Direct Access To Physical Therapy

Direct Access to PT In most cases when a person hurts themselves or injuries occur, to see a doctor for that problem the steps to getting checked out are as simple as one, two, three. It’s as easy as scheduling an appointment and oftentimes being seen the next day. This is the exact opposite for physical therapist. The steps to seeing a physical therapist can be a hassle, costly, and sometimes can result in regression of the injury. As of January 1, 2015 all 50 states allow patients in need to seek treatment from a licensed physical therapist without a prescription or referral from a physician (Garden pg.1). However, there is one catch. In many states around the world, treatment can be reduced by random restrictions in state law, making it …show more content…
To get rid of the rules and regulations that are holding physical therapy practice back. Allowing patients to freely access physical therapy would simplify PT practice and shorten the time it takes to begin rehab, all of which would be possible through Direct Access. Direct Access is defined as the legal right to seek and receive the examination, evaluation, and intervention of physical therapist without a referral from another health care (McCallum pg.673). With direct access a patient would not have to go to a doctor first with the wonder in the air that they might not be able to see a PT because injury history or because of their health care. The one hurdle that exists in direct access is safety. In the APTA: Direct Access article Dr. Christine A. Mallculum says “a reimbursement is the primary problem for direct access. In most cases, we have been informed that most insurance will not pay for services without a doctor referral. If insurance companies would be consistent, we would treat much more direct access patients.” Which ultimately states that insurance companies do not trust a patient’s personal assessment of their own injury because if something along those lines did occur, it could ultimately lead to a domino effect of lawsuits, the patient blaming the PT and expecting a 100% reimbursement plus some, and finally putting a bad rap on the PT’s name and …show more content…
This is why having a healthy 2-way relationship to between doctor and PT is extremely pivotal, one cannot function without the other. Diagnosis is impairments and functional limitations that also extend to conditions and syndromes (Deyle pg.632). Though diagnosis is normally taught in entry-level PT programs, it’s sort of an afterthought to third parties who want more of a guaranteed analysis. The majority of medical providers know that PT’s are knowledgeable when it comes to diagnostically accessing a patient and defining the best fitting rehabilitation for them, but want more assurance, hence seeking the opinion of a doctor first. In the end, a PT’s diagnosis judgement of a patient isn’t as credible or holds as much impact as a doctors but the risk in total of a bad diagnosis from a PT is extremely low compared to the substantial benefits it