APTA: Working for You

CMS Exempts PTs from DMEPOS Surety Bond Rule

Certain physical therapists are exempt from Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) surety bonds requirements, according to a final rule issued yesterday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

In August 2007, CMS issued a proposed rule that would require all DMEPOS suppliers to have a surety bond in the amount of at least $65,000. In comments to CMS, APTA urged the agency to exempt PTs in private practice from the surety bond requirement and "ensure that beneficiary access is not jeopardized as a result of the potentially large number of DMEPOS suppliers who may not enroll or discontinue their enrollment as a result of the financial burdens the surety bond may impose."

More information on this rule change will be available after the New Year on the DMEPOS section of APTA's Web site. Visit CMS' Durable Medical Equipment Center at this link. 

APTA Launches Health Care Reform Resource Center

APTA has created a new resource to provide you with up-to-the-minute information in preparation of the upcoming health care reform debate in Congress. In its efforts to ensure that physical therapists' interests are represented in reform proposals, APTA recently sent letters to President-elect Obama and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), who unveiled his proposal for reform in November. APTA also has been working closely with other organizations to ensure that health care reforms are fair and successful.

Visit the Health Care Reform Resource Center to stay informed on the ongoing debate and learn about the actions APTA is taking on your behalf. 

Help Make a Difference, Advocate for Your Profession

APTA needs your voice to be heard in 2009 in the US Congress and your state legislature as many health care reforms are expected to be debated. Your advocacy efforts can make a critical difference in how legislation will affect the physical therapy profession. The Association makes your advocacy efforts as easy as possible through the use of online messaging and other advocacy resources available on the Grassroots Web page.

APTA's grassroots network (PTeam) is an essential part of the continued effort to increase awareness of the issues important to physical therapists, improve funding for research, and garner additional resources to support the physical therapy community. Click here to join PTeam and make a difference today.

CMS Posts Names of 2007 PQRI Participating Providers 

The names of health care professionals who reported quality information under the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) in 2007 are available on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Physician and Other Healthcare Professional Directory. PQRI establishes a financial incentive for eligible professionals, including physical therapists, to participate in a voluntary quality reporting program. The information posted includes all eligible professionals identified by their National Provider Identifier who submitted at least one quality data code on their Medicare claims for services provided between July 1, 2007, and December 31, 2007.

APTA will host a live audio conference on January 29, 2009, 2:00 pm-3:30 pm EST, on the 2009 PQRI. PTs who bill Medicare in 2009 for outpatient physical therapy services in private practice settings (using the 1500 claim form or 837-P) can obtain a 2.0% bonus under the reporting program. Follow this link for more information and to register.    

Workshop Focuses on Access and Choice Messages

APTA recently attended a Coalition for Patients' Rights (CPR) workshop that included message development exercises for consumer information. CPR includes 35 organizations representing a variety of licensed health care professionals who provide a diverse array of safe, effective, and affordable health care services to millions of patients each year. The coalition’s communication workgroup will review the messages that the participants crafted, conduct a survey on the messages, and report back to the participating organizations.

PTs in the News

APTA Members Recently Featured in the News

Sue Behrens, PT, is featured in an article in the Guthrie Center Times (Iowa) about the use of a motorized cycle with functional electrical stimulation for patients with spinal cord injuries, stroke, and traumatic brain injury.

Elizabeth Blackwood, PT, is featured in a video on StarNewsOnline.com (North Carolina) about the rehabilitation of a patient with spinal cord injury.

Cindy LaPorte, PT, PhD, is featured in an article in the Montgomery Advertiser (Alabama) about Amtrykes – tricycles designed for children with disabilities.

Nicole Stout Gergich, PT, MPT, CLT-LANA, is featured in an article on CureToday.com about patients with breast cancer who develop lymphedema. 

Paul Trumbull, PT, is featured in a TMCnet.com article about using the Wii interactive system as part of rehabilitation programs.

Thomas Wick, PT, Dip MD, is featured in an article in the Rome Sentinel (New York) about how to avoid injuries when shoveling. 

Health Care Headlines

CMS Issues Quality Ratings for Nursing Homes

For the first time, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released quality ratings for each of the nation's 15,800 nursing homes that participate in Medicare or Medicaid. 

Consulting with a panel of experts from academia, patient advocacy, and nursing home provider groups, CMS developed the rating system based on each nursing home's performance in three critical areas:

• Health inspection surveys -- Each year state and federal surveyors conduct about 15,800 on-site, comprehensive assessments of each nursing home's health care services and compliance with federal/state rules. Surveyors also conduct approximately 50,000 complaint investigations each year. Information from the most recent 3 years of survey findings were used to develop the ratings. 
• Quality measures -- The quality rating system uses 10 key quality measures out of the 19 that can be found on the Nursing Home Compare Web site. Areas examined include the percent of at-risk residents who have pressure ulcers after their first 90 days in the nursing home, the number of residents whose mobility worsened after admission, and whether residents received the proper medical care.
• Staffing information -- This measure reports the number of hours of nursing and other staff care per patient per day. The measure is adjusted to account for the level of illness and services required by each facility's residents.

Facilities are assigned star ratings from a low of one star to a high of five stars based on critical areas. The ratings are available on the agency's Nursing Home Compare Web site at www.medicare.gov.

Top Health Stories of 2008

In its annual alphabetical roundup of notable health care stories, Time cites a study published in September in the New England Journal of Medicine that suggests that arthroscopic knee surgery is not more effective at relieving symptoms than physical therapy or anti-inflammatory drugs under the entry Knee Surgery: Study Doubts Benefits. (Read APTA's press release about this study.)

Americans' faith in the nation's food-safety system was shaken following months of food borne illnesses, and the unexpected death of popular newsman Tim Russert made us all think twice about our own heart health, says WebMD in its list oftop 10 health news stories of 2008.

WebMD also lists health care reform as one of the most important issues in the 2008 election, as do several other top 10 lists. The Harvard Health Letter says that reform will stay near the top of the new administration's agenda. The Harvard publication also lists post-traumatic stress disorder, new imaging machines, and "adult" stem cells as other top stories.  

New in Research

Footnote: What's in the Literature

In the short term, both resistance and aerobic exercise mitigate fatigue in men with prostate cancer who receive radiotherapy, says a study published online ahead of print December 8 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.     

Between 2003 and 2006, researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial in Ottawa, Canada, in which 121 patients with prostate cancer receiving radiotherapy with or without androgen deprivation therapy were randomly assigned to usual care (n = 41), resistance (n = 40), or aerobic exercise (n = 40) for 24 weeks. The primary end point was fatigue assessed by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Fatigue scale.

The follow-up assessment rate for the primary end point of fatigue was 92.6%. Median adherence to prescribed exercise was 85.5%. Mixed-model repeated measures analyses indicated both resistance and aerobic exercise mitigated fatigue over the short term. Resistance exercise also produced longer-term improvements. Compared with usual care, resistance training improved QOL, aerobic fitness, upper- and lower-body strength, and triglycerides, while preventing an increase in body fat. Aerobic training also improved fitness. One serious adverse event occurred in the group that performed aerobic exercise.  

The authors add that resistance exercise generated longer-term improvements and additional benefits for QOL, strength, triglycerides, and body fat.

Click of the Week

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