Thank you, Reggie. I was hoping that someone was acting on this at the national level, but I have heard nothing from AOTA on this issue. Is anyone from AOTA reading Reggie's letter? What can therapists in the field do to fight this legislation?
Sandi McClary, MS/MOTR Rehab Manager Lovelace Hospital Albuquerque, NM 505-343-6328 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Redge Campbell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, November 11, 2002 10:58 AM Subject: Direct Access for PT > Greetings Colleagues, > > I have been following with great interest the strategy of the physical > therapy community in moving toward the entry level DPT and submitting > legislation to Congress for direct access and potentially prescriptive > authority for physical therapists. I haven't heard much concern raised > in the OT community or in AOTA about the risks of this to our > profession. While I don't generally support OTs always chasing the PTs > this one has me on edge. > > If the physical therapists gain direct access and no longer require > physician 30 day certification for Part B services, they will have a > direct line on access to this population. If you were a referring > physician, whom would you rather have treat your outpatients? A > discipline which could directly manage your patient for you with little > or no requirement on your part, or a discipline that required you to > continue to follow your patient actively every 30 days, read and sign 30 > day recertification notes, and be held accountable for the intensity of > treatment provided by the discipline? > > My guess is that physiatrists would feel threatened and would rather > maintain the close contact with patients, which would benefit OT's. My > guess is that virtually every other referring specialty physician would > rather just refer to PT. The result would be a significant hit on OT > access to Part B patients and further increases in scope of practice > challenges as PT's step further into the functional skills arena. > > As I see it, we need to have a direct professional response to this by > either requiring this change to be effective for all rehab ancillaries > or we need to vigorously oppose this legislation at the national level > as a threat to patient access to OT services. > > Is this on anyone's radar screen? > > > > Redge L Campbell MS OTR/L > Director of Rehabilitation Services > Harrison Hospital > Bremerton, WA 98310 > 360.792.6531 > > *********��*********** > > 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/otlist@;otnow.com > > *********��*********** > *********��*********** 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/otlist@;otnow.com *********��***********
