Background:
Does your clinic have enough credentialed physical therapists to enable you to rearrange schedules so that all of your Medicare patients are able to be seen, without delay, if you can’t be in your practice on a given day? If not, then your bottom line and your patients would benefit if you were able to hire a locum tenens—a qualified substitute PT—to fill in for the short time you are out.
Our previous advocacy efforts resulted in a 2016 law which allows private practice physical therapists practicing in designated Health Professional Shortage Areas, medically underserved, and rural areas to retain a locum tenens when they need to be absent from their clinic. Our work continues!
The Prevent Interruptions in Physical Therapy Act (S.793/H.R.1617) seeks to expand this policy to all areas of the U.S. because, as you know, the need to hire a locum tenens in order to prevent an interruption in care is based on how many credentialed providers a clinic has and its Medicare patient mix—not where that practice is located.
Advocacy Opportunities:
- Share your story! APTA Private Practice is collecting stories to share with lawmakers so they can really understand the impact of this policy on their district. Please email APTA Private Practice’s lobbyist Alpha Lillstrom Cheng a few sentences to answer one of these questions:
- How your practice and patient care has been impacted when you were unable to hire a qualified substitute (locum tenens) to provide care when you were unavoidably absent because of illness, pregnancy, continuing education, jury duty, and more? OR
- If you are located in a geographic region where PTs are allowed to use locum tenens, please share an example of when you used this privilege to ensure your Medicare patients had uninterrupted access to physical therapy.
- Ask your lawmakers to cosponsor the Prevent Interruptions in Physical Therapy Act (S.793/H.R.1617). We need your help making sure your legislator understands the necessity of continuity of therapy services as well as the impact this bill would have on being able to keep your doors open, see patients, and remain a viable business and employer in your community.
TEMPLATE EMAIL:
Subject line: Continuity of care is key to physical therapy. Cosponsor S.793/H.R.1617 to ensure interrupted access to care.
Dear Representative/Senator ____________,
I am a physical therapist in private practice, and a member of the Private Practice Section of the American Physical Therapy Association. Thank you for your previous efforts in support of access to physical therapy services. On behalf of myself and APTA Private Practice, I’m asking you to cosponsor the Prevent Interruptions in Physical Therapy Act (S.793/H.R.1617) — a non-controversial, bipartisan bill which will ensure patient access while protecting the revenue stream of clinic.
[Include an example of how your practice and patient care has been impacted when you or one of your colleagues has been unable to hire a qualified substitute (locum tenens) to provide care when you are unavoidably absent because of illness, pregnancy, continuing education, jury duty, and more. If you are located in a geographic region where PTs are allowed to use locum tenens, please share an example of when you used this privilege to ensure your Medicare patients had uninterrupted access to physical therapy.]
Thank you,
[Name, credentials]
Member, Private Practice Section of the American Physical Therapy Association
[Practice Name]
[Practice Address]
[Practice phone number]
- If you are on social media, write a post tagging your legislator and use APTA Private Practice’s Advocacy handle.
TEMPLATE message: “Prevent Interruptions to PT care. Cosponsor bipartisan S.793/H.R.1617. [@Representative/Senator handle] #PTAdvocacy”
Thank you. Your advocacy makes an impact. Together we can make a difference.