Audio Transcript Auto-generated
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All right. So our presentation today is gonna be on direct access.
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Um And that's done by myself, Elena Emma and Jake.
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So,
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um just to start a little bit here to get into direct access and,
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and what direct access really is and what it means for a physical therapist.
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Um The A P T A gives us a good definition here.
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Um And it says physical therapists can
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provide evaluation and treatment services without the need
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for an order or referral from any other
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health care professional in accordance with state law.
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Um And then just to elaborate a little bit more
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about direct access is it is different per state.
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So each state has their own regulations and requirements
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that are put in place regarding direct access.
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And we'll talk about that a little bit more
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um with our access by state slide.
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So to get a little bit more into why direct
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access is an issue right now for physical therapists.
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Um So currently in P A,
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um physical therapists must wait two years in order to get their
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direct access license as well as once they do have their license,
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they're only able to see those patients for 30 consecutive days.
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So
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when we really look at the scope of treatment for therapists,
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it's not a very long time um to really get a patient better.
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And then we see some statistics that we found here um without direct access,
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this can increase
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the cost of health care for patients over time with having to see
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a physician first pay for that appointment and then come to us um
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instead of being able to come to us first.
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Um And one of those statistics shows that patients that are referred, reporting
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paying 100 and 23% more um by not having that direct access
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and then patients who are referred by a physician
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um have decreased compliance rate,
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increased time of recovery and decreased outcome at discharge.
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And then just to look a little bit more at the P T perspective here,
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um we are now at a doctorate level and this is more of opinion based.
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But
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um we do have a higher education now and with
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this education gives us a lot of background on Eval
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patients and helping us cluster our findings to be able
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to rule out symptoms that aren't MS K related.
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Um And we understand our scope of practice in order
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to acknowledge when we must refer out a patient.
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So
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seeing us first might not always be an issue because we,
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we do go through a rollout process.
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So
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we can see here too another uh fact that we found was,
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is proven that direct access P T S are as effective as
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orthopedic surgeons in non operative management for MS K related issues.
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Patients also report higher satisfaction rates.
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And then just to go into a little example here too,
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um we can see this picture on the side here,
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I'll pull it up so you can see it a little bit better.
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Um So this area to the left here with the blue
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um box at the top with the old approach is just showing you that
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if you were to go through an initial evaluation with the doctor,
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you might be spending upwards of almost $2000 for the whole entire,
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you know, visiting process itself, including the therapist.
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Whereas the newer approach of being able to see a therapist right away,
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you might not be spending as much money, you might be spending closer to 900 or $1000.
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So that's just a little visual there to give you an idea of
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why direct access would be important to have as P T S.
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So next, we're gonna go into access by state.
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And
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if you see this image here,
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um
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the pink states are states that have direct access with provisions
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and then the blue states are unrestricted direct access
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and then the red states are limited direct access.
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So P A specifically,
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it's um waiting two years to get your direct access license and then
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once a patient comes in for direct access. They only have 30 days.
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And then
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the A P T A also has a website,
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um
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a link,
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a document that
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lays out state by state and what their provisions are and like what
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their rules are for direct access.
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Ok. So now we're gonna go over the solutions for direct access.
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So our goal as P T S is to create easier access for our patients
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as well as increased time and visit limits as well as
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um eliminate the two year requirement to see direct access patients.
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So
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this may not happen all at once, but this is something that we can solely work towards
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with these new bills that can be going through.
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So, or
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organizations such as the A P T A can help
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make this change happen by proposing a bill to legislation
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which so
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this
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is how a bill becomes a law,
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which this is how change happens for something to go from a bill to a law.
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It must be proposed to legislation and go through the proper channels for it to
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become a law and then it can then be added to our Practice Act.
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So what can we do to make change in legislation?
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Our call to action is to join associations like the A P T A and A P T A, Pennsylvania
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uh educate ourselves and others on current legislation and become
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familiar with what's going on in the A P T A
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uh next we can communicate with government officials,
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um go and lobby and uh just get that
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communication there and make a name for ourselves.
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And lastly,
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we can advocate for a P T profession and a change in the current legislation.
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This is a advocacy app for the A P T A.
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This is a good place to start to educate yourself on current legislation and
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um maybe sign petitions and other things like that.
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And then these are our references,
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another good place to start any of these places just
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to get a little more familiar with current legislation.