At the request of the Virginia Physical Therapy Association, Senate Bill 1305 (sponsored by State Senator Newman) and House Bill 2087 (sponsored by Delegate Janis) have been introduced and deal with direct access to PT services without referral.  House Bill 2087 was passed out of committee and will be voted on in the House as early as Thursday, January 18th.

This legislation is an important step towards making safe and appropriate health care more accessible to more people. The referral mandate in Virginia causes delays in the provision of physical therapists' services to individuals who would benefit from our care.

Delays in care can result in higher cost, decreased functional outcomes, and frustration to patients.

WE NEED YOUR HELP IF THESE BILLS ARE TO PASS THIS SESSION AND ACTION IS NEEDED NOW. Already legislators are hearing from opponents of these bills (primarily chiropractors) -- who are casting doubt on our ability to evaluate and treat a patient without a referral.

Unlike last year, this year these bills have the support of the physician lobby. This is due to the hard work done by our legislative team over the past year in coming up with an acceptable bill that all parties could support. We have made great strides for our profession in Virginia and you can help reinforce our lobbying efforts by following these few simple steps.

STEP ONE: Access the General Assembly website to determine who is your Delegate and Senator in Richmond. Through this website, you are also given the opportunity to send a message to these legislators in support of our legislation.

Once you enter your name and address, click "LOOKUP" and your legislators information will be displayed. At the bottom of that page you are given the option to "SEND A MESSAGE TO YOUR DELEGATE AND SENATOR".

STEP TWO: One you have clicked "SEND A MESSAGE TO YOUR DELEGATE AND SENATOR", you are given a box to enter a message. Please fill out all of the empty fields, such as your name, email address and subject line.

Your message should be short and to the point. You are asking them to please vote in favor of Senate Bill 1305 and House Bill 2087 which would give their constituents the ability to access physical therapists' services without professional practice restrictions regarding referral.

It would be helpful if you would describe your personal situation.

Make a statement about how long you have been practicing physical therapy, where you practice, and how these bills would benefit your patients.  Other points you may wish to include (depending on the flow of your letter) -- or you can expand on your own personal experiences with the need for direct access by your patients:

+ Direct access can eliminate delays of service - waiting for a referral can take weeks

+The US Armed Forces and the US Public Health Service  have some form of direct access to physical therapist services.

+ PTs are educated at the post-baccalaureate level (all Virginia PT schools only offer a Doctor of PT degree) and receive extensive education and clinical training to be able to practice without a referral.

+ Most states allow some form of direct access. Virginia is only 1 of 8 states that require a referral to see a Physical Therapist.

+ Liability insurers affirm that direct access does not jeopardize the health, safety, or welfare of patients seeking PT services without referral.

+ PTs are qualified to recognize when a patient's signs and symptoms are inconsistent with or outside of their scope of practice and when the patient should be referred to a physician. Current law in Virginia requires that a PTs must immediately refer to the appropriate health care provider on these occasions.

+ Why should PTs continue to be required to work under a referral requirement when a referral is not required before receiving services such as massage therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, podiatrists or chiropractic services.

STEP THREE, If you receive any feedback, or you have a particularly close relationship with your legislators, please let our lobbyist know. Forward any responses you receive to rgrossman@...

If I haven't emphasized this enough, I'll say it again -- we can't do this without your help and we need that help NOW. These bills could be voted on within days, and it takes time for legislators to look at and react to their correspondence. Please take the 10 minutes or so that is needed to TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW!

STEP FOUR, now that you've done this.... send this email to your colleagues and acquaintances and ask them to help your efforts.

Thank You,

Brian Beaulieu, PT

Legislative Chair

Virginia Physical Therapy Association