Pensacola Florida, September 2022 – For more than two decades, Radial Health Group has been helping rehabilitation therapy patients in both the acute and post-acute care settings. 

The physiatry practice groups innovative approach to caring for patients is all about teamwork and collaboration.

“One of the special things about Radial Health, and about Physiatry in general, is our focus on function,” said Christopher Burton, MD, Regional Medical Director for Radial Health. “We really want to see how the patient is able to do their activities of daily living.” 

Like the conductor of a beautiful symphony or a head football coach leading a successful team, the Radial Health doctor leads a team of health professionals who work in concert with one another to help restore a patient’s functional ability, and most importantly, maximize that patient’s quality of life.

It is all about helping the patient get back to who and what love most.

“If they played golf every day and they had a stroke, we want to get them back on the golf course,” said Kimberly Hernandez, Radial Health’s Director of Operations for Business Development. “That is our goal. We want them to be happy again.”

For the Radial Health care team, it is all about helping patients like Wiley Chandler of DeFuniak Springs, Florida who has been in and out of the hospital and residential treatment since he injured himself falling in a retail parking lot in January.

“I fell and knocked a hole in my skull,” Chandler said. “That fall caused me to have problems with my right leg, right arm and right hand and my bladder.”

Chandler detailed his various stays along the way, as well as the extensive list of physicians and specialists who have cared for him since his injury.  

His story underscores the benefits of the Radial Health whole patient focus.

Radial Health’s focus in on ensuring an effective, well-coordinated approach that always looks at the whole patient, not just an isolated injury or one problem the patient might face.

“One of the things that we do is when we oversee this team is to be able to provide continuity, to make sure that everybody's playing from the same playbook,” Dr. Burton said. “We are helping that team run smoothly and making sure that the patient gets the best care from each of the disciplines as possible.”

One of the things that sets Radial Health apart is the fact that they are able to coordinate the patient’s care as they move through the healthcare system. They coordinate the medical team to optimize the patient’s treatment regardless of the healthcare setting the patient finds themselves within.

“It's great working with patients like Wiley, where we can see him in the acute hospital, as well as the inpatient rehabilitation setting, and then also see him here in the skilled nursing facility setting where he is at now,” Doctor Burton said. “We are able to follow him throughout that entire spectrum of rehabilitation.” 

“We have providers in each of those settings,” Burton said. “So that way, when he transitions, each of those providers will hand off to the next provider and the Radial team. That way it's as smooth as possible. There are never any gaps in his care.”

Patients notice that level of care and are responsive.

“If you continue to do this particular exercise, it will build strength in that leg or that arm and eventually you will be able to go back to your normal life,” Chandler said. “I say great!”

“It is extremely rewarding for me to see that the patients are able to go home and live their life of independence in their own home,” Hernandez said. “It has always been a passion of mine that patients are able to stay in their home as long as they can.”