A prescription or referral for physical therapy is not required for you to be seen; you can call to make an appointment right now. That is essentially what "Primary Care PT" means.
By talking to a Physical Therapist first, you are saving yourself precious time, and can be difference between your condition being acute or temporary and chronic. Typically, the sooner you address your pain or movement problem, the quicker you will get it taken care of.
I encourage you to call immediately if you experience an injury, have a pain or movement problem you need help solving, are preparing for an upcoming activity you're concerned you won't be able to do, or you have decided you no longer want to deal with the pain and are tired of waiting for it to finally go away. 

During this visit, I will sit down and talk with you to learn more about your problem. You'll be asked questions about your issue to help better understand what is going on and help determine if physical therapy is right for you. You can expect to receive some education, however, no specific advice, treatment, exercises or techniques will be administered during this consultation. It is used as a starting point to determine what your needs are, explain how PT can help, and give you an idea of how long it may take to resolve your problem before you commit to anything.

I do not bill medical insurance for my services. You can, however, submit claims directly to your insurance provider for reimbursement. I can provide you with the necessary documentation to submit to your insurance company. You can also use your HSA account to pay for services.

Due to federal law restrictions on Medicare recipients, I am not able to bill you directly for physical therapy. I may only bill for and provide “non-covered” services, including preventative, wellness and fitness services allowable under a physical therapy license. If you have questions, please call me and I will do my best to answer them.

The short answer here is no. All 20 minute consultations will be done virtually or over the phone. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Physical Therapists have been using telehealth with great success. Yes, there are some conditions where seeing you in person may be more helpful (e.g. when you need manual therapy or hands-on treatment to help resolve your problem). However, the BULK of physical therapy lies in education and specific exercises which are progressed over time. The goal is to empower you to recover from your injury and control your own pain. There are many conditions where meeting with your Physical Therapist via a secure video platform will help you get 100% of the results you expect.