BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – Alabama has a new law that allows most patients to see a physical therapist without a physician’s referral.
“We’re all super excited about this,” stated Jared Commander, a physical therapist with Champion Sports Medicine. “Most states have direct access in some shape, we were one of the last to get that law pushed through.”
Alabama’s new law introduces provisional direct access, which means it’s limited to eleven visits or thirty days, whichever comes first. Any care beyond that restriction will require a doctor to sign off.
“For nonsurgical interventions like low back pain, eleven visits is a lot of PT,” he explained. “I think the key in that time frame is we can show a lot of improvement.”
Commander anticipates most therapists will contact a patient’s doctor to let them know the treatment is underway. Should they need more visits, the PT will update the doctor on the progress and make the request.
“In eleven visits or thirty days, this is the progress we’ve made, I’d love for you to continue the progress,” Commander said, explaining the process.
Right now, 21 states go a step further offering unrestricted direct access, according to the American Physical Therapy Association, which has no limits on the number of physical therapy visits without a referral.
Commander wants patients to know that physical therapists are trained at length to evaluate pain and injuries. If they feel a patient needs imaging or a surgical consultation, they must make that referral.
“We have a lot of education, I was trained to operate on direct access in school and that’s the whole point of the doctorate-level degree is to be independent and on our own,” he noted. “This is the way the medical continuum works better. I need nurses, doctors, physician’s assistants and chiropractors, we need everyone. This is a way to work in concert together and give patients control of their medical care.”
Commander stresses this is opportunity for patients to seek care when they begin to experience pain.
“We would love for you to come to [physical therapy] right when your back starts hurting or right when your shoulder starts to not feel quite right,” he said. “We’ve got to have some kind of deficit to treat but those deficits usually start long before you’re in the doctor’s office with 10 out of 10 pain with pain radiating down your leg and you’re wondering how you got here.”
Patients can also revisit previous physical therapy treatments if pain returns.
“I have a patient who is just coming back for a tune up right now after shoulder surgery a year ago,” Commander added. “They just feel like it’s just not quite where they want to be and want to get back and get a little stronger to swing the tennis racquet the way [they] want to and reach overhead as strong as [they] would like.”
Many patients rely on doctors to recommend a specific physical therapist. With patients now initiating this care, Commander encourages those who are interested to go online and search for therapists who specialize in the specific care they need.
It’s also worth noting that physical therapists specialize in treatments that extend beyond sports-related injuries and post-operation care. Those specialties range from pediatric care, headaches to treating those recovering from extended illnesses, heart attacks and strokes.
“I know so many physical therapists that specialize in neurological disorders like Parkinson’s, ALS, multiple sclerosis, vestibular disorders, even sports medicine injuries like Tommy John’s,” Commanded responded. “There are so many people in Birmingham who are really high-level physical therapists. We are all trained to handle everything, but there are things I would rather send to a specialist.”
Patients are encouraged to contact their insurance providers to determine the number of physical therapy visits their plan offers the costs involved.
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