Day 2 - Part 2

Where were we... oh right, by the pool. It was a very nice caucus, great to get out into the sun for a bit. It energized people I think, which was good as there were a few more long "battles" to go through before the day was over.

RC25 - This picked up after lunch...There were a great deal of questions regarding risk of liability if a student was under a non-credentialed CI and did not pass his/her clinical. Could a student sue the clinic...the school? It was made clear by the lawyers on staff that advice was "off the cuff" but that it would not help to decrease liability. The student assembly delegate rose to speak in favor of the motion, but I disagree - and the foundation for my disagreement was brought up. While the student delegate did have a good point that it encouraged professional development and worked toward leveling off clinical experiences, there is actually evidence that students under credentialed CIs fair no better than those under non-credentialed CIs. That is what the education section made a point about as well. Another consideration in opposition is that this would severely limit the number of "suggested" CIs. While the APTA staff did show that there is 1 credentialed CI to every 2 students throughout the nation, I think they should have considered that this may not be true in regions saturated with PT schools (eg Boston/NE) and many students would be forced to relocate. Then someone tried to amend it to say that this motion would be effective immediately. That was a pretty dumb idea because there are students out on clinicals now that are not under credentialed CIs. Anyway, that was defeated as was the main motion, but it took a while.

RC26 - Passed - Here you go Amanda! It was amended to say "Physical therapists as practitioners of choice in the rehabilitation and management of vestibular related balance disorders." There was some discussion over the wording as at one point it seemed to imply medical/pharm management and that is outside our scope of practice. But they got it all figured out.

RC27 - Passed - The APTA endorsed the Core Values of Accountability, Altruism (although many think that fidelity might be the best here as altruism implies philanthropy), Compassion, Caring, Excellence, Integrity, Professional Duty, and Social Responsibility.

RC28 - Passed - The APTA now recommends that all individuals visit a PT at least annually to promote optimal health, wellness and fitness, as well as to slow the progression of impairments, functional limitations, and disabilities. It originally read "all adults" but the pedi special interest group amended it to say "all individuals" to include children.

RC29 - Withdrawn

RC30 - Passed - The APTA will pursue the inclusion of a screening by a PT as a component of the "Welcome to Medicare" physical exam. This is a little weak, as the medicare definition of screening is not hands on... "Any dummy can do it" is what I heard around... but it is a start.

RC31 - Referred to the Board - The BoD will investigate a marketing campaign focused toward NPs, PAs, and other appropriate providers to promote and utilize PTs as exercise experts. Many wanted to know why the wording did not include MDs, but the Board will take a look at it and we'll see what they think next year.

RC32 - You shoulda been there

RC33 - Withdrawn

RC34 - Postponed Indefinitely - but not without sufficient discussion. This motion stated "That the APTA develop strategies to address the problems associated with PT practices that are owned and/or managed by non-physical therapists." Basically, looking for ways to deal with situations when PTs are perhaps asked to practice in situations that may not be ethical because non-PT owners/managers are not bound by our code of ethics. Now, this seems harmless, but it implies that only PTs can own a PT practice. First this got the PTA caucus all riled up - what if there were a PTA who also had his/her MBA...could he not own a clinic? They played defense for a great deal of the time trying to keep in the ownership game. On the other hand, there were those thinking that maybe a PTA shouldn't own one because it would be included in management and PTAs are technically not allowed to "manage" patient care. Beyond these discussions, there were some concerned about what this would mean for hospital based clinics, rehab institutions and snfs. I think we may have been on this one for an hour or so, maybe more. Finally it was postponed, but I am not sure if indefinitely means that we'll see it next year in different language. It was from AZ, so who knows... ;)

RC35 - Passed - That the APTA investigate the barriers to and opportunities for adopting the ICF model to describe PT practice, with a report to the HoD next year. I think this is great since most PT schools are using the ICF as it can be used for all people, not just those with a disability. It is an enablement model basically. So they'll look into it, but it should be adopted as describing PT if we want to keep up with all the other medical professions as the majority seem to be swinging that way in the US, and it has been the trend in Europe as well.

RC36 - Withdrawn

And suddenly, it was 7pm and we still hadn't gotten to MA's second motion. Fortunately, we had 30 minutes for business the next morning and hoped we could get through it. But really, can you believe how little we got through on day one, and then the work done day 2? It was great!!

That evening there was an address by a Rhode Island congressman, Jim Langevin as part of the Advocacy Academy which would begin in full the next day upon conclusion of the House proceedings. It was very good to hear him discuss the importance of advocating outside of the clinic, outside of the medical world even - to lawmakers. Definitely got me excited about the rest of the week.

After the address, the PT-PAC put on a reception...a FREE reception with tons of food and an open bar. Then on top of that they had a comedy group called the "Capitol Steps" preform. They were hilarious, singing spoofs of all the big-wigs on capitol hill. MA was well represented with both Ted Kennedy and John Kerry taking hits.

Here are the lyrics to the first number they sang. I encourage you to check them out if you want a laugh.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I am Nancy Pelosi and I am your new Speaker of the House.

Do we have any republicans here? Thank you for taking time off from watching fox news so you could be with me this evening.
How about democrats? Now fellow dems, lets be gracious and try not to gloat...oh who are we kidding?
Things are swell
Marry Gays
Raise the terrorist minimum wage
Startin here - startin now
Honey, everything's run by Pelosi (you got it)
Raise the bar, hybrid cars
NBC will become NPR
Startin here - startin now
Honey, everything's run by Pelosi (I got 6 grandkids)
Arent' we dems swell
Soon the white house is mine
I'll show them, well
My running mate will be a stem-cell
I'll be grand, feelin great!
And I don't have to wait til '08
Since I start third in line
Cheney's heart, aint that fine
We'll impeach George Bush
I guarantee
The most powerful woman this country has seen will be...

Alright, Oprah

But then ME!