To our patients, we need your help!

March 3rd, 2011

One of the most urgent issues facing the physical therapy profession and consumer protection is Physician-Owned Physical Therapy Practices (POPTS), which allows physicians to profit from referring patients to physical therapy services owned by the doctors.  AB 783 would override current state law (Moscone-Knox Act) preventing physician corporations from employing physical therapists and referring patients to their own physical therapy clinics.  Please take a look and sign the petition against POPTS and AB-783.  We thank you in advance for reading and for your support. 

 The Facts are Clear – POPTS are Bad for Californians

  1. POPTS are a conflict of interest.
  2. POPTS limit consumer choice.
  3. POPTS cause unnecessary financial/economic harm.
  4. Care provided by POPTS fall below professional standards 90% of the time.
  5. POPTS limit the autonomy of our profession.
  6. 80 percent of PTs surveyed have been negatively impacted by POPTS.

Even the AMA Council on Ethics and Judicial Affairs (CEJA) said, “Under no circumstances may physicians place their own financial interests above the welfare of their patients… If a conflict develops between the physician’s financial interest and the physician’s responsibilities to the patient, the conflict must be resolved to the patient’s benefit.”

Click here for the website to help educate the public. 
Click here to view what the California Physical Therapy Board thinks.   

The California Private Practice Group put out a petition to CA PTs and in less than 24 hours the petition had over 500 signatures.
Immediate Action Needed: To view and sign the petition, click here.  It takes less than 30 seconds to complete!

Here’s what some of them had to say:

- The obvious conflict of interest in a physician self referring to physical therapy and gaining a financial benefit from that referral goes against all reason, hurts the public and raises the cost of health care.

- I strongly support a patient’s freedom of choice when looking for a physical therapist.

- POPTs has impacted my Clinic this year in that I had to lay off 3 full time therapists, one support staff and one office staff member. The only Ortho group in town merged with a group that utilizes their own MRI, surgery center and PT clinic. There is no way for me to compete. I’m suffering a slow death. I have been in practice for 37 years in this town.

- This issue has haunted our profession for all of my 30 years in the business. It’s a clear violation of our ethics and should have consequences for those who choose to practice in this relationship.

- I will be a new DPT graduate in a few months and I am positive that my colleagues and I would not want to work at a POPTS.

- As an instructor in the physical therapy program, this is a hot topic of discussion each year. I ask the students to provide arguments for and against POPTS and present them in a debate. Invariably the evidence against POPTS is irrefutable and overwhelming.  In an atmosphere of limited resources and reform, this is the time to eliminate this outdated practice.

- Let’s get this done…enough of the POPTS!

- I agree 100% that POPTS have a very negative impact on PT’s, insurance companies and patients overall treatment.

- POPT Clinics are purely designed for profit, Not Good Outcomes.  So high over-utilization means higher cost to the Insurance and bad deal for the patient who ends up losing in the end.

Clarification of PT Employment Relationships

Notice: The State of California Legislative Counsel has rendered an opinion that it is ILLEGAL for PTs to be employed by any professional corporation except for those owned by physical therapists and Naturopaths.  In its opinion, the Legislative Counsel confirms that, because the existing California Corporations Code does not specifically include physical therapists on the list of those who may be employed by a medical corporation, a physical therapist is prohibited from providing physical therapy services as an employee of a medical corporation, podiatric corporation, or chiropractic corporation.  This ruling means that physical therapists in these employment situations may be subject to discipline by the Physical Therapy Board of California (PTBC).

Source: California Physical Therapy Association

Sports + Orthopedic Leaders has clinics located in both Oakland (SOL PT) and Santa Cruz (SOL Santa Cruz), CA.  SOL is the #1 choice for physical therapy and sports performance training within the East Bay and the San Francisco Bay Area.  Serving the communities of Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and beyond, SOL Physical Therapy’s award winning clinical team has helped thousands of people reach their physical goals.  Services provided include: Sports + Orthopedic Rehabilitation, Active Release Techniques®, Manual Therapy Techniques, Pilates, & Personal and Peak Performance Training.

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