Risk Management 101

In the healthcare environment, physical therapy professionals are finding new ways to expand their services to meet identified patient care needs, including opportunities within the area of women’s health. Most physical therapy professional liability policies, including the one endorsed by the American Physical Therapy Association and administered by Healthcare Providers Service Organization (HPSO), are designed to cover a Physical Therapist for medical incidents that arise from the performance of professional services falling within the scope of the physical therapist’s state practice act. What is important from a risk management perspective is that Physical Therapists research and understand what they can and cannot do before entering new areas of practice, and what constitutes the provision of a professional service versus the provision of a more general health-related service (e.g. a general fitness/wellness type of service). They should be certain that they are operating within the scope of the practice act in the state(s) in which they are licensed, and consider carefully whether or not their scope of personal competence is compatible with the type of services they will provide…