"Physical therapy is not a subspecialty of the medical profession and physical therapists are not medical doctors; we are a separate profession that provides a unique service that physicians are unable and untrained to provide."

Letter to the AMA from the APTA, Dec 2009

Monday, July 14, 2008

New Physical Therapy Paradigm

There is a new game in town.

Physical therapists may have to hit the hit the books again to learn the new disability paradigm...

APTA Endorses World Health Organization International Classification of Function Model

In school (I graduated in 1992 from the University of Florida), we learned about impairments in range-of-motion and strength.

We learned about disability and how physical therapists can help people.

We learned that physical therapists link impairments to disability via the physical therapy diagnosis.

Now, the link is the same.

Physical therapists still do the same thing.

The names have changed.

The new ICF model uses new terms.

The terms are important because words direct thinking.

Words are powerful. Words are labels.

Words like Disablement = Participation.

Words like Functional Limitation = Activities.

Words like Impairment = Body Structure and Function.

The American Physical Therapy Association has gotten behind the new paradigm.

Soon, educational programs will get on board.

Then, your students and new graduate physical therapists will arrive...

...talking the new language of Participation, Activities, Body Structure and Function.

Then Medicare will get on board.

Then, you will have to get the new paradigm.

Get it now. Get the new paradigm. Because it's good for your patients.

Because it can help your clinical decision-making.

Learn how you can work this new paradigm into your clinical practice.

Get Bulletproof Physical Therapy Charts and Notes.

Get it.

Free Tutorial

Get free stuff at BulletproofPT.com

Tim Richardson, PT owns a private practice at Medical Arts Rehabilitation, Inc in Palmetto, Florida. The clinic website is at MedicalArtsRehab.com.

Bulletproof Expert Systems: Clinical Decision Support for Physical Therapists in the Outpatient Setting is a manager's workbook with stories, checklists, charts, graphs, tables, and templates describing how you can use paper-based or computerized tools to improve your clinic's Medicare compliance, process adherence and patient outcomes.

Tim has implemented a computerized Clinical Decision Support (CDS) system in his clinic since 2006 that serves as a Reminder, Alerting, Prompting and Predicting CDS using evidence-based tests and measures.

Tim can be reached at
TimRichPT@BulletproofPT.com .

"Make Decisions like Doctors"


Copyright 2007-2010 by Tim Richardson, PT.
No reproduction without authorization.

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American Physical Therapy Association
Consistent with the American Physical Therapy Association Vision Statement for Physical Therapy 2020, the American Physical Therapy Association supports exclusive physical therapist ownership and operation of physical therapy services.