Serving more patients at the same time with digital movement therapy
Physiotherapy practice “Schlossphysio” from Winterthur, Switzerland
A patient trains at Pixformance
Small practice, big progress: More care without additional staff and relief in the daily practice routine
Founded in 2020, the physiotherapy practice “Schlossphysio” in Winterthur, in the north of Switzerland, is a small practice dedicated to two areas: Manual Therapy and Respiratory Therapy. In addition, to expand the service, interactive training with Pixformance was immediately integrated into the practice for movement therapy.
However, as is usually the case with our customers from Germany, the primary motivation was not to move into the secondary health care market to break away from the dependency of doctors and health insurance companies. Because while in Germany, the call for the independence of health insurance in physiotherapy is getting louder and louder, in Switzerland, as is well known, the situation is different. The self-pay sector, which enables physiotherapists to attract patients as long-term customers even beyond the prescriptions and generate more revenue, is hardly an issue for the Swiss.
The motivation behind the integration of the Pixformance training concept
The path was a happy coincidence. When she founded her practice, it was clear to physiotherapist Swetlana Zimmermann that she wanted to integrate a piece of equipment into her practice that would enable holistic movement therapy. In other words, she tried to cover as many muscle groups and movement patterns as possible — especially with regard to specific illnesses or pain.
It was also crucial to her to be able to shape the training individually for each patient because every patient is different. So the idea of the Pixformance Station, which had already been tested, came to her mind — and thus, the collaboration quickly came about. In addition to a few small pieces of equipment and wall bars, Pixformance has replaced all other necessary therapy equipment in practice and focuses entirely on movement therapy.
Patients at the Schlossphysio are already familiar with Pixformance through their training at the women’s fitness chain Mrs.Sporty, a company that Pixformance founder Valerie Bures-Bönström also co-founded.
There, the proven sports concept has been a central component of training for over eight years and already accompanies over 200,000 exercisers worldwide on their way to more movement and health.
| Practice Profile |
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| Location | Winterthur, Switzerland |
| Founded | 2020 |
| Owner | Claas Bickeböller |
| Main Focus | Manual Therapy, Respiratory Therapy, Interactive Training |
| Employees | 1 therapist |
| More info | www.schlossphysio.ch |
“We wanted a holistic training device that could cover as many muscle groups and movement patterns as possible in sports therapy.”
For support and relief during sports therapy: “With very few exceptions, all our patients use the Pixformance range.”
Thus, with very few exceptions, all patients also use the Pixformance equipment during therapy. When the patient comes to the Schlossphysio practice with their therapy prescription, depending on the state of their health, the Pixformance station is already used to support them in their exercise therapy after the first or second session. Patients can also exercise independently under virtual guidance, and the digital training device provides support and relief for Swetlana Zimmermann.
For faster and better sports therapy success, the Pixformance app has also proven its worth to her in everyday practice. After the first sessions with Pixformance, it is introduced and installed. This allows them to call up the individual therapy program on their smartphone and perform the previously trained exercises at home. As Claas Bickeböller — the managing director and husband of the head physiotherapist — tells us, patients appreciate the time- and location-independent offer and are happy to take advantage of it for exercise therapy.
Bickeböller and his wife also place an exceptionally high value on the flexibility of the training offer. “With Pixformance, you can always train under the supervision and continue training at home — with professional assistance and under a certain degree of professional care. We know from experience that you can explain the exercises and the movement to people a hundred times in exercise therapy. And that’s what it’s all about.
Nevertheless, after half an hour, most of them have forgotten that they have to make sure, for example, that their knee is straight so that they don’t get any pain later on. And with Pixformance, you are reminded of this again and again during the movement therapy. This way, we know that the patients are consistently exercising quite safely and performing the exercises correctly during sports therapy,” says Claas Bickeböller about the decision to purchase Pixformance.
“Above all, the flexibility that you get with the digital training concept was a crucial point for us.”
In Switzerland, the focus is more on the patient — and not on how much is paid out by the health insurance company.
As Claas Bickeböller told us in conversation, there are currently very few self-pay patients in the practice who do not have a new prescription prescribed and instead pay a monthly fee for the training. Most patients, however, come to physical therapy with a prescription.
“It has to be said that the cash register system in Switzerland is completely different from that in Germany,” says Claas Bickeböller in conversation with us. “In Switzerland, you can get a prescription much faster, so it’s not a problem to get a new physiotherapy prescription every three months if you’re ill. So the self-pay area is also not of as great value as it certainly is in Germany.
People in Switzerland are used to health being a private benefit.” That’s because health insurance in Switzerland, unlike in Germany, is per se a personal benefit. Although basic insurance is mandatory, it must be paid for by the patient.
Physiotherapy is one of the services covered by basic health insurance. So while people in Germany are used to not having to pay anything for their health in the form of physiotherapy or exercise therapy, it is common practice in Switzerland. So for the therapist side, the focus is more patient side — and not on how much is paid out by the health insurance company.
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