FAQs

A 60-75 minute comprehensive examination that assesses your physical limitations, quality of movement, environmental and habitual contributing factors. We will educate you on your symptoms, provide hands-on treatment as deemed fit and give you the tools for your success.

No. Maine is a direct access state meaning you do not need a physician referral to start physical therapy. Your physical therapist is highly trained in musculoskeletal conditions and differential diagnosis. You  will be referred to a licensed practitioner of medicine if symptoms are outside of the scope of PT practice. However, if you are submitting for reimbursement from your health insurance provider, they may require a prescription.

Starting Line PT and Performance, LLC in an Out-of-Network (OON) Provider for all insurance companies. This structure allows us to provide consistent, quality driven, and individualized care without the restraints of insurance companies.

This practice structure allows us to spend more time on what is most important, YOU!  You get our undivided attention without the use of aides or assistants. This allows us to provide you the BEST possible care to help you reach your goals without any road blocks from insurance companies along the way. YOUR time is valuable to us. To learn more about how Out-of-Network PT differs from the traditional PT model, click here(hyperlink to “why out of network page”)

If you have questions regarding your OON benefits, please see the attached benefits worksheet or contact us directly.

Absolutely! Starting lines may look different for everyone and don’t always involve a race. Whatever it is you are looking to get back to, we are here to help you get there!

Starting Line PT and Performance, LLC accepts check, debit or credit cards at the time of service. Please note that Physical Therapy services do qualify for Health Care Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and can be used to pay for services. If you plan to submit to your insurance, you will be given a super bill which has all of the codes and information needed for potential reimbursement.

Each Physical Therapy appointment will be one-on-one with your PT. Evaluations are 75 minutes and follow-up appointments are 60 minutes. If you are limited for time, please notify your PT.

It is required that all cancellations occur at least 24 hours prior to your scheduled appointment time. When you schedule an appointment with Starting Line PT and Performance, LLC you make a commitment to your health. In turn, we guarantee that time is reserved solely for you. Missed appointments can interfere with your progress in treatment. Also, when n appointment is missed without cancelling in a 24 hour time period, the physical therapist does not have the opportunity to offer that time to someone else in need of services.

To ensure that Starting Line PT and Performance best meets the needs of all, it is our policy that patients are responsible for all appointments that have been scheduled. If you do not cancel prior to 24 hours of your appointment or you do not show up for you appointment then the cost of $75 will be charged to your credit card. You will be asked to provide a valid credit card when scheduling your first appointment and that credit card will remain on your account indefinitely. It is the responsibility of the client to be on time for their service and the entire fee for the scheduled service will be charged even if the client is late and does not receive the full treatment.

This cancellation policy is for all types of appointments. Extenuating circumstances and special situations will be reviewed on an individual basis per the discretion of the therapist.

For PT this will depend on your specific needs but typically 1x/week and progress to bi-weekly then monthly follow ups as deemed fit.

For massage, you and your provider will discuss a frequency that is best fit for you.

Dry Needling refers to the insertion of a thin monofilament needle without the use of an injection. Dry needling is commonly used to treat muscles, ligaments, tendons, subcutaneous fascia, scar tissue, peripheral nerves, and neurovascular bundles for the management of a variety of neuromusculoskeletal pain. 

The dry needling technique is a modern Western medical modality that is not based on Traditional Chinese Medical acupuncture, in that the purpose of dry needling is not to alter the flow of Qi or energy along traditional Chinese meridians. 

For further information, you can learn more from these resources:

http://www.apta.org/StateIssues/DryNeedling/ClinicalPracticeResourcePaper/

http://www.apta.org/StateIssues/DryNeedling/ResourcePaper/

https://spinalmanipulation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/dry-needling-a-literature-review-with-implications-for-clinical-practice-guidelines-dunning-et-al-2014.pdf

No, despite using the same style needle the techniques between dry needling and acupuncture are different. Acupuncture is based on traditional Chinese Medicine versus dry needling which based on the neuromuscular and musculoskeletal systems. 

Dry needling has its own theoretical concepts, terminology, and clinical application.