Clinics In The Spotlight

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Rehab Net News Update

CCI Edits, and much more.  Since most therapists are busy treating patients, they are unable to keep informed on important legislation without help.  The APTA and Rehab Net take advantage of the computer age to share information through newsletters and e-mail.

 

APTA offers great resource materials that can be      purchased and some that are even free to members and Rehab Net offers a free resource library where you can borrow materials such as books on Kinesio Taping, Valuating Your Practice, the Reimbursement Resource Book, the Functional Toolbox, and various audio tapes from training courses.

 

APTA offers access to a variety of professionals who can assist with billing issues, recruitment, and ethics just to name a few.  Rehab Net also offers a great     network of both therapists and office managers to assist members with issues that arise specific to Arkansas.

 

Rehab Net encourages members to also join the APTA as they are aware of the great benefit of a national   organization in keeping informed and represented in important legislative issues.  They also see the power in numbers when dealing with issues that effect the     profession as a whole.  One way that you, as owners, can help encourage membership is in requiring it as a condition of employment.  Susie Deller of Sierra Rehab Services in Reno, NV, told Advance for Physical Therapist & PT Assistants in an article earlier this year that, “Joining the APTA shows me that someone is interested in the profession and in himself/herself as a professional.  I like people who want to be on the cutting edge, seeking out information.  It stands to reason that an APTA member would like to hire others who are APTA members.  Oddly enough, speech therapists are required to join ASHA, but physical therapists don’t have to join APTA.  Regardless, whether it is a requirement or a privilege, a professional of any sort would benefit from membership in their national and state associations.  What these organizations do, in terms of professional development is sufficient reason alone to join, but of course there are loads of other reasons to join them too.

 

Important Reminder

 

Please remember to notify Rehab Net of any change in ownership, change in staff or any complaints and/or claims filed against you or any of your staff.  Also, please remember when you renew your license or professional liability insurance, to send us a copy either by fax 866-548-6003 or mail it to us at P.O. Box 202, Conway, AR  72033.

 

 

What’s It Worth?

[Association Membership]

 

It is hard to overstate the impact professional organizations have had on the physical therapy profession as a whole.  In recent years, groups like the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), Arkansas Physical Therapy Association (ArPTA) and Rehabilitation Network of AR (Rehab Net) have played a  considerable role in lobbying for new legislation at both the state and federal levels and other advances to increase not only the responsibility but the visibility of the profession.

 

Often overlooked are the other benefits afforded the members of such organizations.  What do physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech therapist gain from membership with their national and state associations?

 

Many of you may have joined the national associations while still in school because a lot of your friends were doing it.  It was a way to network, meet people, and learn more about physical therapy.  As time passed you realized that it also offered education which allows you to  improve your clinical skills and  advocacy that has helped give physical therapists a voice.

 

One of the APTA’s foremost missions in recent years has been the effort to educate the public en masse as to the existence of physical therapy, let alone what its service can provide.  Not too many years ago, very few people even knew what physical therapy was.  Many physical therapists like performing physical therapy but are not inclined to go out and promote it. 

 

Rehab Net was created by private practice physical therapist that banded together to more effectively contract as providers with insurance companies in answer to managed care coming into the state.  Since the passage of the Any Willing Provider Laws, Rehab Net’s main focus has switched to promoting the independent private practice of physical, occupational and speech therapy in Arkansas.

 

Membership in both APTA and Rehab Net makes their members privy to information they would not otherwise receive such as legislative issues, changes in Medicare, changes in documentation requirements,