Why Rehab Medicine Gets Overlooked - And Who Pays the Price with Dr Tanya Harris

Send us Fan MailSurviving a stroke or traumatic brain injury is only the beginning. The real question is what happens next when someone needs to walk, think, speak, swallow, dress, toilet, work, and live safely again. We sit down with Dr Tanya Harris, a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) physician and medical director of a 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital, to pull back the curtain on how recovery is built day by day and why rehab medicine is still widely misunderstood.We unpack what physiatry actually covers, from musculoskeletal physical medicine to high-acuity rehabilitation after catastrophic illness and injury. Dr Harris explains the PM&R mindset of “adding life to years”, why early referral matters for neuroplasticity after stroke and brain injury, and what a truly multidisciplinary rehab team does differently: coordinated nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, neuropsychology and more, all aligned to the patient’s goals and the family’s reality at home.Then we get into the hard part: healthcare access. Dr Harris shares what it looks like to spend hours on prior authorisations, peer-to-peers and appeals, why insurance denials have increased, and how short-term cost decisions can push patients away from intensive inpatient rehabilitation towards lower-intensity settings. We also explore what a fairer system could look like, including the case for universal coverage and lessons drawn from New Zealand’s approach.If you care about stroke recovery, brain injury rehabilitation, inpatient rehab, and the future of healthcare, subscribe, share this conversation, and leave a review. What part of the rehab journey do you think the public most misunderstands?Guest BiographyDr. Tanya Harris is a physician specializing in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, with a subspecialty focus in brain injury medicine. She serves as Medical Director of a 40-bed rehabilitation hospital at Good Samaritan, where she leads multidisciplinary care for patients recovering from complex injuries and illnesses including stroke, traumatic brain injury, amputation, and spinal cord injury. Passionate about restoring function, independence, and quality of life, Dr. Harris is also a committed advocate for greater awareness of PM&R and for better access to intensive rehabilitation services.Contact DetailsWebsite: https://multicare.orgLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-harris-md-79a7ab66/Subscribe on SubstackVoices in Health and Wellness is published on Substack, as part of The Diagnostician. Every episode lands there with written notes and reflections you won't find in the podcast feed. Free to subscribe.👉 https://thediagnostician.substack.com/s/voices-in-health-and-wellnessAbout the podcastVoices in Health and Wellness features conversations at the intersection of medicine, lifestyle, and human potential, with clinicians, scientists, and thinkers shaping the future of care.About Dr Andrew GreenlandUK-based medical doctor and founder of Greenland Medical, specialising in Integrative and Functional Medicine. Trained in both conventional and root-cause approaches, Andrew helps people optimise health, performance, and longevity, with a focus on cognitive resilience and healthy ageing.