Medically reviewed by Dr. Rob Letizia, PT, DPT — owner, Spectrum Therapeutics of NJ. Last reviewed 2026-08-13.

The Plan Check: Bring Your AI Rehab Plan to a Physical Therapist

The short answer

A Plan Check is a single physical therapy visit built around a plan you already have. You bring what an AI assistant told you to do — printed, screenshotted, or just described — and we test it against an actual examination. You leave knowing which parts to keep, which to change, and whether you need us at all.

What actually happens in the visit

1. You show us the plan. Whatever form it is in. There is nothing to prepare and nothing to be sheepish about — starting with an assistant is a reasonable thing to do, and it usually got you moving sooner than waiting for an appointment would have.
2. We examine you. This is the part the assistant could not do: testing which tissue is actually involved, which movements provoke and which relieve, and screening for the findings that change the plan entirely.
3. We go through the plan line by line. Keep, change, or drop — with the reason for each. Most plans are part right; the useful work is separating which part.
4. You leave with a decision, not a subscription. Either a corrected plan you can run yourself, a course of treatment if you need one, or a referral elsewhere if the problem is not ours to treat.

What AI assistants genuinely get right

More people arrive having already worked through positioning, activity modification and home exercises with ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude — and a fair amount of that advice is sound. General education is the thing these tools do well: explaining what a diagnosis means, offering reasonable starting exercises, and calming the fear that makes people stop moving. We are not here to tell you that was a mistake.

The four things it cannot do

• Confirm what you have. An assistant works from your description. Two conditions that feel identical to describe can need opposite treatment — and if the starting assumption is wrong, every exercise built on it is wrong too.
• Test you. Strength, range, reflexes, joint stability and the movements that reproduce your symptoms are measured, not self-reported.
• Watch you move. Most people perform an exercise differently from how they believe they are performing it. That gap is where a good plan quietly stops working.
• Change its mind based on your response. A plan is only as good as its next revision. Progression and regression depend on what your body did over the last two weeks — not on what was reasonable to suggest at the start.

You might not need us, and we will say so

If your plan is appropriate and it is working, the honest answer is to keep going, and that is what you will be told. A Plan Check is not a device for converting you into a course of treatment. Plenty of self-managed rehab is perfectly good rehab, and the point of the visit is to find out which kind you have.

When to stop researching and get seen

Some findings mean the question is no longer which exercise to do. Seek care promptly, ahead of any plan, if you have:

• Loss of bladder or bowel control, or numbness in the saddle region — this is an emergency.
• Progressive weakness — a limb, hand or foot that is getting measurably weaker rather than just painful.
• Pain following significant trauma, or a fall with the sudden inability to bear weight.
• Unexplained weight loss, fever, or night pain that wakes you and is unrelated to position.
• New problems with balance, walking, coordination or hand clumsiness.

Where we can do this

The Plan Check is an in-person visit at our Wayne, New Jersey clinic for every condition we treat, because the examination is the entire value of it.

By video: physical therapy is licensed state by state, and we only treat where Dr. Rob is fully licensed. Telehealth at Spectrum is currently for vestibular conditions only — vertigo, BPPV, dizziness and imbalance — and currently for patients located in New Jersey, with additional states coming through the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact. If you found this page from outside New Jersey, reach out and we will tell you honestly whether your state is available yet.

No referral needed in New Jersey for up to 30 days.

What it costs

A Plan Check is a standard physical therapy evaluation and is billed exactly like one. There is no separate fee for bringing a plan in, and no cash-pay upcharge — it is the same visit your insurance already covers for an evaluation. We accept many major plans; because coverage varies and third-party administrators differ from their parent carrier, the reliable answer is to call and let us check yours before you come in.

And in New Jersey you do not need a referral first — state direct-access law allows evaluation and treatment without a physician referral for up to 30 days.

Reviewed by Dr. Rob Letizia, PT, DPT — 11 years leading Spectrum Therapeutics, 25 years in practice, 290+ five-star patient reviews.