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Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of SWFL
Good Neighbor Podcast Estero
EP# 190 - Dr. Jake Berman's Journey to Patient-Focused Physical Therapy
Ever wondered why treating the cause of your pain is more effective than just managing the symptoms? Discover the answer as we sit down with Dr. Jake Berman of Berman Physical Therapy. In this enlightening episode, Dr. Berman shares how he transitioned from a potential career in construction to becoming a passionate physical therapist. He walks us through his holistic approach to pain treatment, emphasizing the importance of addressing root causes. We also tackle the shortcomings of the current healthcare system, driven largely by profit motives of insurance and pharmaceutical companies, and how these impact patient care. Dr. Berman clarifies common misconceptions about physical therapy and highlights the differences between insurance-based and out-of-network clinics, advocating for individualized, patient-focused treatment plans.
Drawing an insightful parallel between health insurance and car insurance, we explore how both are designed to cover major issues rather than routine maintenance. Dr. Berman addresses widespread misunderstandings about knee pain and knee replacements, revealing that many cases attributed to arthritis don't actually require surgery. He underscores the significance of consulting the right specialists, like physical therapists, to avoid unnecessary procedures. Beyond healthcare, Dr. Berman shares his love for boating in Southwest Florida and emphasizes the importance of questioning medical advice to ensure it aligns with your health goals. For additional insights and guidance, make sure to visit BermanPT.com.
Berman Physical Theraphy
Dr Jake Berman
501 Goodlette Road North, Building C Unit 100
Naples, FL 34102
239-431-0232
drberman@bermanpt.com
WEBSITE
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, cabo, jim Schaller.
Speaker 2:Welcome Good Neighbors to episode number 190 of the Good Neighbor Podcast, estero. Today we have Good Neighbor Dr Jake Berman from Berman Physical Therapy. Welcome.
Speaker 3:Thank you, sir, happy to be here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, happy to learn a little bit more about the physical therapy industry and its many benefits and how you contribute to it. So let's jump right in. And why don't you share a little bit about what you do over at Berman Physical Therapy?
Speaker 3:The biggest thing that we try to do is help people avoid surgery and pain pills while maintaining the highest quality of life possible. So it's not your basic cookie cutter approach and right out of the gate. I usually surprise people when I say I don't care about your pain, I care about what's causing your pain. So don't come to see me if the only concern you have is back pain. So don't come to see me if the only concern you have is back pain. Come and see me if your concern is that your back pain has gotten so bad that you can't play with your grandkids anymore, you can't finish a round of golf, you can't walk on the beach. Those are the things that I specialize in, not pain. If you want pain relief, go to the pharmacist, go get an injection.
Speaker 2:Go somewhere else else yeah, we're thinking long term here. We're thinking to to make you more, I'm gonna say uh, I'm gonna say accessible, but more free to do what you want, kind of scenario. So how did? How did you get involved in the physical therapy industry?
Speaker 3:uh, better than construction, is the funny answer. No, long story short. My Dean back in high school asked me what my plan was and I said construction. And she said look into physical therapy again. Long story short. And I looked into it and I was like, okay, that sounds great. And never looked back and it's been one of the most fulfilling things that I never would have imagined this. Back in high school, I thought that I was just going to be in the construction industry because that's what I grew up doing. I knew how to do that. However, being able to help somebody maintain a high quality of life, help somebody avoid surgery that's just one of the absolute most rewarding things that I've ever experienced.
Speaker 2:So being in construction for a little bit of time, you probably understand a little bit of pain management.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's a completely different demographic, where pain is a normal part of your life. Everybody in the industry has something that's hurting and you just grind through it. You just you're, grind through it. You just you're a workhorse. You have to get the job done because you're typically paycheck to paycheck and your livelihood depends on swinging a hammer. Your livelihood depends on showing up and getting the job done. So when your paycheck depends on the weather, you know, and your body, you just figure it out, you make it happen.
Speaker 2:It's kind of you push through exactly right and pain becomes secondary after a while, but then it becomes a problem.
Speaker 3:Yeah so challenges you know whether along your journey to get to where you are today, or maybe challenges you're facing today as far as you know clients are concerned, the biggest challenges that we're seeing is this paradigm shift in the healthcare system where, time and time again, it's becoming explicitly clear that the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies are choosing profits over patient outcomes. So it's becoming very, very muddied and very unclear whose advice you should be taking, because most of the time, you know this is a generic statement, so don't come at me with knives or whatever. But most of the time, doctors who are in network are getting some type of kickback from ex pharmaceutical company, so that's in their best interest. To recommend a drug, opposed to trying to figure out what is causing the problem, and we could be talking about anything blood pressure, cholesterol, back pain, knee pain it doesn't matter what it is. It's much easier to just prescribe a drug, because you've got 60 seconds with somebody and you got to get to the next one.
Speaker 3:Because, again, this is a very generic statement, don't come at me with knives and torches. There's a lot of doctors that are incentivized to see X amount of patients a day, so you're just a number in the traditional healthcare system, and people are getting smarter. They're starting to you know, they're starting to smell it and it's like wait a minute, there's got to be a better way than what's happening. 17 medications or prescriptions is not the way I should be living my life.
Speaker 2:Exactly, you're masking and you're creating more problems instead of solving the issue and making it better moving forward. So, along those lines myths or misconceptions surrounding what you do that we could clear up for our listeners today.
Speaker 3:One of the biggest one is that all physical therapy is created equal, almost like a commodity. Gas is 350 on one side of the road and 325 on the other side of the road. I'm going to go to the 325 because it's all the same on the other side of the road, I'm going to go to the 325 because it's all the same, and that's just not the case. Most physical therapy clinics are unique in some way, shape or form. However, the overarching decider is do they take insurance? Do they not take insurance?
Speaker 3:If a clinic takes insurance, then it's almost impossible to not be grouped together with other patients in the same hour because insurance reimbursement keeps going lower and lower and lower every single year since the 90s. So in order to stay in business, clinics have to see two, three, four patients an hour just to turn a profit, versus out of network clinics you can see one person an hour, one person every 90 minutes and get the individual touch. So that's a big misconception that people need to understand is all physical therapy is not created equal. In general, the cookie cutters are us, the ones that are seeing three, four patients an hour. You can just Google back pain and get the same list of stretches and exercises that you're gonna get if you go to that clinic, versus another network clinic, somebody that's actually gonna focus on what's causing your back pain, which is usually not the back at all, you know it's gonna be completely different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's strange, I've had some back pain throughout my life as well too, and it's funny how I've had some back pain throughout my life as well too. And it's funny how you realize what's connected to the muscles in your back when you find some pain. It's like, well, wait a second, I didn't know that affected that and it's quite remarkable. So do you notice anything trending within the industry lately?
Speaker 3:One of the biggest trends especially in Naples, that we've seen is more and more concierge clinics, more and more concierge physicians, more and more out-of-network clinics, insurance companies being dropped left and right in this area, because the providers are getting smarter. They're like why would I see 30 to 40 patients a day and provide a crap service when I can see five or 10 patients a day and provide the service that a patient actually wants and is willing to pay for? So that's the biggest thing that's happening now is people, patients and doctors are getting smarter and they're realizing that. You know, health insurance is very synonymous with car insurance.
Speaker 3:Car insurance is really there for when you total your car. Car insurance is not going to pay for you to maintain the car, change the oil, change the transmission fluid, change the air filter, change the differential fluid to make sure the car runs for 10 or 15 or even 20 years. They're really just there if you total it. The same thing is true with health insurance. They're not going to pay for you to maintain or preventative medicine. They're going to pay for when it hits the fan and it's like okay, cancer, okay, knee replacement, we'll pay for that. It's like what, are you serious?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you get what you pay for at the end of the day and you know, spend your money wisely. I sold beer for a long time, so I would say, spend that extra dollar and get a good six pack of beer. You know you'll feel better the next day. So, are you from Southwest Florida originally?
Speaker 3:Yes, second generation out of Naples, so have seen a ton of changes over the, even just the past 20 years, I mean it's, it's been a lot and it's growing quite remarkably too as well.
Speaker 2:So, outside of work, when you do get a few minutes cause I know you do other things on the side as well too what do you enjoy doing? When you get a moment of free time, you do other things on the side as well too. What do you enjoy doing?
Speaker 3:when you get a moment of free time. Boating is our life, my wife and my two girls. We're every Saturday that where the weather's favorable, we're out on the boat. Love going down to the Keys for long weekends. That's our happy place.
Speaker 2:Yeah, being outside down here in Southwest Florida. That's why we all live here. Unfortunately, I wasn't born here. I had to move here, but I've been down here for quite a long time. So what is one thing outside of what we spoke about today that you wish our listeners knew about Berman Physical Therapy, that maybe they don't know? Great, question.
Speaker 3:I think the biggest one is that we're not going to waste your time. Let's take knee pain, for example. Knee pain is extremely common and most people attribute it to knee arthritis or osteoarthritis and the general consensus from surgeons is you're going to need a knee replacement. Try to put it off as long as possible and the facts about that is that's not true. It's not true at all and within 20 minutes in our clinic I can tell you straight up, black and white, if you're going to need a knee replacement or if you're not. Because the knee is really simple it bends and it straightens. That's all it does. So when you look at it on a simply mechanical basis, the arthritis is irrelevant when you're talking about the functionality of the knee. So, regardless of what your x-ray says, it's very rare that that is the predictor of you needed a knee replacement or not.
Speaker 3:Said differently over the hundreds and hundreds, probably thousands, of people that have come to us on day one saying I don't know why I'm here. My x-ray says bone on bone. My surgeon says I need a knee replacement. Nine out of 10 of them end up avoiding the knee replacement because it's not the bone on bone that's causing the pain. If it was, then getting the knee replacement would get rid of the pain. How many people do we know that have knee replacements, that are still in pain and pissed off that they got the knee replacement to begin with?
Speaker 2:Right, Well, and now? I guess the trend is you know hey if you're going to go in and get your knee replaced, do them both at the same time. On top of it, why not Bogo right? Right, exactly. It's crazy Again having people like yourself to look at those things and understand the mechanics of things before and avoid possible surgeries, and expensive surgeries as well too. Any last words for our listeners.
Speaker 3:Keep asking questions, and this is the last thing that I that I would love to end with is you have to understand who you're getting your advice from. Meaning that I have a boat and when the boat needs to be worked on, I don't bring it to a car mechanic, right? That just makes sense. So if you're, if you have knee pain and you don't want to have surgery, you might want to question going to a surgeon and asking them for advice. Now, this is not a dig on surgeons. Surgeons are experts in surgery. Surgeons are not experts in helping you avoid surgery and they're really not experts in recovering from surgery. So if your goal is to avoid surgery, you probably shouldn't get advice from a surgeon. You should probably get advice from people who specialize in helping people avoid surgery, like a trained, qualified physical therapist.
Speaker 3:So make sure you know who you're getting advice from general practitioners, primary care physicians. They are experts in referring out and this is not a dig on them. This is just what they're experts in. They're a jack of all meaning. They come in, you come in with a symptom and they figure out where you need to go next. They're experts in referring you. So if your primary care physician is giving you advice on your back pain, you might want to question it. You might want to think about who you're taking your advice from. Just because they're the doctor doesn't mean they know exactly what is best for you. That is a very old school thought, an old school mindset, you don't? It's different now. Make sure you question who you are getting your advice from and make sure it makes sense to you. That's the last thing. If it doesn't make sense, ask somebody else. I may tell you something. And if it doesn't make sense, question me. If I can't back it up, go somewhere else. Keep questioning.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. If people had questions, they needed some advice. How would they go about contacting you?
Speaker 3:The easiest way is BermanPT. com. Just go to the website. There's all sorts of options for you. There's free reports on there. There's options to take advantage of a free 30-minute taster session where you come in and I get to see you and give you a really honest answer on if I think I can help you or not. We got stuff on all the socials, so Facebook, instagram, youtube, just Google or search Berman Physical Therapy and you'll see all sorts of stuff.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Hey, Dr Berman, it's been a pleasure getting to know you. Thank you for being such a good neighbor. A pleasure getting to know you. Thank you for being such a good neighbor and I hope to see you out in the community soon. Thank you, sir.
Speaker 3:That was fun.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Estero. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpestero. com. That's gnpestero. com, or call 239-296-2621.