HealthPartners, a nonprofit HMO, recently awarded Therapy Partners Inc a 2011 Excellence in Innovation award for its project Value-based Purchasing Model for Therapy Services.

Therapy Partners' 6-member independent physical therapy practices collected outcomes information using a patient-reporting tool over the course of 1 year. That information helped HealthPartners develop a pay-for-performance model for therapy services that focuses payment on value rather than on volume of services.

With health care reform's emphasis on developing new models of care that reduce costs and increase patient outcomes, it is important that physical therapists (PTs) begin to consider similar models for their practices. To help APTA members seek opportunities in the changing health care environment, APTA has created a series of videos that highlight various innovative clinical practice models. Each APTA member appearing in a video is part of a nontraditional, outside-the-box creative practice model. These videos can help PTs gain insight and inspiration as they look for ways to become involved in new models of care delivery.