Physical Therapy Ethics Case Study

One important role massage therapist has, is to make the client feel comfortable. The more experience you have within this field, the more confident the therapist would be during a massage session. The idea of the client feeling safe, emotional and/or psychologically, is the a way to receive an effective session (Porcino,2014). The more the client feels complacent, the more the client will be willing to return. Also if the client feels safe, the number of lawsuits would decrease.The American Massage Therapy Association’s Rules of Ethics(2) states that practitioners shall be truthful in advertising and marketing, and refrain from misrepresenting his or her services, charges for services, credentials, training, experience, ability or results

Physical therapists are bound by a set of code of ethics determined by the House of Delegates of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). It’s a set of 8 principles holding the purpose of providing good behavior and performance as well as guidance for physical therapists in facing ethical challenges.

Physical therapy assistant is a health care professional who provides physical therapy services based on the direction and supervision of a licensed physical therapy assistant. This professional helps individuals of all ages who have medical issues and health-related conditions that restrict their ability to move and carry out functional activities in daily life. A physical therapy assistant can work in various settings such as private practices, hospitals, home health, sport facilities, schools, outpatient clinics, and nursing homes. The physical therapy assistant is also responsible for evaluating the changes in a patient's performance based on the physical therapy provided. The kind of care provided by a physical therapy assistant may incorporate teaching the patient to exercise mobility, the use of physical agents, strength and coordination, electrotherapy, and training for various activities like walkers and crutches ("Who Are Physical Therapist Assistants?" 2012). For an individual to become a physical therapy assistant, he/she is required to be licensed, certified, or registered by the state. In this case, the educational requirements and examination criteria are usually stipulated based on the particular state requiring licensure.

Again, I see the mistake of both PT and PTA. Texas Physical therapy examiner rules says it is the professional responsibility of the PT to reexamine and reevaluate the patient at the minimum of once every 60 days after treatment has initiated.2 Likewise it is also mentioned in Texas Physical Therapy examiners rule that PTA may not continue the provision of physical therapy treatment if the PT has not performed a reevaluation.2 Under the provision of supervision, all level of supervision requires some form of communication, telecommunication being the least.3 However, no form of communication took place between the PT and

Code of Ethics is a written set of rules issued by an organization to its employees and administration to aid them provide treatment in accordance with its prime values and ethical standards.

PTA’s are limited on the amount of work that they can provide. They are not allowed to diagnose a patient, for that is the physical therapist’s job. Not following these restrictions can result in the PTA losing his/her license (“Some Difficulties Of Being a Physical Therapy Assistant”). This puts more stress on the PTA because they have to be careful with how they treat a patient. The physical therapist has to approve everything before the PTA can start any processes.

Physical therapy assistants are responsible for assisting the physical therapist in an interven-tion/treatment on patients of all ages. The treatments are only assessed to those who face the ina-bility to function in everyday living activities. This ranges from infants; pediatrics which is chil-dren and geriatrics which is elderly people (Mikulik, Tammy PT, DPT).

As a district physical therapist manager overseeing twelve different facilities, it is important to adhere to the compliance standards and ensure other physical therapists and physical therapist assistances are attaining such standards. In this particular example, it was important that the district manager took responsibility for looking at the audits instead of relying only on the hired auditor. Two red flags were brought to the manager’s attention when reviewing the detailed reports: re-evaluations and modality charges.

To become a physical therapist assistant you need to earn an associate’s degree and graduate from a program that is accredited by CAPTE. Being a Physical therapy assistant takes a lot of hard work and dedication just like any other job. Patients are treated in many different locations from hospitals, nursing homes, outpatient clinics and at the patient’s own home. While treating patients you need to smile, be kind, patient, and understanding. The patient wants to feel like you care and want to see them get better. In order to do that you must do whatever you can to fulfill their needs and listen to their thoughts and concerns. Patients come from many different backgrounds, whether they are from another country, don’t speak English, young, or old, so you have to learn how to accommodate to each individual and treat them with respect. While treating the patients you have to remember to follow all standards given to you, to ensure you aren’t breaking any rules or laws that can affect you and your place of business. As a PTA you are expected to know how to treat a patient, work in a team, document patients, and properly communicate with others. Additional elements that you need to know is how to perform a skin assessment, take a patient’s blood pressure, and perform balance tests. There are many responsibilities when working in this field, but in the end it is all worth

Physical therapists often encounter ethical situations in and outside the workplace. The APTA has several resources to help guide PTs and PTAs to make sound ethical decisions related to their practice. As a PT student, it is important not only to consider possible issues that may arise during my academic and future professional career, but also to become familiar with the APTA’s guidelines and professional standards. This paper will utilize several APTA documents to explore ten hypothetical ethical scenarios.

It was difficult to find the regulations for physical therapy assistants because the information was interspersed in the statutes and rules and in the administrative Code. Much of the law was written more for physical therapist guidance than directed towards the PTA. To apply for an assistant license, the person must be of good moral character, a graduate of an accredited PTA school, pass a board exam, and jurisprudence exam. The license is a certificate and no continuing education is required at this time. The PTA can only practice under the direction of a physical therapist. The assistant cannot evaluate, re-evaluate, discharge, or change a program of a patient and the physical therapist responsible for the patient must be onsite during each treatment. The exception to this rule is in a general supervision capacity. The physical therapist assistant with 2000 hours of supervision in an onsite facility can see a patient independently without onsite supervision (Azsos.gov, n.d.). The physical therapist must be able to communicate with the PTA within 15 minutes, re-evaluate the patient every 4th visit or 30 days whichever comes first and visit the patient the day of communication if needed. There are specific documenting requirements for PTA’s in a general supervision capacity, including documenting the physical therapists name and number, date, intervention and if he PTA consulted with the physical therapist. The

In response to your insightful question, it does seem odd that we do not have one unified Physical Therapy Practice Act; ). Another reason mentioned by Rivera are the unique characteristic of each state including the geography, location, demographics, historical operations of business, commerce, and industry and public policies and community standards.

Physician owned physical therapy services (POPTS) are organizations in which a physician can financially gain from referring physical therapy services to an institution in which they have ownership or some sort of financial stake in the company of referral. This is commonly known as referral for profit.1 An example of POPTS is an orthopedic surgeon owning his/her practice that employs physical therapists to which he/she only refers their patients. This type of referral not only gives unfair advantage to the physician owner; it more importantly takes away from the patient’s choice of provider. This issue has been a source of controversy for some time. The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) has been in opposition to POPTS since the late 1970s. This opposition did not gain traction until the Stark legislation in the 1990s; which

For over 75 years the profession of physical therapy has required it's members to adhere to a standard of ethical behavior.1 The first Code of Ethics adopted by the American Physiotherapy Association in 1935 focused mainly on the relationship between the physical therapist (PT), referring physician, and the disciplinary actions of violating that relationship.2(p.4) Since then the Code of Ethics has evolved into what the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) refers to as the Code of Ethics for the Physical Therapist (PT Code), and the Standards of Ethical Conduct for the Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA Standards).2(p.5),3,4 Today the Code and Standards are designed around the association's core set of values to

Professionals in every field are always confronted with some kind of ethical issues. It has however been noted that these ethical issues become high in magnitude and extent when public officials are involved. Due to the involvement of human life, an industry like healthcare holds ethics in highest regard. Even though these healthcare practitioners are highly trained to deal with issues of these kinds, their decisions can sometimes have a lasting impact on their professional and personal lives (Edwards 2009).