In some ways our March News Briefs is reflective of the entire world at this moment; we can’t help but start our communication with a focus on Covid-19, but then we move on to address some “business as usual” topics. We don’t know what the future will hold, so for now we are going to move forward with our plans for the Leadership Issues Forum and the Annual Meeting/Delegate Assembly as we normally would. As things continue to evolve with the pandemic, we will have to be flexible and creative as we look for ways to fulfill our mission and support our member states. We’ll keep you in the loop as things change and we thank you for your partnership in these challenging times.
In this News Brief:
COVID-19 Updates
FSBPT has made a few recent announcements pertaining to adjustments around the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates.
FSBPT Meetings
FSBPT cancelled all in-person meetings that were scheduled to take place in March and April and is taking steps to move some of the meetings online. There has been separate correspondence from staff liaisons with information on whether each meeting will be moved to an online format, postponed, or cancelled. We will refund all registration fees.
As of now, we are still planning to hold all FSBPT meetings scheduled in May and through the rest of the year.
We appreciate the tremendous dedication we have seen from our volunteers and members and thank you for your patience as the situation has evolved.
Test Site Closures
Prometric has closed all of their North American test sites effective March 17, 2020, for a period of thirty days. All testing will be suspended through April 16, 2020. FSBPT will notify candidates when we have additional information on the procedures for rescheduling examinations.
Prometric continues to monitor the situation and has set up a website to provide updates. Please visit this page to see the actions that Prometric is taking.
FSBPT Exam Withdrawal/Re-registration Policy
FSBPT is waiving all refund and re-registration fees associated with the April PT and PTA examinations. Therefore, if candidates want to cancel their April registration and receive a refund or re-register for a future date, they may do so at no cost.
FAQs for Jurisdictions, Schools, and Candidates
We will continue to update FAQs for jurisdictions, schools, and candidates as this situation progresses.
HHS Encourages States to Waive Restrictions on Licensure and Scope of Practice
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sent a letter to all governors asking them to extend the capacity of the health care workforce by making adjustments to current laws and regulations.
The Slate for the 2020 Delegate Assembly Elections
The Nominating Committee is pleased to announce the slate for this year’s elections at the FSBPT Delegate Assembly in Orange County, California. The election will take place the last day of the Annual Meeting, Saturday, October 24, 2020. Candidate statements will appear in the Delegate Handbook, which will be available on the FSBPT website for membership review closer to the meeting date.
The Nominating Committee will hold a Candidate Forum at the 2020 Leadership Issues Forum to introduce 2020 candidates for the Board of Directors and the Nominating Committee, in addition to the Candidate Forum at the Annual Meeting. Further, the Nominating Committee will be seeking candidates interested in being slated for the 2021 elections. These positions will include: Secretary, Treasurer, and the Director #1 position (this director must be a current member of a member board at the time of election). The qualifications for these positions can be found in the Board and Committee Job Descriptions.
Please join FSBPT in thanking the 2020 Nominating Committee Members, Timothy Vidale (Chair), Sherri Paru, and Debbie Kubota, for their work this year.
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| Director 2: Adrienne (Stacy) Price, GA | Director 2: Jeffrey Vinzant, AL | Director 3: Joni Kalis, OR |
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| Director 3: Charlotte Martin, LA | Nominating Committee Member: Joseph Shanley, NH | Nominating Committee Member: Jennifer Wissinger, OH |
WCPT/INPTRA Digital Practice White Paper
The World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT) and the International Network of Physiotherapy Regulatory Authorities (INPTRA) established a joint Digital Physical Therapy Practice Task Force to develop a white paper addressing physical therapy practice and regulation in the digital age.
The WCPT and INPTRA boards recently approved the white paper, which is an initial look at international digital practice and proposes a definition and purpose for digital physical therapy practice while exploring benefits, current limitations, regulatory concerns, guidelines, and considerations for educational programs.
WCPT and INPTRA also created a survey to obtain feedback from practitioners and regulators across the globe. You can read the full survey results.
If you have any questions please email the INPTRA staff at info@INPTRA.org.
WEBINAR: Get the Latest Information about the PT Compact
Date: Thursday, April 2
Time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
Join FSBPT, the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), and the PT Compact for a one-hour webinar on Thursday, April 2, at 1:00 p.m. EDT providing all the updates you want to know about the current status and future of the PT Compact. We will discuss the implementation status of current PT Compact member states, the 2020 legislative outlook of potential new states, the resolution of the Medicare issue, and more. A Q&A session will follow the presentation. The webinar will provide valuable information for those in current PT Compact member states, those states considering legislation, and those states that will join in the future.
Instructions for Participating
Step 1 – Join the online portion of the WebEx
- Click this link: join the meeting
- Enter your name and your state in the “name” box
- Enter your email address
- Enter the meeting password: meeting1
- Click "Join Now"
Step 2 – Join the teleconference
- After joining the WebEx, click on the “I will call in” box and a toll free number, access code, and attendee ID will be provided.
- Enter both the ACCESS CODE and the ATTENDEE ID
If you are new to using WebEx, you will need to allow fifteen minutes for the sign in process, which may have your computer complete a short set-up
Scam Targeting Licensees in Oregon
The Oregon Board of Physical Therapy recently posted this alert about a current scam. If member boards observe a similar scam, they may want to alert their licensees.
"The Oregon Board of Physical Therapy has been notified of a scam targeting our licensees. The scam has also been reported by licensees of other State Physical Therapy Boards, including California.
Licensees have reported receiving phone calls 'spoofing' the OBPT phone number, which makes calls appear as though they are coming from us.
The licensee is threatened with an investigation by the Board and/or the FBI, and the scammer demands personal information or money to resolve it.
The Oregon Board of Physical Therapy will not contact you to demand money or personalized information. The Board DOES NOT accept payments over the phone. If you believe that you may owe a balance to the Board, you can check your online account through the Licensee Portal for the most up-to-date information.
If you do receive a call of this nature, hang up and contact the Oregon Board of Physical Therapy directly at (971)673-0201 to inquire if there’s a valid, official reason for the call."
Submit 2020 Excellence in Regulation Award Nomination Forms—Due June 5
The Excellence in Regulation Award recognizes jurisdictions that have made significant accomplishments towards increasing public protection for consumers of physical therapy services in a number of areas. To nominate a jurisdiction, including your own, submit a Nomination Form to communications@fsbpt.org by Friday, June 5, 2020. Late submissions will not be accepted. The winning jurisdiction(s) will be recognized at the Annual Meeting in Orange County, California, in October.
Selection of Funded Members for the Leadership Issues Forum and the Annual Meeting
This year FSBPT will fund the following attendees at LIF and the Annual Meeting.
Leadership Issues Forum, July 18-19, Alexandria, Virginia
- Voting delegate
- Board administrator
Delegate Assembly & Annual Meeting, October 22-24, Orange County, California
- Voting delegate
- Funded alternate delegate
- Board administrator
We emailed administrators instructions on selecting delegates (voting and alternate) and identifying the funded administrator. We understand that there may be travel restrictions affecting some jurisdictions due to the pandemic. We still request that you complete your selection process by May 1. We know the situation will continue to evolve and we will monitor and communicate as we have more information.
Administrators, if you haven't received the email with instructions, or if you can't make the May 1 deadline, please contact us.
Thank you to the following jurisdictions who have already selected delegates and administrators:
Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Wyoming
INPTRA Webcast: Performance Measurement of Regulatory Bodies: The Ontario Experience
Date: April 15, 2020
Time: 4:00 p.m. EDT
How do we know health profession regulators are doing a good job? Regulators around the world are increasingly challenged to show proof of their effectiveness to the public and government. Meaningful, quantitative key performance indicators are often just out of reach for many of the complex realities of regulation. In Ontario, Canada, a performance measurement system has been developed with active engagement by the twenty-six health regulatory Colleges. This presentation will explore critical success factors in developing a provincial system, the performance measurement framework content, and early methods for implementation.
Speaker: Daniel Faulkner, Regulatory Consultant, Chair of the Ontario Working Group to develop College Performance Measurement Framework; former Deputy Registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, twenty-five years of regulatory experience.
New Ohio Jurisprudence Assessment Module
Ohio’s Jurisprudence Assessment Module (JAM) became available on February 19. The module is optional until January 31, 2022, at which point it will be mandatory for licensure renewals. Ohio is keeping its FSBPT-developed Law exam for initial licensure applicants.
The FSBPT JAMs are convenient, easy-to-use learning opportunities for applicants for physical therapist licensure, and for PTs and PTAs renewing their licenses, to meet certain jurisdiction-specific requirements. FSBPT works with each state to develop, review, and finalize the content for each JAM. Ohio is the seventh state to work with FSBPT on a JAM, joining Georgia, Hawaii, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, and Texas.
If you’d like to learn more about partnering with FSBPT to create your Jurisprudence Assessment Module, please contact Jeff Rosa.
FSBPT Forum: An Overview of Trauma’s Impact on Boundary Violation Investigations
Trauma victims have unique needs that regulators should be aware of.
This article is an adaptation of a presentation by Michael Milnor and Nancy Oglesby at the 2019 FSBPT Annual Meeting.
Spotlight on Member Resources: Occupational Licensure Reform Resources
FSBPT has resources supporting the regulation of physical therapy providers and state-based regulation. These resources can be found in the
Member's Area.
Our Gratitude for Volunteers
This month, we thank the generous volunteer members of these groups for their support of our mission:
EDC-PT
Ethics and Legislation Committee
Tina Baum
Deborah McDonald
Paula White
Arkena Daily
Michelle Sigmund-Gaines
John Young
In the News
“Coronavirus Will Change the World Permanently. Here’s How.” Politico, March 20, 2020
Regulatory barriers to online tools will fall.
Katherine Mangu-Ward is editor-in-chief of Reason magazine.
“COVID-19 will sweep away many of the artificial barriers to moving more of our lives online. Not everything can become virtual, of course. But in many areas of our lives, uptake on genuinely useful online tools has been slowed by powerful legacy players, often working in collaboration with overcautious bureaucrats. Medicare allowing billing for telemedicine was a long-overdue change, for instance, as was revisiting HIPAA to permit more medical providers to use the same tools the rest of us use every day to communicate, such as Skype, Facetime and email. The regulatory bureaucracy might well have dragged its feet on this for many more years if not for this crisis”
The rise of telemedicine.
Ezekiel J. Emanuel is chair of the department of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
“The pandemic will shift the paradigm of where our healthcare delivery takes place. For years, telemedicine has lingered on the sidelines as a cost-controlling, high convenience system. Out of necessity, remote office visits could skyrocket in popularity as traditional-care settings are overwhelmed by the pandemic. There would also be containment-related benefits to this shift; staying home for a video call keeps you out of the transit system, out of the waiting room and, most importantly, away from patients who need critical care.”
“Make this simple change to free up hospital beds now,” Jeremy Samuel Faust, The Washington Post, March 15, 2020
“Changing the legal standard [for medical malpractice] will make it possible for doctors to immediately treat more of the most critically ill patients, while legally protecting them in sending less sick patients home. It will determine how many patients we can treat before the system ceases to function.”
Board Liaisons to Jurisdictions
Members of the Board of Directors serve as liaisons to multiple jurisdictions. Current liaison relationships are listed here for your reference.
 Tom CaldwellArkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas |  Ruggie CanizaresColorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Utah |  Ellen DonaldAlabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina |  Joni KalisAlaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming |
 Nancy KirschConnecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont |  Adrienne PriceDelaware, District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia |  David RellingIowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands |  John YoungThe public member of the board does not serve as a liaison to jurisdictions. |
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Staff Contact Information
Staff Contact Information
If you have questions, challenges or ideas, we want to hear from you!
(703) 299-3100
| Subject | Point of Contact/Email Address |
| ADA accommodations | Christine Sousa |
| Assessment or examination development questions | Lorin Mueller, PhD
Susan Layton
npte@fsbpt.org |
| Continuing competence | Jeffrey M. Rosa
competencestaff@fsbpt.org |
| Credentials review | Jaime Nolan, FCCPT |
| ELDD- Exam, Licensure and Disciplinary Database participation | eldd@fsbpt.org |
| Exam registration processing | Christine Sousa |
| Foreign educated issues | Leslie Adrian |
| Immigration | Jamie Nolan |
| JAM- Jurisprudence Assessment Module | competencestaff@fsbpt.org |
| Legislation or Model Practice Act | Leslie Adrian |
| Meeting arrangements | Paul Delaney |
| NPDB reports/questions | Angela Burnham |
| PTC- Physical Therapy Compact | compact@fsbpt.org |
| PEAT®- Practice Exam & Assessment Tool | peat@fsbpt.org |
| Reimbursement of expenses
Other financial matters | Bill Aronson
Linda Michelsen |
| School reports | schoolreports@fsbpt.org |
| Score transfer & reporting | Christine Sousa |
| SCP PET- Supervised Clinical Practice Performance Evaluation Tool | scppet@fsbpt.org |
| Security issues | Susan Layton
security@fsbpt.org |
| Anything else, including news to share with members | William A. Hatherill
Francois Marjorie
Caitlin Jennings
Communications@fsbpt.org |
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| | Sign off: Look after yourself, do good, smile often, and quit buying up all the toilet paper! - William A. Hatherill, CEO
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