Consumer Direct Access To Physical Therapy Needs A Game Change

In Texas (a “direct access state” according to the American Physical Therapy Association), we are nine months away from another legislative session in which we will attempt, yet again, to attain consumer direct access to physical therapy.

All has been quiet here in Texas since April 2011 when we finally had a bill reach committee, only to have it die in committee. March 2012 is now upon us, and I am sure that the overtures will begin again in earnest soon enough. I can hear it now: “We need to build relationships with our legislators” will be the battle cry, followed shortly thereafter by “we need to raise money for lobbying”.

Reality check: we don’t have the people. We don’t have the money. We don’t have the legislators. And as they say, if you do what you’ve done, you’ll get what you’ve got.

The profession needs a significant game change – a pitching change, if you will.

Have we seen a growth in the number of “legislative relationships” over the years? Yes. Have we been able to raise more money for political action? Yes. But even though those numbers have risen – albeit slowly - the net result is no legislative changes for the consumer in the past 20 years.

The research on direct access to physical therapy has been available for a decade or more and it continues to be ignored by legislators.

The reality is that we have a relatively small professional population – and a miniscule number of political action dollars – relative to our medical association opponents who oppose any such efforts. We must accept that if we play on those terms - the terms of our opponents - we will fail. Miserably. And we will continue to do so. Time and time again.

That is, of course, unless we change the game. And that is where we have the potential for the greatest impact.

Patients can change the game. But it’s not just about asking patients to write us wonderful little testimonials about how great physical therapists are in helping them with their problems. We’ve had that for years – and that has been ignored.

We need impact. We need a new pitch.

Back pain should be the poster child for consumer direct access to physical therapy. It should be the face of our profession. Everyone has it at some time or another. It best exemplifies the issues of both access to care and the cost of care.

So how can patients change the game? They can be educated about the costs of care, especially for a common condition like back pain. They can be educated about the lack of ready access to care. They can be educated about their lack of patient rights in freely selecting the care they wish to receive.

And – the most important part of all – they can vote for legislators that support them, and not the special interests. Patients can become more vigilant in voting for legislators that support a patient’s access to care, legislators that aren’t simply going to be swayed by whoever puts the greatest number of lobbyist dollars into their pockets.

This problem needs a very loud grassroots campaign pitch.

When voters are told that that the health care issues at hand – for such a common condition like back pain - are their lack of rights and the amount of money they pay for their care because of it – I can almost guarantee you that the game will change. Quickly.

And not a moment too soon. 2013 is right around the corner.

Photo credits: MissChatter