Practice & Advocacy

Gain valuable insights, resources, and strategies to strengthen your professional journey and equip yourself with knowledge and tools to help advocate for the advancement of the pelvic health physical therapy profession! Stay informed on the latest legislative issues that impact Physical Therapists (PTs), Physical Therapist Assistants (PTAs), Physical Therapy Students (SPTs), and the patients and clients we serve on a state and federal level.

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Contribute to our Practice & Advocacy Series! Are you an Academy member who has legislative and advocacy experience as it relates to pelvic and abdominal health physical therapy? Our members would love to hear from you! Consider contributing an educational blog post about your experiences at APTA Capitol Hill Day or at your local state level legislative events.

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Getting Paid: What’s on the Horizon for 2017
Getting Paid: What’s on the Horizon for 2017

As Section on Women’s Health Reimbursement Committee chair, I am fortunate to attend the APTA State Policy and Payment Forum annually. For therapists of women’s and men’s health, let’s be honest–payment can be one of the most aggravating and unfamiliar aspects of our job. Indeed, this forum changes Continue Reading

Postedby Kelly Huestis
Date posted10/28/2016


Ringing in 2017 with New Physical Therapy Evaluation and Re-Evaluation Codes
Ringing in 2017 with New Physical Therapy Evaluation and Re-Evaluation Codes

Starting January 1, 2017, physical therapists will have three new evaluation codes and one new re-evaluation code. The new evaluation codes will replace the 97001, PT initial evaluation, and 97002, PT reevaluation codes. Continue Reading

Postedby Kathryn Mary Pring
Date posted10/22/2016


Building Awareness of Women’s & Men’s Physical Therapy: A Call for Outreach During National PT Month
Building Awareness of Women’s & Men’s Physical Therapy: A Call for Outreach During National PT Month

I recently co-presented a half-day workshop at the 37th annual American Urogynecologic Society (AUGS) Pelvic Floor Dysfunction (PFD) Week event in Denver, Colorado. Although AUGS PFD Week programming has traditionally been geared toward researchers and physicians, recent years have seen increased in Continue Reading

Postedby Alexandra Hill
Date posted10/8/2016


Reimbursement Q&A: ICD-10 Pregnancy
Reimbursement Q&A: ICD-10 Pregnancy

I work with several pregnant patients for sciatica, low back pain, and pelvic pain. Do I need to code for the patient being pregnant and then code for the pain and functional problems or just the pain and functional problems? Continue Reading

Postedby Kelly Huestis
Date posted08/30/2016


Goodbye, 97001 & 97002
Goodbye, 97001 & 97002

As you may have heard, Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) is changing how we code for physical therapy evaluations in 2017. There will be three new evaluation codes– 97X61, 97X62, and 97X63–that will replace 97001, and one new re-evaluation code, 97X64, that will replace 97002. Continue Reading

Date posted07/26/2016


Reimbursement Q&A: Billing for Electrodes
Reimbursement Q&A: Billing for Electrodes

Question:  Our physical therapists do internal vaginal biofeedback and/or electrical stimulation. The electrode probes we use are $40 each, and we want to ensure we are using the most appropriate CPT codes to charge for this intervention. Do you have any advice for us? “90911” seems like an... Continue Reading

Postedby Kelly Huestis
Date posted06/28/2016


APTA Federal Forum: A Report From Capitol Hill
APTA Federal Forum: A Report From Capitol Hill

SOWH Federal Affairs Chair Gail Zitterkopf (left) and Director of Programming Sandy Hilton are among the hundreds of APTA physical therapists participating in the 2016 Federal Forum to create and support stronger PT-related legislation. Continue Reading

Postedby Gail Heather Zitterkopf
Date posted06/21/2016


Alternative Payment Models: Not just an “Ortho Thing”
Alternative Payment Models: Not just an “Ortho Thing”

The new craze is all about “alternative payment models” (APM). In January 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a plan to move aggressively on its goal to transition 30% of traditional fee-for-service Medicare payments to APMs such as the Comprehensive Care Joint Replacem Continue Reading

Postedby NaKisha Robertson Jackson
Date posted05/31/2016


Scholarships and Peer Recruitment Help Attract Minorities into the Physical Therapy Profession
Scholarships and Peer Recruitment Help Attract Minorities into the Physical Therapy Profession

2016 APTA Minority Scholarship winner Kimmi Edwards, DPT, calls for expanded support of minority PT students to diversify the profession. Do you have strong feelngs about whether minorities are well represented or recruited into the physical therapy (PT) profession? Continue Reading

Date posted05/23/2016


Student Debt: The High Cost to the Physical Therapy Profession
Student Debt: The High Cost to the Physical Therapy Profession

The “real world” is approaching, and it’s becoming difficult to shake the strange feeling of impending doom that accompanies the thought of student loans. This may sound like gross hyperbole, but more than a few studies link financial stress to poor mental and physical health. Continue Reading

Date posted05/17/2016


Why Settlement of the “Improvement Standard” Lawsuit Still Matters
Why Settlement of the “Improvement Standard” Lawsuit Still Matters

It has been close to three years since the Jimmo v. Sibelius, or the “Improvement Standard,” settlement was announced. Since then, both clinicians and Medicare beneficiaries are unaware of the settlement and what it means for them. Continue Reading

Postedby Kathryn Mary Pring
Date posted03/3/2016


Part 3: ICD – 10 for the Pregnant Patient
Part 3: ICD – 10 for the Pregnant Patient

Struggling with ICD-10 for your prenatal and postpartum patients?  Why wouldn’t you be?  There are typical PT diagnosis codes such as sciatica, muscle weakness, spasm, instability, and more, but there are also a set of O codes listed for obstetric issues. Continue Reading

Postedby Kelly Huestis
Date posted01/19/2016