Preoperative insurance-mandated physical therapy does not prevent the need for shoulder arthroplasty in patients with glenohumeral osteoarthritis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Glenohumeral osteoarthritis (GHOA) is a common cause of shoulder pathology for many patients. Nonsurgical treatment options for advanced GHOA are limited, and there are currently no high-level studies supporting the use of physical therapy (PT) to treat advanced cases of GHOA. Despite this, there has been an increasing requirement for insurance-mandated PT before shoulder arthroplasty. The purpose of this study was to investigate patients with shoulder arthritis who were denied shoulder arthroplasty by their insurance carriers based on the lack of preoperative PT. We further sought to assess health-care provider's perception regarding frequency, duration, and overall impact of the peer-to-peer (P2P) process.

Methods

This was a multicenter case series of patients w

SUBMITTER: Patterson BM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12490597 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature