To All:

We must take this threat seriously or the ATC profession as we now
know it will forever change.

1: We must fight the thinking within the rehabilitation world that a
PTA with 2-4 years of less educational experience when compared to
an ATC is allowed to have more autonomy and has the "legislative"
right for being reimbursed for services just because they
are "physical therapy assistants". It is ludicrous. We know that
and some legislators know that is true. We must inform all of the
legislators: city, count, state, and national. I have a PhD and I
cannot be reimbursed for rehabilitation services in a private
setting here in NJ.

2. Synchronicity. Everything in life is related in some respect.
Yes the high school and college people will say that I don't have to
worry about reimbursement at this time or ever in the future. I
wish I had that crystal ball. Many school districts will start to
look at the reimbursement opportunities of the rehabilitation
opportunities within their school system. School taxes are going
up, state allocations are going done, services are stagnant or
slowly growing, and something is going to give. One person is going
to come up with a simple solution on how to gain reimbursement in
the High School setting and it is going to slowly grow.
Reimbursement in the college setting is already occurring.
Rehabilitation companies are aligning themselves with large
D1 athletic departments to provide rehabilitation services to the
athletes. This is to gain an entrance to the workman's comp, pre-
employment and post employment screening, drug testing, and
rehabilitation services for all of the university employees. WE
NEED TO PROTECT OUR TURF.

3. If the ATC profession does not receive equal footing with the PT
profession in terms of reimbursement for the rehabilitation codes,
the ATC world will be shaken to its core. Employment numbers of
ATCs in the physician extender, rehabilitation companies, and CIC
settings will be changed dramatically for the negative. Established
ATCs within these settings will be forced to resign, fired, or
reengineered to other positions. New Grad and young ATCs may not
find that entry-level job as trickle down affect will occur as the
more established ATC will have to take jobs at a lower pay so that
their family can survive. I was in that situation from January
2001 – December 2002. I will always be grateful to my fellow ATCs
that provided mw with 4 part time jobs during that time. One good
thing during that period is that I did not take a job from another
person. It can happen though and I do not how I will react but my
family comes first.

4: The educational process for future ATCs could be potentially
harmed. With less employment opportunities, the numbers of students
wanting to become ATCs will slowly drop over the years. All of the
curriculums will feel this in some respect. The more established
and reputable programs will survive. The "new" curriculums coming
on line will have a tough time filling student slots and maintaining
good faculty as the marketplace dictates where the students attend
school. Schools will not support a curriculum with a limited
student supply.

5: The students of the future are going to look at professions that
provide them with better quality of life standards and more
importantly financial and economical stability. And how do we
achieve financial and economical stability? By guaranteeing a
steady revenue production stream for your employer and/or to
yourself. ATCs within the past 10 years have just accepted the
thinking of revenue production for themselves or company. I
personally know of 20 people who have left the "traditional" (sorry
Sue) ATC world and headed into the revenue world (PT, PA, Fitness,

Physician, Construction, DME Sales, or just plain anything outside

of the ATC profession)because of the minimal quality of life standards

they had before the switch. They are all happier to some degree.

These people now have a greater sense of purpose and control. Sometimes

more headaches but it is their headache.

The PT programs are losing students to pharmacy right now because of
the higher starting salary (80K (pharm) vs. 40K (PT) vs ATC (30K).
You do the math. After student loans, cost of living, and ancillary
costs, which is the better profession?  I know in Philadelphia, you need

at least 35 K to live okay as a single. 

Thank you for allowing me to express my thoughts. Please put
forward the good fight.

Kenneth Rogers, PhD, ATC
District II CIC chairperson
215 349 5401 work
215 349 5128 fax


--- In athletictrainingCICsetting@yahoogroups.com, "Sue Finkam"
<sfinkam@e...> wrote:
> An FYI for those of you who haven't seen it...here is what APTA is
> telling its members (note last sentence).
>
> *** APTA ACTION ALERT ***
>
> Support Proposed Personnel Standards
> For Medicare "Incident To" Physical Therapy Services
>
> Background: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
> published the proposed 2005 Medicare physician fee schedule rule
on
> August 5, 2004. The proposed rule would require that physical
> therapy services provided in a physician's office incident to a
> physician's professional services must be furnished by personnel
who
> meet certain standards. Specifically, these services could only be
> furnished by an individual who is a graduate of an accredited
> professional physical therapist education program or must meet
> certain grandfathering clauses or educational requirements for
> foreign trained physical therapists. A summary of the provisions
in
> the proposed rule that impact physical therapists and physical
> therapist assistants is available at
>
http://www.apta.org/Govt_Affairs/regulatory/Medicare/treatment_settin
> gs/privatepractice/2005PFS/sum2005proprule
>
> APTA strongly supports the proposed personnel standards for
physical
> therapy services that are provided "incident to" physician
services
> in the physician's office. APTA has argued that interventions
> should be represented and reimbursed as physical therapy only when
> performed by a physical therapist or by a physical therapist
> assistant under the supervision of a physical therapist. The
> Association strongly opposes the use of unqualified personnel to
> provide services described and billed as physical therapy services.
>
> What You Can Do: CMS is seeking comments from the public in
response
> to this proposal – giving physical therapists and physical
therapist
> assistants the opportunity to educate CMS officials about the
> negative impact of allowing unqualified individuals to provide
> services that are billed as physical therapy services in
physicians'
> offices. A high number of individual and distinct comments
> supporting the agency's proposal could have a great impact on its
> decision to retain the requirement in the final regulations. It
is
> crucial for physical therapists to express their views loud and
> clear, including specific examples from personal experience of the
> negative impact of using unqualified personnel to furnish physical
> therapy services.
>
>
> Sue Finkam
> Chair, NATA CIC Committee
> finkam@s...