American Physical Therapy Association President Roger Herr, PT, MPA, told physical therapists and physical therapist assistants gathered in Washington, D.C., today that PTs are "undervalued and underpaid" and are playing defense "when we should be playing offense."

Herr used his presidential address to tell PTs to seek new payment models "beyond the fee schedule and insurance-based models that have dominated our practice and created a dependence that is unsustainable for our next generation."

READ HERR'S FULL SPEECH

"At the same time, we must address administrative burden," Herr added. "APTA recently showed that prior authorization alone adds 8-10 minutes per patient encounter—for many in practice, that is equal to one billable code. It's also 8-10 minutes spent not providing care, but justifying the care you need to provide."

Reimbursement reductions and onerous provisions have swirled through all segments of the healthcare market, and physical therapists are not immune. APTA Colorado works proactively with payers in support of members, but stalled negotiations have become commonplace, and thousands of caregivers may lose access to their preferred care providers.

Herr also said:

• Physical therapy is in a labor crisis and must do something about it. "This is not simply a matter of turning out more PTs and PTAs. Program growth will not matter if the current work environment is driving people to leave the profession. We must address the actual workforce challenges," he said.
• The profession must embrace innovation. "Technology is a disruptive force. But it's a force that can be leveraged to reduce administrative burden, improve patient engagement, and enhance both accessibility and affordability of care. We cannot back away from this reality," he said.
• This fall, APTA will launch its Value of PT report. "We know that our profession has delivered high value care for decades, but this landmark report will help us make the case through evidence, and by consolidating our value perspective into one resource," he said.

ABOUT US:  APTA Colorado is a non-profit professional society composed of more than 2,000 physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and PT and PTA students. We are a component of the American Physical Therapy Association.