PT in Motion News Now now alerted me that AB783 has been re-scheduled for hearing on Monday June 27th. This bill will be heard in the California Senate Standing Committee on Business, Professions, and Economic Development.
The drama surrounding AB783 has taken some interesting turns over the past few weeks.
- June 13th: AB783 fails to pass out of committee with 3 yes votes, 2 NO votes, and 4 abstains
- June 20th: Mary Hayashi pulls the bill from reconsideration. Oddly, she states she would like to meet to work something out with the California Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association [Rumor has it this never happened]
- June 27th: AB783 is again slated for reconsideration. If it fails to pass out committee AGAIN, it can can not be re-heard until 2012 [which if history is any indication, it will be back]
Luckily, NBC LA continues to provide top notch coverage and analysis of the issues in their THIRD article entitled Caution: State Laws Hazardous to Your Health. In the comments section Johnny Chen makes a great point:
There is a reason why doctors are not allowed to own pharmacy clinics/establishments. It’s called conflict of interest. The same should apply to physical therapy clinics. Hayashi should be ashamed of herself — why would she support a bill that takes the power out of the consumer’s hand and costs taxpayers/health care system.
Unfortunately, there is a very, very easy cure to this legislation and ongoing POPTS battle:
Physical therapists need to stop working for Physician Owned Physical Therapy Clinics.
Remember the Stop POPTS Campaign has a website, Twitter, Facebook, and You Tube Channel. Read, follow, friend, and watch! Then spread the word.
Also, please take a few moments to read the 3 NBC LA Articles and leave your comments + feedback.
- Physician Run Physical Therapy Clinics Scrutinized
- Physical Therapy Bill Delayed
- Caution: State Laws Hazardous to Your Health
The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is. –Winston Churchill
The ‘continuity of care’ argument is dead. It is hard for me to get a hold of a physician when I page them in a hospital, or call them from the private physical therapy practice I practice within. They are busy. We are busy.
The issues surround physician employment, and ownership, of physical therapists are fairly simple: conflict of interest and referral for profit. What makes legislators, payors, and the public believe this will improve communication, care, and patient outcomes?
The American Physical Therapy Association doesn’t support it. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists doesn’t support it. In fact, the American Medical Association ethics committee doesn’t support it.
The data doesn’t support it. Human behavior and psychology research don’t support it. Logic doesn’t support it. Ethics doesn’t support it.
Dear Assemblywoman Hayashi: Physical Therapists, data, logic, ethics, and human behavior all say NO! This is a bad idea!
But, physicians support it and say it is best, so it must be true…right?