APTA Michigan 2022 Fall Conference

Do you ever feel like there is something missing from your clinical toolbox? Do your back and hip pain patients get better, but then end up coming back in a few months later? Do you have trouble getting neck muscles to relax? Do your shoulder patients need constant cuing for posture? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this course is for you. The pelvic floor may be the missing link that could resolve these frustrations. For most physical therapists the pelvic floor is a dark and mysterious place. Don't let it intimidate you anymore! In this exercise based course you will learn how to incorporate pelvic floor training into the treatments you already use. Don’t worry, there will be no undressing involved! You will go to work Monday morning excited to use the assessment and treatment skills you learn in lab.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) affects 1-2 people per 1000 per year and affects all PTs in all practice settings. In 2022 the Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) for the PTs role in the management of individuals at risk for and diagnosed with VTE were updated and published. The CPG is intended to be used as a reference document to guide physical therapist practice in the preventions of, screening for and treatment of adult patients in all practice settings at risk for VTE. This course will present the 19 key action statements in the form of case study analysis and show how physical therapists can immediately integrate the action statements into their clinical practice. Participants will be able to recognize who is at risk for VTE and why, select the appropriate screening tools to assess the likelihood of LE DVT, UE DVT and PE, determine when patients are cleared for mobility and when to refer patient's back to the provider, educate their patients and chose the appropriate PT treatment strategies

• Participants will be able to identify the role of physical therapy in the Emergency Department (ED).
• Participants will recognize knowledge gaps in traditional ED providers regarding back pain and sacroiliac (SI) joint dysfunction.
• Participants will be able to state the benefits of physical therapy evaluation and treatment in the ED regarding back pain, and SI joint dysfunction.
• Participants will be able to describe treatment strategies for patients with acute back pain and SI joint dysfunction in the Emergency Department.

Pregnancy, postpartum and abdominopelvic health considerations in athletic females* are not well understood by either the musculoskeletal, sports medicine, or pelvic health rehabilitation communities. Clinicians may lack relevant training in their education, and siloed practice patterns challenge a comprehensive approach to care. Conflicting postpartum return to fitness information and large gaps in the research literature leave both professionals and patients without clear guidance on best practices. Growing acknowledgement in both clinical practice and the literature of the interrelationships between the low back, hip, pelvic girdle dysfunction and pelvic health considerations prompts a fresh look at the existing siloed paradigm that separates pelvic, musculoskeletal, and sports medicine clinical care.

This presentation seeks to introduce and equip providers across specialties with an understanding of pregnancy, postpartum, and abdominopelvic health considerations as they relate to the presentation and clinical course of fit and athletic females. Integrative intervention strategies will be offered to bridge and complement existing skill sets.

How you schedule your patients, the insurance your patient has, the type of condition the patient has that requires outpatient physical therapy, and the ability to use or not use support personnel all have an impact on the CPT codes you can bill for that patient visit, the number of units you can bill in a day, and, ultimately, your productivity and the financial success of your organization. In this session, attendees will learn various ways they can schedule their patients; including double booking and overlapping regardless of the insurance carrier; how to use support personnel, if allowed, to provide interventions under the appropriate and applicable supervision of the physical therapist or occupational therapist; how to bill correctly based on the time spent with the patient providing skilled therapy interventions; and how this impacts productivity and, ultimately, the financial success of the organization. The speaker will discuss metrics physical therapy practices and departments should be tracking on a weekly or monthly basis in their organization to ensure its financial success and explain how more units per visit may not always mean more money per visit.

 Physical therapists in any setting will work with people who have been diagnosed with or treated for cancer. This session will detail the physiological changes of the most common adverse effects of cancer and its treatments as well as the assessment, measurement, and rehabilitation of these adverse effects.  Common adverse effects include cancer related fatigue, cancer-induced polyneuropathy, cardiotoxicity, radiation fibrosis syndrome, and lymphedema. Special focus will be on prehabilitation and implementation of exercise physiology concepts in oncology.

Medical management of cancer can affect a variety of body systems and they all can negatively affect a person’s function and quality of life.  This facilitated panel will have content experts representing common body systems affected by cancer treatment and the needed rehabilitation interventions.  Systems included are the 1) musculoskeletal, 2) neurologic, 3) cardiovascular/pulmonary, 4) gastrointestinal/genitourinary, and 4) lymphatic/integumentary. This session will be interactive with robust opportunities for attendee discussion and question and answer sessions with the panelists. Each panelist will describe common impairments and its affect on their specific body system as well as best practices for screening, evaluation, and treatment of body system disorders.  This will prepare the clinician to deal with the multi-system rehabilitation management necessary to provide quality physical therapy care to a person diagnosed with cancer at any time in their disease journey.

Course description

This fun, interactive seminar will provide the basics and an overview of health care advocacy 101 with some specifics to the physical therapy profession. Amongst the how-tos covered will be hosting a clinic visit with an elected official, communicating with legislators, do’s and don’ts with public policy makers, and more. The second half will cover an introduction about how to run for office and emphasize the need for more therapists to serve as elected officials at all levels of government.

Effective with dates of service on and after January 1, 2022, physical therapists and physical therapist assistants can provide and be reimbursed for remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM) services by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Medicare Advantage plans and possibly other commercial/private insurance carriers. This session will thoroughly explain the 5 RTM CPT codes, and how and when you can bill for each CPT code. The session will explain how the billing of the RTM codes will impact the annual therapy threshold dollar amount and if the multiple procedure payment reduction policy will or will not apply to the RTM code. The session will teach participants which RTM codes the di minimis standard will apply to and thus require the CQ modifier if provided in whole or in part by a physical therapist assistant. Finally, case scenarios will be presented to assist participants in determining how the RTM codes can be utilized and billed correctly.