Do PT prescriptions expire?

[PAtoPharm]

Does anyone happen to know if (according to GA law) a prescription for physical therapy ever expires? I did lots of Google searching but couldn't find anything.

Thanks....

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[truthseeker]

look in your practice act

 

[Fiveoboy11]

A physical therapist is the only one who prescribes physical therapy and it expires when the PT says so.

 

[Phyline]

A physical therapist is the only one who prescribes physical therapy and it expires when the PT says so.

I think OP means a referral to see a PT from your primary care doctor and whether it has an expiration date?

 

[PAtoPharm]

I think OP means a referral to see a PT from your primary care doctor and whether it has an expiration date?

That's right... a primary care doctor in a different state gave me a referral for PT, but it was back in early August (exactly 6 months ago this Friday), so I just wanted to make sure I could still use the referral order.

 

[Fiveoboy11]

I think OP means a referral to see a PT from your primary care doctor and whether it has an expiration date?

I know what he meant

 

[Fiveoboy11]

That's right... a primary care doctor in a different state gave me a referral for PT, but it was back in early August (exactly 6 months ago this Friday), so I just wanted to make sure I could still use the referral order.

It's not an order or a prescription. It's a referral. Call up a PT clinic and ask them. Doubt law comes into play, more like does your insurance company still consider it valid from that long ago. A PT clinic will figure that out for you plus any laws that come into play plus any policies they have for out of state referrals and the time discrepancy. You're wasting your time on here.

 

[jesspt]

It's not an order or a prescription. It's a referral. Call up a PT clinic and ask them. Doubt law comes into play, more like does your insurance company still consider it valid from that long ago. A PT clinic will figure that out for you plus any laws that come into play plus any policies they have for out of state referrals and the time discrepancy. You're wasting your time on here.

Five,

You're always a paragon of compassion and helpful to those in need...

 

[PTX2]

Where I work (CA) I believe the script needs to have been issued within the last 30 days prior to the first appointment.

 

[truthseeker]

It really depends on the practice act - can a PT see patients without a prescription, and your insurance company, do they require one. if the answer is no to both, then you don't need one.

 

[Fiveoboy11]

Five,

You're always a paragon of compassion and helpful to those in need...

I try in my own way. I won't in someone else's way and here's why: because that way yields what we have now.

 

[Fiveoboy11]

Amazing to me that way too little people in my profession see a problem with a non PT not understanding how the terms order, script, prescription or any similar term has no business describing comanagement of a patient between a PT and a physician. Some I'm sure "let it slide" as it's "just semantics." The terms referral or consult are more appropriate to me and in my view this is devastating in many respects. Would be fascinating, at least to me, to know the real impact of this word use (I would bet on profound) and what would happen if it was banned. What if I'm right and keywords like this make a big difference (i.e. patient accountability to a PT, less non PT's who think they know physical therapy, more reliance on the PT as the one who knows physical therapy, more respect for physical therapists, enhanced motivation of physical therapist -- to learn and to take ownership of what they're doing, etc)? What if such a small change had immense impact? Some surgeons thought the idea of an OR checklist was a joke. Simple and cheap and quick change with drastic benefit.

Why should patients have the right to directly access a PT? They need a script or a order don't they? It's like that "for a reason" isn't it? Doesn't that imply physician expertese they don't have? "My doctor ordered hotpacks" (or US, or estim, massage, 3x/wk, etc - take your pick). Doesn't an order imply physical therapists are technicians?

In isolation does commonplace use of these terms impact PT and non PT view of physical therapists and physical therapy and what impact does this have?

Does anyone really understand where I'm coming from?

 

[Fiveoboy11]

Take home message is imagine an empowered physical therapist compared to one that is not.

 

[truthseeker]

I totally get what you are saying fiveo, and I agree with you. I think that what some people, including myself, have a problem with is your style of delivery.

We do need to help the public have a more clear understanding of what we do, what our profession stands for, and the level of our training. You have to admit it is a difficult thing to describe in a sentence or even a paragraph because of the very wide variety of practice environments and even practice patterns in those varying environments.

We all think that we do the best practices, most are wrong and I am right (😉) but some have a more solid basis in science and common sense than others.

Our profession developed later than the physicians and at a time when we really didn't have much education at all. We have evolved tremendously since then but the structure of the system was set up before we had the training that we have now and because of that, the MD/DO is held responsible for everything medical both legally (practice acts) and financially (insurance company internal policies). This is an outdated system like much of our health care delivery system is. The legal part is shaping out the way it should with more and more states adopting direct access laws, the insurance companies are changing slowly in spite of AMA opposition. You have to admit that not all PTs should be given the responsibility of direct access. There are plenty of uninformed, behind the times, journals piling up unread PTs out there. Some of them are CIs for multiple PT schools. I don't want those folks deciding if my back pain is mechanical or because of some visceral disease because they just don't keep up enough with regard to validity and reliability of their testing and treatment.

We need to keep plugging away but we will win more converts and educate more people if we don't turn them off with dismissive and derisive tones.

 

[Fiveoboy11]

I totally get what you are saying fiveo, and I agree with you. I think that what some people, including myself, have a problem with is your style of delivery.

We do need to help the public have a more clear understanding of what we do, what our profession stands for, and the level of our training. You have to admit it is a difficult thing to describe in a sentence or even a paragraph because of the very wide variety of practice environments and even practice patterns in those varying environments.

We all think that we do the best practices, most are wrong and I am right (😉) but some have a more solid basis in science and common sense than others.

Our profession developed later than the physicians and at a time when we really didn't have much education at all. We have evolved tremendously since then but the structure of the system was set up before we had the training that we have now and because of that, the MD/DO is held responsible for everything medical both legally (practice acts) and financially (insurance company internal policies). This is an outdated system like much of our health care delivery system is. The legal part is shaping out the way it should with more and more states adopting direct access laws, the insurance companies are changing slowly in spite of AMA opposition. You have to admit that not all PTs should be given the responsibility of direct access. There are plenty of uninformed, behind the times, journals piling up unread PTs out there. Some of them are CIs for multiple PT schools. I don't want those folks deciding if my back pain is mechanical or because of some visceral disease because they just don't keep up enough with regard to validity and reliability of their testing and treatment.

We need to keep plugging away but we will win more converts and educate more people if we don't turn them off with dismissive and derisive tones.

I see what you're saying but how is "ordering" physical therapy not derisive? We're all too desensitized to that. Seems like it's shallow to weigh my tone so heavily so I don't understand that. Should I believe in a nicely toned order or prescription for physical therapy that says "please" on it?

 

[truthseeker]

no, but think of how it sounds to the person you are addressing. They were just asking a question. using the words that 90% of people use. Yes, their choice of words might rub you the wrong way, it rubs me the wrong way, but now what is their opinion of us as a profession? you represent me. I represent you so, in the end, we are in a customer service business (with special training, but customer service nonetheless). right or wrong, the way we are perceived is the reality. think of that and count to 10 before launching and you (and I) will have more success educating people.

 

[Fiveoboy11]

I don't think the way I talk to people on here harms our profession. I'm not a Donald Trump fan and I won't vote for him but he calls things out and he says what he wants. Guess what? He's very popular. Take some of the other candidates and many have something in common. They're fake, it's not really them or what they think. They try to say what's acceptable and what people supposedly want to hear. Be yourself, it's ok to be blunt sometimes, it's actually good in my opinion to have a bad attitude sometimes if it's warranted. People can sense realness vs fakeness from a mile away. Are you a ken doll putting on a show or do you actually have something to say? And I don't really see anybody on here or in the places I've worked call out the nonsense in a customer friendly way. Maybe I've missed but I'd love to see it. There is a lot of going along with it and putting up with it. That doesn't work and it never will.

 

[redrose424]