PT/Prosthetist Collaboration Is Easier Said Than Done

“Just call the prosthetist.”

I’ve said that plenty of times.

If your patient is having a prosthetic issue, or if you as the therapist don’t understand something about the prosthesis, contact the prosthetist.

That’s still good advice. But if we’re being real, it’s much easier said than done.

I don’t think anyone disagrees that collaboration is important, if not essential, for better outcomes with the limb loss patient population. The whole healthcare team needs to communicate, but the PT/prosthetist relationship is one of the more active ongoing conversations during prosthetic rehab.

In theory, everyone agrees. In practice, it can be really difficult to make that happen in a timely manner. PT schedules are packed. Documentation is waiting. Insurance tasks are sitting there. The next patient is already in the clinic. Prosthetists are dealing with their own full schedules, patient care demands, documentation, adjustments, fittings, deliveries, administrative work, and everything else that comes with their side of patient care.

Finding a time where both providers can connect live, right at the moment it’s needed, can be really hard.

I saw this even when I worked in the same building as the prosthetists. They were literally just down the hall. And even then, if a prosthetic issue came up during a PT session, it wasn’t always possible to pull the prosthetist into the room. They were usually with another patient, modifying a socket, on the phone, or trying to keep their own schedule moving.

The issue still got addressed, but not always on demand. Sometimes the patient needed to schedule a prosthetic follow-up. Sometimes I needed to document what I saw and circle back with the prosthetist later. It was still a good setup, and the communication was still valuable, but it wasn’t always as immediate as the patient needed it to be.

I don’t say all of this to let anyone off the hook. PTs should make the effort. Prosthetists should make the effort. Busy schedules shouldn’t become an excuse to leave the patient stuck in the middle with an issue that they don’t get to leave at the clinic at the end of the workday.

But we also have to be honest that everyone involved is working with limited time, limited capacity, and competing demands.

That’s where patients may need to take the initiative to advocate for themselves too. Not because they should have to manage the whole process on their own, but because they’re the ones living with the issue all day, every day. It’s going to feel more urgent to them than it does to anyone else.

So if something isn’t getting addressed, asking again doesn’t mean they’re being annoying. Scheduling the follow-up, clarifying the concern, or making sure the issue doesn’t get buried in a note, inbox, or to-do list may be necessary.

I know some clinics have figured out better ways to handle this than others.

If you’ve found a good way to make PT/prosthetist communication work more consistently, I’d love to hear it. What’s working? What still gets in the way? What have you tried that actually helps?

PTs and prosthetists need to communicate, but knowing collaboration is important is only the first step. The harder part is building a realistic way to make it happen in the middle of busy clinic life.