Today we’d like to introduce you to Tanner Jones
Hi Tanner, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
The idea behind Hold The Rope Physical Therapy originated at my apartment in physical therapy school, and was born from the frustrations of the current healthcare climate, the disservice insurance companies bring upon patients that pay for their services, and a lack of hope in most patient-situations. Without getting into too many weeds, Hold The Rope Physical Therapy was an idea that the Lord provided my wife and I to pursue in an effort to show patients that they can take hold of their health. Our name comes from one of my favorite movies and a highlight moment of my younger years. The movie, Hacksaw Ridge, has a scene portraying a courageously relentless WWII medic, Desmond Doss, equipped with one large rope, lowering countless maimed soldiers atop the ridge that had been hammered by artillery for hours through the night, quoting “Please Lord, help me get one more.” Moreover, the year I was promoted to the high school varsity football team we got a new coach named Coach Dubois who had us football players gather around a large rope at the beginning of the off-season. Commanding us to “hold the rope,” Coach Dubois would then go to pulling, grabbing, pushing, and anything he could do to pry that rope from our grip. The lesson learned that day was that as a team you keep heart, support each other, and make it through together despite the adversity that lay before you.
That is where we started and now we are seeing patients overcome their greatest health debilitations, and in most cases in about 3-4 sessions. While this will never be a promise, the reason why we are able to operate at this efficiency is that we place an extraordinarily high expectation on our patients to be accountable for performing their home exercise programs and making sure that they are comfortable with their home exercise programs before they leave. This is achieved by having 1-on-1 sessions with each patient that consist of 1 hour and 15 minutes for the initial evaluation and 1 hour for follow up sessions. Our goal is to not give you fish, but to teach you how to fish. Education is of utmost importance and is the path forward to you understanding that you can take hold of your health. One of the main differences between Hold The Rope Physical Therapy and other outpatient clinics is that we are a cash-based physical therapy practice, which means that we do not accept insurance. As this may seem like a huge downfall in the business plan, I assure you it is not. Patients have more skin in the game, so they are more likely to want to get better faster.
Moreover, aside from seeing and treating patients in our Lumberton office, we have also recently become the official physical therapist for Beaumont’s new German satellite soccer team, SVD Beaumont. Hailing originally from the city of Darmstadt, Hesse in Germany, SV Darmstadt 98 is essentially an “MLS” team in Germany also known as the Bundesliga. This has been a joy and a dream to work with athletes chasing their dreams.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
In all transparency, the largest struggle that Hold The Rope Physical Therapy has is that we are cash-based. The hardest question to answer without a swift *click* of the cell phone is “Do you accept my insurance?”
The current stance of general healthcare is to make a patient dependent on the healthcare provider and their services, and from an insurance standpoint, try to make the patient pay as much as possible for those services. Making them be seen more often than needed (because you don’t get 1-1 care) and charging high co-pays. If you do the math of your typical PT “mill” session you’ll multiply the co-pay by however many sessions your plan of care is and that will likely be the end cost you will be paying. The insurance process takes more time and more resources than paying slightly more per session at a PT practice like Hold The Rope for 1-on-1 individual care. I say this in a general sense, not just for Hold The Rope’s sake, but for all the other cash-based PT clinics in your area. It is worth the investment!
Insurance has been one of the largest speed bumps, but the patients who choose to come regardless find themselves healthier, more educated, and prepared for any future potential flare-ups of the same pain.
Moreover, a second challenge that Hold The Rope Physical Therapy faces is limited direct access to physical therapy services in Texas. I must first state that it is beyond a blessing that we do have direct access to PT in Texas, but, again, from the context of the patient, I feel that the current rules on direct access are quite limited. Direct access is granted for the first 10 business days from the start of care for non-board certified PTs and 15 business days for board certified PTs. This is not a beneficial time window for patients coming to a cash-based PT clinic because if the patient was not at the functional level that they want to be at before the 10 days, an order for physical therapy would have to be received from a physician. However, we combat this by having our goal to have the patients educated and ready to go as soon as possible. Knowledge is power!
As you know, we’re big fans of Hold The Rope Physical Therapy. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Hold The Rope Physical Therapy is tailored 1-on-1 physical therapy for people who are not afraid to learn and overcome their aches and pains. Our target niche is low back pain and neck pain, and we specialize in spinal manipulation techniques and dry needling. Spinal manipulation is typically considered what you would experience if you were to go to a chiropractor. There is lots of popping and cracking going on. Dry needling is a very different intervention. It is Western medicine’s version of acupuncture that focuses more on trigger point release rather than treatment based on Qi and its relationship with the body. Dry needling can be as aggressive or calming as need be and usually is accompanied by electrical stimulation to boost the efficacy of the needling mechanism for healing.
The piece that I am most excited about concerning Hold The Rope Physical Therapy is that we aim to hold the patient accountable in any way that will lead to their successful healing. In most situations, especially with patients who seem to have pains generated from a disc injury, I will ask that they bring someone who lives with them so that they can learn to be the “PT” at the patient’s home and aid them with any interventions that would require an extra set of hands. Furthermore, this accountability also comes in the form of personal text message reminders to make sure the home exercise program is going well and check ins to make sure that progress is being made.
At Hold The Rope Physical Therapy, we are not miracle workers. We are folks who understand the body a little bit more than most others, and we facilitate the healing that our bodies naturally do. The Lord designed our bodies well. We just have to take care of them.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. Hold The Rope Physical Therapy is about 18 months old at this point, and it takes consistency over and over again. At first we tried to jump in full force without taking a pay check, but in time, we needed a pay check. We then found we needed a full time job to support us while we allow all the money to stay in the business to let it grow. Let it be a season, it’ll be grueling long hours, but it’s only for a season. Make sure to have all the necessary requirements as if you were already running a full time operation. It takes money in the beginning but if you are running professionally from the get go, you’ll be more successful when the clients come in.
Pricing:
- $140 initial evaluation
- $90 follow up session
Contact Info:
- Website: https://holdtheropept.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holdtheropept/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091119729520
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/@HoldTheRopePT
Image Credits
@burnedoutstudio
@jbugphotos
