Page 29 - OPTA Access March 2018

Practice Chair Report
Alan J. Frame PT, DPT, OCS – Chair
I hope the New Year nds you well! There is a lot happening in the world
of physical therapy and as always I encourage you to look to the APTA website and its resources to stay up
to date on everything that affects your practice Here is a brief update on some of the things that were discussed amongst the Practice Chairs during the December meeting
One of the biggest discussions related to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and the Therapy Cap At the time of writing, Congress had not extended the exceptions process beyond December 31, 2017 What this means is that the policy reverts back to the 1997 BBA, which institutes a hard therapy cap without an exceptions process for all settings, including critical access hospitals, except the hospital outpatient setting According to the 2018 Medicare physician fee schedule, in 2018, the cap threshold is $2,010 for physical therapy and speech- language pathology services combined There is a separate cap of $2,010 for occupational therapy services APTA is hopeful that Congress will remedy this problem in January 2018 They must pass another continuing resolution by January 19 to keep the government funded and we hope it will include the pending therapy cap legislation that would permanently extend the exceptions process and establish a targeted medical review process for services over $3,000 I encourage you to please stay up to date at http://ww apta org/therapycap
There was also discussion of the post-acute care reform
PTs practicing in post-acute care are integral to improving
the quality of care provided to patients while reducing overall costs This is particularly true under new value-based payment initiatives such as bundled payment models, accountable care organizations, and patient-centered medical homes Future efforts to better align payment with patient characteristics under the IRF, SNF, LTCH, and HHA setting will have signi cant impact on the physical therapy profession. See http://www apta org/postacutecarereform/
Additionally, surveys to better understand physical therapists’ role in the area of primary care and prevention will go out in January and March The surveys aim to determine if this is an area of specialty practice and also will ask if the term Primary Care is appropriate or if it should be another name (i e Family Practice) Resources related to primary care and prevention are available for members to inform their patient about various areas of practice. These handouts and brochures have open text elds which allow you to type your clinic’s contact information
For more information, contact Alan at: alanjframe@gmail com
Membership Committee Report
Sabrina Kaminski, PT - Chair
The OPTA Membership Committee is hard at work in 2018! We’re focusing on the board initiatives identi ed in
the updated Strategic Plan, including increasing membership through targeted marketing, getting the New Professionals SIG up and running, and spreading the Bene ts of Belonging
to our student and district members
Just remember that there are so many
facets of your life—including your home life, your social life, and your professional life You may have friends that stay
in one aspect or intersect Think about what makes a good friend, and perhaps they offer a sense of belonging We here at the OPTA strive to be your friend for your professional life We will stand up for you through legislative actions helping to ensure your livelihood by advocating for reimbursement issues, protecting and expanding your practice act, and ensuring recognition of your profession amongst other health care providers We will encourage you to become a better practitioner by helping you stay up to date on research through evidence based continuing education courses The Membership Committee will be active throughout the districts facilitating this friendship, and we look forward to getting to know you better!
For more information, contact Sabrina at: sj33@evansville edu Sports SIG Report
Jeffrey Swiers, PT, DPT – Chair
Happy New Year! The Sports SIG
has continued to grow over the last
year with new members and those
interested in Sports Physical Therapy
In the next year, the OPTA Sports SIG
is looking to grow with inviting new
members and developing new content
for reading The Sports SIG will be
presenting a Lunch & Learn Webinar
in June, and I hope many of you will
be able to attend In addition, I hope to see you at Annual Conference April 13 & 14 in Columbus!
Please continue to check out our Facebook page: Ohio Physical Therapy Association: Sports SIG for continued updates and please stop by and “Like” the page to continue to obtain new and updated information regarding Sports Physical Therapy
For more information, contact Jeff at: jswiers11@gmail com
OPTA | March 2018 | 29
Committee and SIG Reports
Committee and SIG Reports