Specialized care with
Assistive devices and therapies
Specialized care with
Assistive devices and therapies
What does APST do for your care with
assistive devices?
What does APST do for your supply of assistive devices?
Based on your symptoms and complaints, your doctor will determine your individual requirements for the provision of assistive devices. This needs assessment is communicated to APST. APST finds suitable
Assistive technology providers who have the expertise to provide qualified care. The aim of APST is to coordinate patients and care partners with each other.
Coordination services of APST for the provision of assistive devices?
– Coordination and documentation of care requirements
– Coordination of suitable care partners for mobility aids, communication aids, orthotics and robotics
– Coordination of care-related information and documents between care partners and doctors
– Coordination between care partners
How does the APST assistive device management work?
Determining the need for care
A patient is diagnosed with an illness of a certain severity. Following the clinical assessment, the attending physician proposes a treatment plan. Based on the patient’s physical limitations, the attending physician determines the indication for the provision of assistive devices such as a wheelchair. In a doctor-patient consultation, the patient is informed and advised about the need for care and the organizational steps.
Coordination of care needs
The patient agrees that a coordinator from APST will be entrusted with organizing the various care tasks and contacting a specialist care partner. At the end of the doctor’s visit, the coordinator is informed of the individual care needs. Next, the coordinator contacts the patient and obtains further information about the patient’s specific life situation. Suitable care partners are contacted on the basis of the medical needs assessment and the patient’s social information. In the case of our example patient, contact is made with a medical supply store, such as a specialist provider of wheelchair fittings. Coordination between the individual care partners ensures that the assistive device fits the patient and can be used optimally.
Supplement to standard care
Care management via APST with technological support from the APST Internet portal takes place within the established standard care system. The responsibility of the attending physician for the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of the aids and other medical devices remains unaffected, and the service provided by APST consists of contacting a suitable care partner on behalf of the patient who has the qualifications, experience and a care contract with the patient’s health insurance company.
What does APST do for your
Supply of therapies?
What does Ambulanzpartner do for your medical supplies?
APST supports patients in Berlin and Brandenburg in finding the right physiotherapist, occupational therapist or speech therapist
would like. APST coordinates a network of therapy practices in the greater Berlin area.
How does APST therapy management work?
A doctor sees the need for therapeutic care such as physiotherapy and issues a medical prescription. In the next step, the patient instructs a coordinator from APST to identify a specialized therapeutic practice. Three criteria play a role here: professional suitability of the practice, proximity to the patient’s home or (if necessary) the possibility of a home visit, and available capacity to care for the patient. The coordinator forwards the care request and the doctor’s prescription to the therapy practice, which contacts the patient directly to arrange an appointment.
What advantage does APST offer?
Three areas can be distinguished in which the coordination of physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy by APST is beneficial for patients:
Qualification
The providers in the therapist network are specialized in the treatment of neurological diseases. In principle, every therapist is qualified to treat neuromuscular diseases once they have completed their training. However, in addition to formal training, daily experience is crucial for the quality of treatment. Additional expertise can be acquired by specializing in neurological and neuromuscular diseases. Further qualifications can be achieved through training and work shadowing with neurologists and other specialists.
Prescription management
APST coordinates the prescription processes between the doctor, patient and care partners. Standardizing the initial and repeat issuing of prescriptions and electronic documentation on the APST portal reduces the organizational effort for patients, doctors and therapists. The predominantly electronic processing of prescriptions reduces the number of telephone calls required and the associated interruptions in outpatient clinic and practice operations.
Feedback on the success of treatment
An innovative tool for improving quality is the feedback provided by the Internet portal Ambulanzpartner. The evaluation of physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy by the patients themselves provides the therapists with an evaluation of the subjective benefits and possible burdens of their treatment for the patient. A personal password gives the patient access to their individual electronic care account, in which the ongoing therapies are recorded and the patient has the opportunity to evaluate the effect of the therapy. This feedback is confidential and therefore differs in principle from public doctor and therapist evaluation portals.