Hello Carrie: (What follows is a very long rant about a lot of stuff) When ever I raise the specter of competition between OT and PT, invariably someone raises the question of "can't we all just get along". This leads me to the following. There is no single right answer, there are only different perspectives. And depending on your perspective, there could be a better answer. For example, most will agree that it's in the client's best interest if OT and PT collaborate. So from the perspective of the client, collaboration is a good thing. But from a profession's stand point, collaboration may not be a good thing. You see, the markets in which we operate are driven by the all-mighty dollar. Insurance companys' reimbursement is what fuels the fires of healthcare. It must be accepted that OT/PT operate in a system with limited resources. In other words, insurance companies only have so much money they are willing to pay out.
Given these three principles: 1. OT/PT depend on reimbursement both for salaries and for professional continuance 2. There is limited resources for reimbursement 3. Companies will first pay for what they perceive as being the best service for their dollars. I don't see how anyone can't tell that it is a dog eat dog world. Every dollar going to PT treatment that should be going to OT treatment, costs jobs, research, and professional identity. Of course, the same is true for PT and chiropractic. Every time a chiro. does a treatment that PT should be doing, that's costing your profession money. The problem gets even more complicated because, I think most OT's and those entities utilizing OT services don't really understand OT's unique contribution. >From an insurance perspective, what is it that OT is 'best' at? Is it UE function? Is it function in general? Is it mental health? What can OT do that NO OTHER profession can do as well? Of course, the answer is occupation. As a profession, we can change client's ability to engage in meaningful occupation in a way that no other single profession can even come close to touching - not PT, SLP, psychology, counseling, recreation therapists. None of these professions are trained like OT and none of them can address the many types of issues which can keep clients from doing occupation. Our speciality is occupation which requires that we have great knowledge about the many, many different aspects that make up human functioning. Speaking of function, students know that I refer to function as the "F" word (there's also the "N" word - non-compliance and the "A" word - activity) and that I encourage them to NOT use function. I once thought I was going to be fired for telling a group of PT students that OT's don't do function, we do occupation. Of course occupation is function but it's function taken to the Nth degree. Occupation is physical, emotional, environmental, mental, social and cognitive function all rolled up into one nice neat package called occupation. I don't know what propelled this graph, but there it is! And to quote myself, "that's it in a nut thell" Former students will understand! Ron ~~~~~ On 7/14/02, CndyGirl50 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: Cac> Isn't that part of the problem now, PT and OT are fighting for the top dog Cac> position therefore instead of working together as Lisa appropriately does we Cac> are doing what we can to be on top. I think Lisa's approach is well stated, Cac> but don't forget that PT's do not only strengthen but deal with the aspects Cac> of function, strategy and impairments. There is more to each profession then Cac> we each give to one another. OT is not the UE and hand and PT is not just Cac> ther ex of LE. We need to broden the horizons. Cac> CR Cac> Be yourself. No one can ever tell you you're doing it wrong. Cac> -James Leo Herlihy Cac> *********��*********** Cac> Unsubscribe? Send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cac> In the message's *body*, put the following text: unsubscribe OTlist Cac> ** List messages are archived at: Cac> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] Cac> *********��*********** *********��*********** Unsubscribe? Send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the message's *body*, put the following text: unsubscribe OTlist ** List messages are archived at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] *********��***********
