Ethical Implications - Pitfalls + Pratfalls

The Ohio Physical Therapy Association's Ethics Committee, in collaboration with the Physical Therapy Section of the Ohio Occupational Therapy Physical Therapy, and Athletic Trainers Board present and discuss the following topic areas applicable to Ohio license holders: Physical Therapist/Physical Therapist Assistant relationship and scope of practice including, but not limited to, the number of physical therapist assistants a physical therapist can supervise, the various types of supervision as defined in laws and rules, appropriate delegation of treatment interventions as well as discussion concerning those PT-only interventions which cannot be delegated, proper documentation and co-signature approach and timeliness to also include progress reports / plan of care recertification reports, when the plan of care becomes ‘active’ for PTA involvement, and addressing of goals by PTAs, updating/adjusting plans of care.

The challenges of productivity demands with focus on the requirement to ensure safe, legal, and ethical practice remains paramount in care delivery and billing as well as providing resources for license holders and members when employers exert pressure to achieve productivity without appropriate education and training to achieve that metric; this content area will also discuss what metrics may be reasonably included and involved in attempts to measure productivity in physical therapy practice.

Common infractions relative to laws and rules of practice in Ohio including, but not limited to, continuing education / continued competence compliance and audit, maintaining current address/email address and employer information on file with the section, Jurisprudence Assessment Module compliance, duty to report, and other common infractions at the discretion of the Physical Therapy Section.

Upon completion of this session, the attendee will be able to:

1. Understand the PT/PTA relationship and roles, limits, and parameters as they relate to legal and ethical practice of physical therapy in the state of Ohio.
2. Professionally interact with supervisors regarding managing productivity requirements.
3. Understand common law and rules infractions and be equipped to prevent and address such occurrences.