SHELBY – For most athletes, the trip to the podium signifies the end of a race. For Dr. Jared Bonecutter, his new practice Podium LLC is just the beginning.
The name is not as sinister as the man. In fact, contrary to dissecting skeletal pieces, Bonecutter created Podium LLC as a physical therapy practice – a way to put bodies back together.
“We provide both injury prevention services and more traditional physical therapy,” Bonecutter explained. “We see a lot of patients before they’re really hurt; they can come in after they do a workout and feel a little sore, or they’ve been having this nagging pain.
“Most people tend to let things to until they can’t stand it anymore, then they’re hurt and the rehab is typically a longer process. We want to be more on the front-end of healthcare versus being reactive to a problem that’s already there.”
As a designated physical therapist (PT) and a doctor of physical therapy (DPT), Bonecutter’s patients are often athletes, typically runners or cyclists and all at varying skill levels. His goal is to rehab them not only to walk without pain, but get back to racing for six hours on a mountain bike or running a marathon.
“You have a lot of physical therapists that offer general services,” Bonecutter said. “Instead of me saying I can treat everything from pediatrics to geriatrics, I decided this is a knowledge base I already have and I can relate to these people; I understand what it takes to do a 100-mile ride or what it takes to do a marathon.”
Bonecutter describes himself as a “has-been” endurance athlete, having run track and cross-country first at Shelby High School then at Ashland University during his undergraduate education. After graduating from Ashland with a degree in exercise science, Bonecutter attended graduate school at Ohio University and earned his doctorate of physical therapy.
It was at this stage that Bonecutter had the idea for Podium, particularly during a clinical rotation at the University of Illinois in downtown Chicago. Surrounded by excellent clinical mentors every day, Bonecutter was inspired to create a practice that offered next-level care in outpatient and sports medicine.
“Why not go out on my own and use the skills that I learned in Chicago and really provide a service that no one else offers around here?” Bonecutter asked. “I felt like that was a good way to utilize all the skills I had practiced there.”
Podium has a “manual therapy” emphasis, meaning plenty of hands-on therapy including joint manipulation and soft tissue mobilization. One unique service is dry needling therapy, explained by Bonecutter as insertion of a very thin needle into a muscle or area of pain.
“By stimulating it, it releases that muscle spasm and facilitates healing through increased blood flow,” he said. “There’s not many people that do it, and it’s something that’s drawn most of my patients to see me.”
Another unique service offered is “bike fitting,” backed by Bonecutter’s eight years of cycling knowledge from working at Y-Not Cycling & Fitness in Lexington. Mounted on a trainer, a cyclist is videoed riding their bike in full gear while Bonecutter analyzes joint angles for maximum power and comfort.
“I usually give recommendations for how people can address problems off the bike, too,” Bonecutter said. “We try to address that both on the bike and off the bike before they become full-blown injuries.”
Innovative treatments aren’t the only reason Bonecutter wanted to start his own practice – he created Podium as a cash practice, out of network with insurance companies so patients can see him directly without the necessity of a prescription or physician referral. Operating independent of an insurance company’s restrictions on treatment, patients pay for visits on a completely transparent fee schedule.
“I didn’t get a doctorate degree so a person in a cubicle who’s never seen a patient could tell me what to do,” Bonecutter said. “As a more advanced practitioner like a physician, DPT’s should have more autonomy outside of insurance companies than what we do.”
Podium LLC officially started accepting patients on June 1, and Bonecutter has seen steady growth each month. Currently he sees an average of two to four patients each week – most patients are finished after one visit of hands-on treatment, but Podium averages four visits per patient before they are discharged compared to the national average of nine visits.
Bonecutter is also operating as a one-man practice, allowing for a more personal connection with each patient.
“I’m the only person that sees them, I’m the only person that communicates with them, so I have a complete picture of their care,” he said. “That definitely keeps me on the same page with all my patients, and they appreciate that.”
It’s an ambitious undertaking, but one Bonecutter feels compelled to take on – especially locally. Practices like Podium exist all over the country, but Bonecutter’s decision to stay in Richland County was personal.
“Every patient that I’ve had has said they’ve never seen anything like this,” Bonecutter said. “This isn’t what most people think of when they hear physical therapy; most people think of doing exercises and counting reps, they don’t think of dry needling and movement analysis. Those aren’t things you see in most places.
“It’s definitely a service the area doesn’t have, and it’s always good to be someone that’s able to provide something to the area that’s really only available in big cities,” he said.
For more information about Podium LLC or to book an appointment, contact Bonecutter by calling 419-982-0062, emailing podiumllc@gmail.com or visiting www.podiumllc.com.
