Alliance for Physical Therapy Quality and Innovation Applauds Ohio BWC for Incorporating Stakeholder Feedback in Workers’ Compensation Policy Change

BWC policy change reflects changes advocated for by APTQI and physical therapy stakeholders 

WASHINGTON, DC – The Alliance for Physical Therapy Quality and Innovation (APTQI) today applauded the Ohio Board of Workers’ Compensation for removing a provision in its physical therapy billing policy that would have burdened therapists with excessive documentation requirements, distracting them from patients and increasing the amount of time spent on redundant administrative tasks. 

“We thank the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation for revising this policy after listening to what the physical therapy community had to say about the impact the policy clarification would have had on patient care,” said Nikesh Patel, PT, DPT, Executive Director of APTQI. “Once we explained how the documentation requirement could interrupt the flow of care, the Bureau worked with us to find a reasonable solution.” 

The proposed changes would have required physical therapists to document the start and stop times of each individual procedure performed in a session each time they see a patient. This would have required the therapist to stop after each and every procedure and enter information into a patient’s records.

After listening to stakeholder feedback, the BWC reversed its proposed changes and finalized the policy to require physical therapists to document: 

• The start and stop times for the session
• The total accumulated for all timed services
• The total time for each individual timed procedure 

“We are satisfied we were able to work collaboratively with the BWC on this issue and come to a solution that benefits all stakeholders, particularly patients,” added Patel. “As a leading voice in the physical therapy community, we will continue to advocate to ensure the therapist’s full attention can remain on the patient rather than the stopwatch.” 

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About Alliance for Physical Therapy Quality and Innovation

The Alliance for Physical Therapy Quality and Innovation (APTQI) unites physical therapy practices to advocate for the physical therapy profession in the areas of payment reform, quality initiatives, outcomes and innovation projects. We are an aligned group of therapists and practices who share a common vision for the future of our profession. Our goal is to establish physical therapy as the treatment of choice and the best value for patients and payers.