A new Move Forward Radio podcast features a PT who relies on telehealth to meet the needs of veterans in rural areas.

As a lead telehealth physical therapist for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Christi Crawford, PT, DPT, works hard to meet the physical therapy needs of veterans who live in rural areas. The VA offers a growing number of video-to-home personalized care and other remote services to reduce the need for patients to travel long distances for in-office care.

Crawford's perspectives are timely. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, interest in telehealth services is changing the way patients see their health care providers.

Now available through ChoosePT.com's Move Forward Radio podcast: an interview with Crawford on the many benefits and opportunities telehealth offers for patients, caregivers, and providers; what types of services work well through remote visits; and how to determine whether a patient or client is a good candidate for telehealth services.

For patients in rural areas, "the increased access to someone that specializes in the area they need is so crucial," says Crawford. "Telehealth can get people back to what they need to do to stay healthy and functional."

Noting the obstacles to care that the current pandemic presents and APTA's advocacy efforts for current legislation being considered by Congress, Crawford sees "change coming quickly. It's so important that telehealth for physical therapy becomes a reimbursable service. It's going to take our community of PTs and patients to use their voices" to ensure that it does.

Move Forward Radio is hosted at ChoosePT.com, APTA's official consumer information website, and can be streamed online or downloaded as a podcast via the Apple Podcast app, Google Play, or Spotify. Other recent additions to the Move Forward Radio podcast library include: