You’re dealing with pain that limits what you can do. Maybe you’ve already fallen, or you’re afraid you will. Getting to a clinic feels like one more thing you can’t manage right now.
That’s the reality for most people who need a physical therapist but can’t make it to an office. The good news is you don’t have to choose between getting care and staying home.
In-home physical therapy brings the treatment to you. Your therapist evaluates your actual living space, spots the hazards you walk past every day, and builds a plan around your routine. You work on balance where you actually need it—in your kitchen, your bathroom, the hallway you use at night.
The results show up fast. About 79% of patients report less pain after treatment. Nine out of ten say their quality of life improved. That’s not just feeling better for a few days—it’s being able to move through your home with confidence again.
We’ve been providing in-home care across Long Island for over a decade. Our physical therapists are licensed, Medicare-certified, and experienced in treating patients who can’t leave home safely.
Captree residents face unique challenges. Many live in homes built decades ago, without the accessibility features newer construction includes. Stairs, narrow doorways, and uneven surfaces create real fall risks—especially for older adults managing chronic conditions or recovering from surgery.
We’ve worked with hundreds of Long Island families who needed therapy but couldn’t make clinic appointments work. We understand the local housing stock, the Medicare coverage rules, and what it takes to help you regain mobility in your own space.
It starts with your doctor. If they determine you’re homebound and need physical therapy, they’ll provide a referral and certify that you can’t travel to an office safely. That certification is what triggers Medicare coverage for in-home visits.
Once we receive the referral, a licensed physical therapist contacts you to schedule an initial evaluation. During that first visit, they assess your mobility, strength, balance, and pain levels. They also walk through your home looking for fall hazards—loose rugs, poor lighting, furniture placement, bathroom setup.
From there, your therapist builds a treatment plan specific to your needs. Maybe it’s gait training to improve how you walk. Maybe it’s therapeutic exercise to rebuild strength after surgery. Often it includes balance and proprioceptive training to reduce fall risk.
Sessions happen in your home, usually two to three times per week depending on what your doctor ordered. Your therapist brings any equipment needed and teaches you exercises you can do between visits. As you improve, the plan adjusts. Medicare doesn’t cap the number of sessions—you can continue as long as it’s medically necessary and you’re making progress.
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Every treatment plan is different, but most include some combination of these services: gait training to improve how you walk and reduce fall risk, balance and proprioceptive training to help you stay steady on your feet, therapeutic exercise to rebuild strength and flexibility, joint pain treatment to address arthritis or injury-related discomfort, and neuromuscular re-education if you’re recovering from a stroke or neurological condition.
For Captree residents, fall prevention is often the primary concern. Every year, more than one in four older adults fall. Falls lead to broken hips, head injuries, loss of independence, and nursing home placement. Your physical therapist addresses this directly—testing your balance, strengthening the muscles that keep you upright, and modifying your home environment to remove hazards.
If you’re recovering from surgery, your therapist guides you through post-surgery rehabilitation safely. If you’re dealing with chronic pain, they use evidence-based techniques to reduce discomfort and improve function. If you’ve had a stroke, neurological rehabilitation helps you regain movement and coordination.
The advantage of in-home care is that everything happens in the environment where you actually live. Your therapist sees the real obstacles you face—the step into your shower, the distance from your bedroom to the bathroom at night, the layout that makes it hard to use a walker. They solve problems in context, not in a clinic that looks nothing like your home.
Yes. Medicare Part B covers in-home physical therapy when your doctor certifies that you’re homebound and unable to travel to a clinic safely. Homebound doesn’t mean you can never leave—it means leaving home requires considerable effort, and you typically don’t leave except for medical appointments.
Your doctor needs to confirm that physical therapy is medically necessary to improve or maintain your current condition. Once that’s documented, Medicare covers the cost of visits with no arbitrary cap on the number of sessions. You’ll still have your standard Part B deductible and coinsurance, but the service itself is covered.
If you have a Medicare Advantage plan instead of Original Medicare, coverage works similarly, though you’ll want to confirm your specific plan’s rules. Most Advantage plans cover in-home therapy under the same conditions—you just may need to use therapists in their network.
Medicare defines homebound as being unable to leave home without considerable and taxing effort. That might mean you need a wheelchair, walker, crutches, or another person’s help to get out. It might mean you have severe pain, breathing problems, or balance issues that make leaving dangerous.
You can still be considered homebound even if you occasionally leave for medical appointments, religious services, or short trips to the barber. The key is that leaving home is difficult and happens rarely. Your doctor makes this determination based on your medical condition and functional limitations.
For many Captree residents, being homebound is temporary—maybe you’re recovering from hip surgery or a fall. For others, it’s a longer-term situation related to chronic conditions like severe arthritis, COPD, or neurological disorders. Either way, if your doctor says you qualify, you qualify.
Most patients notice improvement within the first few weeks, though the timeline depends on what you’re treating and how severe the problem is. If you’re working on balance and fall prevention, you might feel steadier after four to six sessions. If you’re recovering from surgery, it could take several weeks to regain functional mobility.
Research shows that 79% of patients experience reduced pain and 90% report improved quality of life after completing physical therapy. Those outcomes don’t happen overnight, but they do happen consistently when you stick with the treatment plan.
Your therapist will set specific goals during the initial evaluation—things like walking a certain distance without assistance, getting in and out of the shower safely, or climbing stairs with confidence. Progress gets measured against those goals, and your plan adjusts as you improve. Some people need a few weeks of therapy. Others need a few months. Medicare covers treatment as long as you’re making measurable progress.
Physical therapy focuses on improving your mobility, strength, balance, and pain levels. Your physical therapist works on how you move—walking, standing, climbing stairs, getting up from a chair. They use exercises, manual therapy, and gait training to help you move better and reduce fall risk.
Occupational therapy focuses on helping you perform daily activities—bathing, dressing, cooking, using the bathroom. Your occupational therapist might recommend adaptive equipment, teach you safer ways to do tasks, or modify your home setup so you can function more independently.
Many people benefit from both. If you’re recovering from a stroke, for example, your physical therapist helps you walk again while your occupational therapist helps you relearn how to dress yourself or prepare meals. Medicare covers both services when they’re medically necessary, and both can be provided in your home if you’re homebound.
Yes, and that’s one of the most important things we do. Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death in older adults. Every year, about 41,000 older adults die from fall-related injuries. Many more end up in nursing homes after a fall because they’ve lost confidence and mobility.
Your physical therapist addresses fall risk from multiple angles. They test your balance and identify specific weaknesses. They teach you exercises that strengthen the muscles responsible for keeping you upright. They assess your gait and correct movement patterns that increase fall risk.
Just as important, they walk through your home and spot hazards you might not notice—rugs that slide, lighting that’s too dim, furniture arranged in a way that creates obstacles. They recommend modifications that make your space safer. Studies show that home assessment and modification is highly cost-effective, potentially averting millions in medical costs from fall-related injuries. The goal isn’t just to treat you after a fall—it’s to prevent the fall from happening in the first place.
Start by talking to your doctor. Explain that you’re having difficulty leaving home and you think physical therapy would help. If they agree, they’ll provide a referral and complete the certification that you’re homebound and need therapy to improve or maintain your condition.
Once you have that referral, contact us. We’ll verify your Medicare coverage, schedule your initial evaluation, and assign a licensed physical therapist to your case. The therapist will come to your home at a time that works for you—no need to arrange transportation or worry about getting to an appointment.
From there, treatment begins based on what your evaluation shows you need. Most patients are seen two to three times per week, though the frequency depends on your specific situation. You’ll work with the same therapist throughout your care, so they get to know your home, your challenges, and what’s working. If you have questions before getting started, call us. We’ll walk you through the process and help you understand what to expect.
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