False Claims by Supporters Swirl Around Hayashi Bill

SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Claims that Assembly Bill 783 (Hayashi-D) is necessary to save jobs or preserve a physical therapist's license made by the author and the California Medical Association (CMA) are nothing more than a smokescreen contends the California Physical Therapy Association (CPTA), the third largest physical therapy association in the world.

AB 783 amends sections of the Business and Professions Code and Corporations Code to allow medical corporations, in effect, to control the point of access to physical therapy services and refer patients to themselves. According to a press release by Assembly Member Hayashi, the bill preserves physical therapy jobs and will revise current law to protect physical therapists from having to make difficult business choices.

"It's preposterous to suggest this bill throws a life raft to physical therapists," said Dr. James Syms, PT, CPTA president. "There are plenty of jobs available to physical therapists. The truth is, this bill is attempting to preserve self-referral practices within medical corporations that current statute prohibits and the California Legislative Counsel concurs is illegal."

More than 100 faculty members, students and staff celebrated the UCSF Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science’s new home on the Mission Bay campus on March 15 as part of an open house to highlight the innovative services available in the cutting-edge facility.

Located just upstairs from the UCSF Orthopaedic Institute at 1500 Owens Street, the new space offers several advancements in treatment and patient care. Physical therapists can now treat patients almost immediately following orthopedic surgery, a welcomed change from when the program was previously housed across town at the Mount Zion campus.

Heavy ropes, Indian clubs, foam pads and blocks, exercise balls, balance discs, foam rollers, gravity-training devices, elastic therapeutic tape, and posture clothing are among the low-tech products physical therapists say they are now using to help their patients with everything from balance and strength building to sports-specific rehab.

One trend in the progressive exercise products realm seems to be toward simplicity, according to Michael Turner, PT, OCS, MTC, FAAOMPT, who is also a personal trainer and owner/manager of OrthoSport Hawaii.