|
|
||||||||
| WORLD VOICE, IPPA - an official subgroup of the WCPT | |||||||||
| Date:5/6 2002 | |||||||||
| Our collective world remains in turmoil as the war on terrorism continues in the aftermath of the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center. As terrible as the events have been and continue to be in too many other places, life continues. | |||||||||
| I have greater fears for all of us and at the same time have a greater appreciation for who we are and what we do. I pray and trust that all of us can remain outside the direct devastation that touches so many countries daily. | |||||||||
| Time now seems to be the one thing that is consumed in larger and faster chunks. While Eastbourne lingers as a warm memory, Barcelona seems to be approaching like a meteor. Therefore, I would like to revisit some actions which should be on your immediate radar screen and request that you give us your feedback as soon as possible. | |||||||||
| The Executive Committee has remailed the bidding materials for hosting the IPPA conference in 2005. This is very important and will require each of you to consider where we should meet in 2005 and what kind of program you would like to have at that time. | |||||||||
| Your Executive Committee will undergo a significant change in 2003. All positions will be open and three of us, Kathleen Hughes, Eckhardt Boehle and myself will have served for eight years and will be stepping down. There are very capable leaders among you and I would hope that we will see a number of nominations coming forth to fill these vacancies. The IPPA remains a fledgling organization; still very young as organizations go, but we have demonstrated that we have a powerful group throughout the world. In which direction do you want this organization to grow, how far do you want it reach and what message do you want it to convey? Your new leaders will need to step forward and it will be your responsibility to select and guide them with your support and encouragement. | |||||||||
| It would appear to me that communications remains a difficult task for us as an organization. Our new web site is under construction but will not serve us well unless we have an active membership prepared to utilize the instrument. Your EC has adjusted to the numerous time zone differences for our conference calls, finding email convenient and relatively efficient given the variants in our locations. This does not, in my estimation, serve us well from an organizational standpoint in gathering member information and input. Case in point, I have requested on several occasions, to be included on members' mailing list for some of your publications, so that we could have some real time information of the issues that you deal with during the year. With the exception of Scott Thompson, NZ, I have received only a couple of other random publications. Perhaps this is a request that is unwarranted but it would have been helpful to me. As we move forward with the web page, hopefully our communications will be greatly enhanced and expedited. | |||||||||
| From a practice standpoint, we hope you are aware that WCPT has endorsed the concept of Evidenced Based Practice. So do you understand what this means, how it may affect your practice in years to come? Please see Jean Kelly's article on EBP, she was our representative last fall when WCPT brought together a study group to explore this subject. We have elected to address this issue during the IPPA program in Barcelona and have gathered am exciting panel to discuss the relevance of EPB to private practice. Thank you. | |||||||||
| I would also be interested to hear comments on the decision of the American Physical Therapy Association to designate a Doctorate in Physical Therapy degree as the entry level degree for physical therapists in the USA by the year 2020. What educational changes are contemplated in your countries and has this decision created a wave of activity in your entry level requirements? | |||||||||
| You may be interested to learn that the APTA has supported legislation in this current session of Congress to repeal the arbitrary cap on Medicare reimbursement of $1500 per year. Additionally, legislation has also been proposed to permit direct access for physical therapists in private practice for Medicare patients. I was recently in Washington, DC, to meet with my elected legislators and seek cosponsorship of this legislation. I am happy to report my representative has agreed to support both issues. Direct access remains an issue for many of us with 34 of 50 states allowing practice without referral. Direct access has demonstrated significant cost decreases [-123%] when compared to physician referred episodes of physical therapy. Needless to say, most physician groups are opposed to allowing us this privilege. With the current emphasis of providing some form of pharmacy benefit to Medicare beneficiaries we are very mindful of the potential of the new benefit to deplete reimbursement for rehabilitative services. | |||||||||
| Lastly, I would once again ask you to give consideration to the recruitment of new IPPA members. We have experienced some growth in the past year but I'm certain each of you are more aware of neighboring countries who have private practice available who are not members in IPPA. Can we be of benefit to them? | |||||||||
| I hope you are already making plans to participate in the WCPT conference. Linda and I are looking forward to seeing many of you soon. | |||||||||
| Peter A. Towne, PT Chairman, IPPA |
|||||||||
| Contact Peter A. Towne | |||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
| Copyright: International Private Practitioners Association, 2002 | |||||||||
