Celebrating Our Growing Practice!
Adult Speech Therapy Services Celebrates 5 Years in Business
I am humbled and grateful to celebrate my practice’s 5 year anniversary this month. When I opened my practice 5 years ago, I knew I was taking a risk in starting my own business. I did not know about the unusual circumstances I would encounter in those first few years. As we all have had to do in the face of a global pandemic, I had no choice but to adapt my business to the changing world, and to grow with it. It was well worth it, as those changes allowed me to continue supporting adults with communication disorders, which is my passion.
Celebrating Resilience
After closing my office in March of 2020, as social distancing restrictions were in full-effect, I needed to find a way to continue treating my clients- from a distance. The solution was to begin offering telehealth services. This was an adjustment for both myself and my clients at first, but we quickly got used to the new service delivery model. In fact, many clients began to appreciate the convenience of telehealth, as they no longer had to commute to their speech therapy appointments. Plus, research supports outcomes for speech therapy provided via telehealth!
Providing telehealth services turned out to be another opportunity for growth. I could now help people living farther away from my office. In fact, I decided to become licensed to practice in Virginia, as well as Maryland, to have the opportunity to serve more clients. I also completed training to become eLOUD certified so that I could continue to offer the LSVT Loud program virtually, while maintaining the same quality of care provided during in-person sessions.
Celebrating Growth
There have been many other positive changes to the practice in the past 5 years. By hiring a billing specialist, I am now able to verify my clients’ insurance benefits and offer courtesy billing services for clients with private insurance. This means I will submit claims on my clients’ behalf, without any additional cost to the client.
Another great change was to add the evaluation and treatment of swallowing disorders to our services. Earlier this year we welcomed the swallowing specialists at Dysphagia Management Systems to our team. In addition to providing research-based treatment of swallowing, we are now able to perform in-office instrumental swallowing evaluations using fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES.) This means that our clients no longer have to go to a hospital setting to undergo a swallow study.
Another exciting addition to our services has been a group exercise class for individuals with Parkinson’s Disease. The LOUD for LIFE group meets weekly to practice LSVT Loud daily voice exercises and communicating with peers. It’s a virtual meeting scheduled every Thursday at 1:30. Contact our office if you’re interested in joining.
Earlier this year, we also joined the Olney Chamber of Commerce. It has been wonderful to collaborate and build relationships with other business owners in our community. It was an honor to participate in Olney’s National Night Out in August to promote police and community partnerships.
Some Things Never Change
Although our practice has gone through many changes during the past 5 years, one thing hasn’t changed at all. And that is, our commitment to providing quality, research-based, individualized speech therapy treatment for our clients. I’m proud to say that at Adult Speech Therapy Services, our clients are like family. That’s why we offer free consultations so that you can get to know us before you begin treatment. Call us at 301-323-8486 today for a free phone consultation. We’ll be happy to answer your questions, and tell you more about the services we provide. Thanks to our wonderful clients and community, we’re looking forward to many more years of service!