I hope everyone had a pleasant and eventful summer, maybe even managing to get a vacation in. We are coming off on a great week in DC where the APTA Centennial celebration took place alongside other annual events including the House of Delegates and Federal Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill. I was truly inspired looking back over the years to see how far we have come as a profession, as well as the momentum, ambition, and goals we have moving forward. I encourage you to visit apta.org to see some of the great content from the past week. 

I want to remind everyone that proposed Medicare cuts to Physical Therapy and other rehab services are still looming, as well as the PTA differential which reduces reimbursement by 15% for treatment provided by a PTA. Please visit apta.org or aptqi.com and send a letter to your legislator opposing this legislation – it will only take 2 minutes of your time. 

I want to congratulate Shawne Soper for receiving the Catherine Worthingham Fellow Award this year. Shawne has many years of service to both APTA and APTA Virginia, including serving as a past Speaker of the House of Delegates. This award is a great honor and reflection of years of service to our profession, and I can’t think of anyone more deserving.

On a more somber note, I am sorry to inform you that Ryan Webb, a long-time member and leader here at APTA VA, has passed away after a lengthy illness. Ryan was the chair of the Private Practice SIG among other roles with our chapter. I knew Ryan personally and can say that he was a genuinely honest, caring, and down-to-earth individual who was well liked and respected both in the clinic and the community. Ryan will be greatly missed. You can read more about Ryan’s life and send condolences here. 

Our Fall Summit is right around the corner! We have a fantastic lineup of events and education offerings, including a Trivia Night fundraiser for the PAC. Please be on the lookout for registration information and visit our website for more details. Hope to see you there!
 
Sincerely,

Tony Grillo, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT

The Virginia chapter has a long tradition of activism in the APTA House of Delegates. Even the disruption from COVID-19 and the need to use virtual means to gather didn't stop us!! Just look at what we have accomplished in the last three years:

     • 2019 - we proposed a motion to create a special committee of the House to review the APTA bylaws and propose recommendations for a comprehensive update. The motion passed!!
     • 2020 - we facilitated successful passage of a bylaws amendment to give sections and academies 2 votes each in the House!!
     • 2021 - the special House committee that resulted from our 2019 motion presented their work and those bylaws' amendments were largely adopted!! And, a motion we proposed to establish a proactive collaboration process for national event planning also passed!!

 

Capitol Hill 

On August 9, Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Sen. Roger Wicker introduced S. 2676, bipartisan legislation to add physical therapists to the National Health Service Corps. The senate bill is the companion to H.R. 3759, which was introduced in June by Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND). The legislation would allow PTs to participate in the National Health Service Corps loan repayment program, an initiative that repays up to $50,000 in outstanding student loans to certain health care professionals who agree to work for at least two years in a designated Health Professional Shortage Area. APTA is a strong supporter of extending student loan forgiveness to PTs — particularly as a way to improve access to physical therapist services in areas already experiencing shortages — and has made passage of loan forgiveness legislation a key objective in our 2021-2022 public policy priorities. APTA has also included addressing student debt as a part of its overall strategic plan.

APTA's Patient Action Center contains letters focused on the patient impact of certain federal issues and bills. Scroll down to take action.

The Awards Committee would like to welcome their new chairperson, Gail Tarleton, PT, DPT, OCS! She is taking over after Debi Reese, PT, DPT, PCS, moved to Florida this past June 2021. Dr. Gail Tarleton is the Director of Clinical Education for the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at Mary Baldwin University / Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences. Dr. Tarleton has 28 years of clinical experience working in a variety of settings with a primary focus on orthopedics and industrial medicine. She is a certified Orthopedic Specialist and has been a faculty member at MDCHS since 2015.

In a continuing press for codes that are more specific, a single, general LBP code has been replaced with several.

 

 

Trivia consisting of numerous exciting subjects from sports to art and physical therapy trivia! Do you remember the 12 muscles of the posterior compartment of the forearm? Do you know the name of the team that won the 2006 World Series? What about three novels written by Shakespeare?!

 

You can compete individually and virtually through KAHOOT! Not familiar with KAHOOT? Don’t worry, we’ll give you instructions in advance and do a practice question or two to orient everyone to the program.

 

Grand prize is free admission to the APTA Virginia Spring conference.

 

Register here.

The APTA Virginia Pediatric Special Interest Group (PSIG) is pleased to announce an opportunity for a PT student and a PTA student to earn an APTA gift card which can be utilized to purchase APTA Academy of Pediatric Physical Therapy membership or other resources through APTA.

The Student SIG will be hosting the Interviews with Adaptive Athletes on Saturday, November 6, 2021 from 3:15pm - 5:15pm. Each month we will highlight a different athlete that will be attending - this month we are featuring Shervonne Smith!

 

APTA VA is offering a monetary scholarship to minority PT/PTA students in their final academic year. All applications must be submitted by close of business on December 1st, 2021. This is a self-nomination application - if you have a classmate that you think this is applicable to, please share this information with them!

 

Catch up on the news from the APTA VA Student SIG!

NEW: Starting this year, we are collaborating with Scorebuilders to provide a monthly question to help students prepare for the NPTE licensing exam! It is never too early to test your knowledge or learn something new!

APTA recommends checking that you’re accessing the ICD-10 guidelines for the correct year. APTA has also developed lists of commonly used codes in different areas of physical therapist practice. (Accessible with a free online account.) 

American Physical Therapy Association 
The Primary Health Services Enhancement Act (H.R 5365) is a bipartisan bill that would elevate the status of PTs in community health centers by allowing them to bill independently for services billed to Medicare and Medicaid. (Accessible with a free online account.) 

Journal of Physical Therapy Education 
The Placement Process Task Force (PPTF), a combined effort of the Clinical Education Special Interest Group and the National Consortium of Clinical Educators, has developed recommendations for the placement process of students in full-time clinical education experiences following data collection from stakeholders.