Key West Physician
(305) 707-8484 Refer a patient

Referral and care coordination gateway · Key West Concierge Orthopedics

For athletic trainers and physical therapists.

The loop is short: when a case stalls or shows escalation signs, the AT or PT sends it for physician evaluation through the refer a patient page or the phone line, the practice evaluates without surgery whenever possible, and the patient comes back to you for rehab with a note. Nothing about the referral moves the patient off your caseload; the evaluation exists to answer a question you cannot answer in your clinic, then hand the case back.

Florida direct access, at the citable level

Florida licenses physical therapists to evaluate and treat without a physician referral within statutory limits. One of those limits matters here: when treatment runs beyond 30 days for a condition not previously assessed by a practitioner of record, chapter 486 requires a practitioner of record to review and sign the plan of treatment (Florida Statutes chapter 486). Athletic trainers practice under the direction of a physician (Florida Statutes chapter 468, part XIII). A physician evaluation on file serves both realities: it keeps a direct-access PT plan compliant past the time limit, and it gives an AT the physician direction the statute assumes.

When to escalate

Send the case when the exam suggests something rehab cannot fix or should not wait on: a suspected fracture, joint instability after trauma, mechanical locking, or progressive neurological signs. Send it too when the trajectory is wrong: night pain that does not settle, or a patient who fails to progress across several weeks of appropriate rehab. These are patterns, not thresholds; your read of the patient counts, and a phone call to talk a case through is a legitimate use of the line.

How the loop runs

  1. Send the case. The short form or a call or text to (305) 707-8484. Logistics only in the form; the clinical conversation happens by phone.
  2. Physician evaluation, with imaging as indicated. What the evaluation can include is on the capabilities page. Cases that need an operative consultation are referred onward with records.
  3. The handback. The patient returns to the referring AT or PT for rehab with a note describing findings and any restrictions.

The handback, in plain terms

The practice routinely returns patients to their referring therapist. The note that travels with them says what was found, what was done, and what to protect; the rehab plan stays yours. If the case was a surgical question rather than a treatment one, the second opinions page describes that read. The criteria-based return markers the practice expects a therapist to run are published in patient language at Key West Sports Medicine's return to sport guides, which any PT can use as the handback's checklist.

Visiting teams and seasonal athletes

For an athlete who is only on the island for a stretch, care coordination covers how the evaluation fits travel dates and how the note reaches the provider back home. Everything else starts at refer a patient.