California Physical Therapy Association Concurs With State Board's Decision to Notify PTs About Employment With Medical Corporations

California Physical Therapy Association Concurs With State Board's Decision to Notify PTs About Employment With Medical Corporations

Statement by Dr. James M. Syms, PT, DSc, ATC, SCS, President, California Physical Therapy Association.

"California physical therapists agree with the Physical Therapy Board of California's (PTBC) May 12 Board meeting decision to send letters of inquiry to physical therapists (PTs) throughout the state who have had complaints filed against them for potentially being illegally employed by medical corporations. The Department of Consumer Affairs' (DCA) legal affairs unit recently confirmed a 2010 Legislative Counsel opinion received by the PTBC, which stated the PTBC would be acting in a manner that upholds California's current law in sending the letters.

"The 2010 Legislative Counsel opinion and the newly released opinion from the legal affairs unit of DCA state that it is illegal for PTs to be employed by any professional corporation except those owned by PTs and naturopaths given existing California Corporations Code. Both opinions confirm that 'physical therapists may be subject to discipline by the licensing Board for providing physical therapy services as an employee of a medical corporation.' As with all complaints, the first step of the process will be fact-finding. The PTBC has indicated they first will review if there has been harm to the public and attempt to gain clarification of the PT's employment arrangement. Additional follow-up may be performed on a case-by-case basis as determined by the PTBC.

"The California Physical Therapy Association (CPTA) stands ready to offer resources to physical therapists who currently are working in illegal employment arrangements to assist them during this period of transition and minimize interruption to patient care and to their wage-earning ability. This includes providing services to members of CPTA, as well as those who are not members, who wish to transition to a legal business arrangement. We have developed an employment toolkit and are providing educational webinars to assist PTs.

"Eliminating illegal business practices is a step in the right direction to controlling health care costs in California and is simply good health policy."

CONTACT: Heather Pino
Executive Associate, Membership & Communications,
CPTA
(916) 929-2782

Media is encouraged to contact the Physical Therapy Board of California to obtain a copy of the notice sent to PTs.

/PRNewswire -- May 17, 2011/

SOURCE California Physical Therapy Association

California Physical Therapy Association

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