"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

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

New Electronic Health Records Toolkit available from the APTA

An Electronic Health Records (EHR) adoption toolkit is now available at the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) website. Member log-in is required.

The site is divided into four parts for ease of assimilation. As described on the website:
  1. Decision - why there is a push to adopt EHR and an introduction to the issues that impact physical therapists' practice.
  2. Preparation - What you need for successful adoption of an EHR system. Also, what is an EHR? How does an EHR fit in your current environment and workflow.
  3. Selection - What are the available types of EHR software and hardware?
  4. Implementation - A smooth transition when adopting an EHR requires an organized approach and clear communication with your facility's staff.
According to the APTA:
"Although PTs are not yet required or incentivized to adopt EHR systems for such initiatives as Medicare's Meaningful Use Program, which in 2015 will penalize eligible providers that do not meet the requirements for "meaningful use," physicians and facilities that are included in the program will expect the PTs with whom they share patients use compatible EHR systems."
In other words, physical therapists are not yet invited to the party but we need to get dressed like we're going anyways :)
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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 .

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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.