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[image: Your Daily Update] December 15th, 2011 Physical Therapy

Private Practice Groups Unite to Form National

Coalition<http://ptmanagerblog.com/physical-therapy-private-practice-groups-unit\

>

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Physical Therapy Private Practice Groups Unite to Form National Coalition Group

to provide professional and political advocacy for industry

[image: Quote start]“As a united voice, the PTBA will rally around the

challenges we deem as threats to effect change at both the state and

federal level”[image: Quote end]

Louisville, Ky (PRWEB) December 14, 2011

A group of physical therapy businesses joined forces to form an industry

advocacy group, The Physical Therapy Business Alliance

(PTBA)<http://www.ptballiance.org/>.

The national alliance is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and includes

some of the most respected physical therapists in the world. The primary

goal of the PTBA is to help state and federal legislators make informed

decisions about access, reimbursement, and regulatory issues which create a

barrier between patients and valuable, affordable physical therapy care.

At its inception, the PTBA <http://www.ptballiance.org/> represents over 30

Practices in more than 20 states with over 250 locations and 750 licensed

therapists. A national recruitment campaign targeting general membership

was launched at the beginning of December and will continue throughout 2012.

The need to form a formal coalition arose from the results of a Physical

Therapy Sustainability and Representation survey conducted by PT

Development<http://www.ptdevllc.com/>CEO and PTBA Board Member, Larry

Benz DPT, ECS, OCS . The survey was

launched from the Evidence In Motion

<http://www.evidenceinmotion.com/>blog, My Physical Therapy Space, and

garnered a response from more than 800

physical therapists. According to Benz, the survey results revealed that

the respondents had clear, constant legislative and regulatory issues and

wanted a platform to discuss their concerns, collaborate, and share best

practices with other independent physical therapists. Benz and a core group

of physical therapists acted quickly and after a series of conference

calls, legal consultation, executive and board development, the PTBA was

founded.

“Although we have made a number of strides in recent years toward a more

contemporary recognition of the physical therapists role in healthcare, we

still face many challenges,” states Benz. “A forum needs to exist to

consolidate resources, leverage our successes, and pass needed legislation.”

The PTBA is governed by a nine-member board of directors comprised of

dedicated private practice business owners and physical therapy educators.

Board representatives were selected from the alliance‘s Founders Circle

Members who led the initiative and provided much of the support to get the

association started.

The first Chairman of PTBA is Dr. Carl De PT, PhD, DPT,

FAPTA<http://www.ptballiance.org/about-us>,

a Professor of the Physical Therapy at Northern Arizona University and

co-owner of De Physical Therapy in Flagstaff, Arizona. “I’m honored and

excited to lead the alliance at a time when we have a golden opportunity to

elevate the physical therapy profession and the role of the physical

therapist in the modern health care environment,” states De. “As a

united voice, the PTBA will rally around the challenges we deem as threats

to effect change at both the state and federal level. Our principle areas

of advocacy are as follows:

- Reimbursement Commensurate with Value – As low cost, minimally

invasive, preventative and restorative medical care, PT is essential and

the best value in healthcare.

- Freedom to Practice – As the industry sees fit. Licensed physical

therapists have the training, knowledge and skill to determine how to

deliver care.

- Unrestricted Access for Patients – As independent professionals,

licensed Physical Therapists can evaluate, treat and be reimbursed as such.”

While the PTBA is an independent association, the group will work

collaboratively with the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), as

well as other PT related associations and stakeholder groups. To illustrate

support, all PTBA members are required to be members of the APTA - Private

Practice Section. For more information about PTBA, visit their website at

http://www.ptballiance.org

About PTBA

PTBA <http://www.ptballiance.org/> is on a mission is to build a network of

private practice physical therapy businesses to elevate the role of the

physical therapist in the modern healthcare environment. Our business

alliance will provide resources to promote the success of the private

practice physical therapist, raise the standards of excellence in the

industry, and communicate a strong and consistent message that private

practice physical therapist businesses undoubtedly represent the best value

in healthcare. We seek to become a powerful voice for free enterprise in

physical therapy in environments such as Congress, regulatory agencies, and

the all-important court of public opinion. Likewise, our vision is to

provide focused, agile, and unencumbered response to legislative and

payment challenges to improve business conditions for independent physical

therapy practices.

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m>

Health quality requires looking at our

caregivers<http://ptmanagerblog.com/health-quality-requires-looking-at-our-careg\

i>

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Health quality requires looking at our caregivers

by Jordan Grumet, MD <http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/jordan-grumet>|

struggled to express herself through broken English. Her lively

facial expressions and exuberance betrayed by her inability to string the

words together fluently. One hand gesticulated widely while the other

rested gently on the elderly woman’s hair.

She somehow managed to coo quietly in her companions ear, calming her, as

she continued the conversation with me. ’s eyes opened and closed in

an exaggerated blinking manner as she questioned me further. Although she

understood my words, she doubted their meaning.

***

moved to the United states five years ago to build a life with her

fiancee. She took a job as a caregiver for an elderly woman with

Alzheimer’s. Over the years her love affair with her beau dissipated but

her relationship with her employer flourished.

She quickly became the primary care taker. She ran the house and finances.

She spent every waking moment feeding, cleaning, and nurturing. Her patient

— her employer — had become her friend.

***

There was absolutely no doubt her friend was dying. She walked a slow and

relentless march to the grave. She no longer spoke. She couldn’t feed

herself. Such simple tasks as bathing or dressing had become as complicated

as quantum physics.

choked on each word.

*But I can’t just let her die!*

I explained that for her friend, death was no longer the feared outcome; no

longer the emergency. It was suffering that was anathema. We would work

together to make her comfortable. We would steer her away from the hospital

and manage complications from home. Eventually she would slip away quietly

and without fuss or fight.

I could see the transformation in ’s posture. She understood. Her head

bowed as she whispered up towards me. The tone of her statement rose at

completion as if she was asking a question.

*So we will no longer try to save her.*

I could see the internal struggle as she paused. Her arms stopped moving

and fell to her side. Nothing in her former life prepared her for this

moment. It was as if I erased a large part of her essence with a sweeping

motion of my hand.

***

and I would talk multiple times over the next few months. Eventually

her friend would die quietly in her own bed. ’s hand on her forehead

with a wet cloth clutched by her side. Her lasts breaths peaceful. Her

lasts moments enveloped in selfless love.

She visited me one more time before she drove to the airport and got on a

plane back to Poland. She thanked me profusely and handed me a box of

chocolates.

As I watched her walk out of my office I thought about the state of our

country.

We talk about healthcare and quality as if they are quantities that can be

hung in IV bags in high tech hospitals garnished with radiology suites and

cancer centers. We cherish magazines that outline the best hospitals and

the best doctors as we read through the best advertisements effacing each

of their pages.

But if you really want to search for the highest quality you have to look

further. You have to wend your way through the living rooms and parlors of

our people. To the quiet places where the ill and beleaguered are being

tended to moment by moment with careful hands and open hearts.

You have to look to our caregivers … to our families.

When are we going to start learning from them?

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kevinmd.com<http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/12/health-quality-requires-caregive\

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