait in your car until your therapist calls you and lets you know it’s okay to come into the clinic.

• In order to maintain proper social distancing guidelines, all the chairs in the waiting room have been placed at least six feet apart

• Please do not bring any of the following into the clinic: laptops, briefcases, backpacks, magazines/newspapers, food/drink or anything else from the outside that can transmit COVID-19

• Clients are expected to do the following…
  • Take their temperature the morning of their appointment
  • Take their shoes off upon entering the clinic
  • Wear a mask while they are in the clinic
    • No bandana masks - surgical or cloth masks only
  • Wash their hands for 20 seconds OR use hand sanitizer upon arriving at the clinic

• All therapists will do the following…
  • Take their own temperature every morning before coming to work
  • Take the client’s temperature with a non-contact thermometer at the start of each session
  • Wear a surgical mask during treatment
  • Wash their hands for 20 seconds prior to the start of each treatment
  • Practice social distancing and avoid public/mass transportation in their private life

• In the abundance of caution, we will be limiting the manual portion of our therapy sessions to 30 minutes. The remaining time will focus on neurological re-education and postural/movement training

• To maintain a safe and healthy working environment for both client & therapist, we will be taking 30-minute breaks between clients, in order to properly clean and sanitize the entire treatment room and any equipment that has been used during the treatment.

• For those clients that would prefer to be treated outside, we are offering an outside treatment option, using a portable treatment table, and when possible, a canopy.  Please let us know if you are interested in this option, which we will offer weather permitting.  If you arrive for your appointment, and weather conditions are not appropriate for an outdoor session, you will have the option of being treated inside, or re-scheduling an outdoor appointment.  You will not be charged for a missed outdoor appointment due to inclement weather.

• For those individuals who do not feel comfortable returning to our clinics, we will be continuing our TeleHealth services. These sessions have been extremely effective for progressing exercise programs, postural/movement training, and teaching self-release techniques to help reduce pain and maximize your well-being.

We are doing everything that we can, based on current scientific information regarding COVID-19, to reduce risk of transmission during physical therapy in person sessions.  It is imperative that we all do our part to keep each other as safe as possible, when we interact with others, during physical therapy, and in our personal lives.

Although we are doing everything that we can to reduce risk, there is a low risk of exposure to COVID-19 during in person physical therapy treatment.  It is the responsibility of each client, in consultation with their physician, to determine what is best for them now, and going forward.   We will continue to monitor information regarding COVID-19, and adjust accordingly.  We know that we will continue to get through this pandemic together.

Stay healthy and safe,

The CIMT Staff