Dear APTA Virginia members,
 
I hope this message finds you all well and safe. Since our last newsletter, lots of changes have occurred.

 

First, many of our fellow members have seen reduction in work or been furloughed from their positions as a direct result of COVID-19. APTA Virginia has been proud to be a resource to many of you who reached out for guidance through this process. Our hopes and prayers are for these situations to be short term and all members can be back treating patients quickly.

 

APTA is very pleased to report that CMS now recognizes physical therapists as eligible to furnish and bill for Medicare telehealth services for the duration of the public health emergency. This change is retroactive to March 1. This policy change comes after a robust advocacy effort from APTA staff and members.

 

I’m a loser.

I lose my cell phone all the time, much to my husband’s chagrin. I lose paper appointment cards before I can write them down in my amazing electronic calendar. I lose my glasses. I lose track of time with patients and get behind in the schedule. Sometimes I lose my patience….

Please congratulate this year's APTA Virginia award winners!

Please welcome the new members of the APTA VA SSIG Executive Committee!

 

Coronavirus has brought many challenges to people across the world. It has impacted many things that nobody could control including physical and mental health, financial and social problems as well as a mass of other issues. From hands-on learning to online education, the transition was an abrupt and difficult adjustment; we were forced to find unique ways to learn the knowledge, skills and techniques of physical therapy through a computer screen. Luckily, parents, children, siblings, partners, roommates and pets all substituted in for the practice of skills to help enhance our hands-on learning at home. Although it was not the ideal educational environment and brought unique challenges to our student body, my class at Virginia Commonwealth University stayed positive and supported one another through this uncertain time. We did this through a few ways: 

PT in Motion News
A new clarification from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yields good news regarding telehealth for outpatient therapy services.