FAQ’s

A: #1 We only see babies!  This means that Dr. Allison is always seeking opportunities to advance her training, and it is always focused on infants!

A: #2 We come to your home.  This allows you and your baby to stay out of icky waiting rooms, but more importantly, allows us to get a more thorough assessment, and employ interventions that make sense for your particular family situation, home environment, and with the furniture and baby gear you already have.  

A: #3 As a small specialty provider we are truly invested in your baby.   We encourage families to reach out whenever they have questions, need a little extra support, or just want someone to help celebrate their baby’s latest accomplishment.  We also value collaborating with other healthcare professionals that may be involved in your baby’s care so everyone can be on the same page for best possible outcomes. Many larger clinics don’t allow time in therapist schedules for additional family support during or between sessions, collaboration with other providers, or other “non-billable” activities. 

A: This just means that we have not contracted to be an in-network provider with any insurance companies and families pay us directly for services. If requested, we can provide a superbill that you can submit to your insurance for reimbursement at out-of-network rates. If you have questions about what your reimbursement rates are, call your insurance provider and ask directly.

A: Being out-of-network allows us to focus entirely on providing high quality, individualized care without wasting our efforts on understanding and complying with insurance companies’ guidelines.  We aim to fully educate and empower families during our time together, which isn’t possible while strictly sticking to what insurance companies deem skilled, billable physical therapy.  We also are able to adjust service frequency on an ongoing basis to reflect current need, clinical opinion of the therapist, and family preferences instead of trying to comply with arbitrary timelines designed by insurance companies.  

A:  We offer in-office and in-home sessions.  A $30 travel fee applies to home visits.

A: Pediatricians are wonderful for a lot of things, but physical therapists are the experts in motor development.  A physical therapist specializing in infants should be consulted as soon as a concern is identified.  For example, when plagiocephaly is identified early we can often make significant change in as little as one week and ultimately avoid a helmet altogether.  As babies get older, however, conservative management becomes less and less effective.  If you have a concern please reach out and we can discuss during a free phone call so you can make an educated decision about how to move forward.

A: This will be highly dependent on your baby’s specific needs, but we know that the sooner treatment starts, the more quickly and completely we are able to address the issue.  Some families are able to have their needs addressed in one or two visits while others require regular followup for several months.  Generally, session frequency is highest at the beginning and tapers off quickly.

A: The generic neck stretch handouts you find online are not individualized to your baby, and do not take the whole body complexities of torticollis into account. They also completely ignore the fact that asymmetrical strength is usually a bigger issue than the “tightness” that families notice initially.  Please see a pediatric physical therapist to identify interventions that will best help your individual baby, and to learn how to complete them safely.

A: Yes! Cranial orthoses can do a great job of reshaping a baby’s head, but don’t address the underlying muscular imbalances that likely caused the head shape concern in the first place.

A: Nope! Virginia allows patients to have direct access to doctors of physical therapy (DPTs).