CSM / APTA Summary from Chapter President
2.27.2023
Dear current and future members,
I’m writing to you as I return to Rhode Island after attending Combined Sections Meeting in San Diego. Being surrounded by over 15,000 PT’s, PTA’s and students, simply reinforced my love for our profession! I wanted to highlight some key updates.
- Physical Therapy is recognized as the 6th Best profession by US News. Personally, I think it’s the best profession! We get to help people move, every day.
- In 2022 25 Chapters and 8 sections saw a decline of membership by 1%. In Rhode Island we went from 508 members in 2021 to 507 in 2022. The goal for 2023 – lets increase Rhode Island membership to 525!
- Cris Massis is our new APTA Public Board of Directors Member. He’s the former CEO of the Australian Physical Therapy Association, and although he is not a Physical Therapist, he has a lot of experience with Physiotherapy and some great outside perspectives.
- In April, APTA will be launching a more streamlined and significant partnership with HPSO. There will be a 10% discount off premiums, the administrative fee will be waived, and there will be an expansion of coverage. At the treasurers meeting I attended we discussed more on these new offerings to create more value for PT’s, PTA’s and students to join and stay. Download the APTA app for access to all these benefits.
- There are now health care benefits available with collaboration between APTA National and the Private Practice section. These health benefits include medical, vision and dental coverage. An individual is eligible for this insurance coverage so long as you are an APTA member AND a private practice section member. Many private practices are partnering with this benefit system to provide benefits for their employees (who just need to be APTA members) at a more cost-effective rate, however, individuals can also get their own coverage through this platform.
- There is going to be an Innovation Summit in July where we are going to be partnering with tech companies to provide feedback on their product lines and “vet them” for how they impact physical therapy as a profession.
- The results of Foresight were presented, an activity that we participated in last year to identify our own implicit biases within our APTA system that are impacting our abilities to move forward.
- Our DEI Committee work is investigating the adoption of affinity groups. These groups are considered essential in helping to create a more inclusive and sense of belonging.
- We have Digital APP library being vetted by our Digital Health Team, lead by Drew Contreras and Skye Donovan (Board of Directors). This will be launching in March and will provide a resource for all vetted product lines.
- The early career dues discount program is increasing for 2 months following graduation. This means if a student members dropped membership before graduation, they have two months after that graduation to re-engage and receive the discounted rate.
- The Payment, Policy and Practice meeting focused on Remote Therapeutic Monitoring and the work that our APTA advocacy team is performing with Insurance Carriers and legislators. They also discussed the efforts on the insurance companies that are sunsetting prior authorization in some states.
- At the presidents meeting we discussed state advocacy efforts. Of note, Rhode Island is again hoping to pass legislation for fair copayments. In addition, we have introduced legislation to join the Physical Therapy Compact. Finally, we hope to increase access to care by change the GPT status such that candidates who do not pass the licensing exam on their first or second attempt maintain their GPT status.
- Our small and mighty state was represented well in San Diego with many poster presentations from faculty and students. Follow us on social media as we share more details on these and an increased number of CEU and professional development opportunities available to members and non-members this year.
I attended the PT Fund: Celebration of Diversity. This event was on the USS Midway, an amazing World War II air craft carrier museum. The event is raising funds for supporting scholarships and the PT Moves Me Ambassador campaign. The following evening was the 50th year celebration of PT PAC. We are now the 7th largest PAC in Washington DC! That is impressive! PAC funding helps our voices be heard more loudly on the Hill and helps to drive forward the public policy targets to move our profession and our ability to care for our communities, forward.
I had the opportunity to spend time with the Connecticut president Stefanie Bourassa, Massachusetts president MK Murray, and past president Eric Folmar. I am looking forward to ongoing collaboration with our neighbors – further opening up professional development opportunities for everyone. At a National level I spent time with APTA president Roger Herr and past president Sharon Dunn, APTA CEO Justin Moore and CFO David Keene, APTA board members Jeanine Gunn, Dan Mills, Craig Johnson and Heather Jennings.
I hope this overview provides some highlights of the work APTA is doing to serve our profession. As always, I encourage all of you to engage with APTA at some level– whether it’s at a national or state level. Explore the sections, opportunities, the benefits, the resources. Please feel free to reach out to me anytime – stay well and continue to provide the best care, to our patients and our communities.
Sincerely yours,
Michelle
Michelle Collie PT, DPT, MS
President APTA RI
Treasurer APTA Private Practice
Board Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist
mcollie@performanceptri.com
