Anonymous Complaints
The Board often receives anonymous complaints against anonymous practices or licensees. These anonymous complaints outline egregious violations of the Practice Act but do not specify the name of the practice, its address, or the names of the licensees. The Board is powerless to investigate such cases. These complaints are of no value unless the name of the licensees who are possibly violating the Practice Act and the names of the complainants are included in the submission of the complaint.
The Board reminds its licensees that COMAR 10.38.02 F Code of Ethics states, “The physical therapist and physical therapist assistant shall report to the Board of Physical Therapy Examiners all information that indicates a person is allegedly performing, or aiding and abetting, the illegal or unsafe practice of physical therapy.”
Please comply with the law. Report perceived violations of the Practice Act in the form of a detailed complaint to this Board. The complaint form appears on the website.
BEFORE YOU HIRE, CHECK OUT THE APPLICANT
The Board has received some complaints of imposters or impersonators of physical therapists. These people submit resumes for physical therapy positions, and the credentials are false. Always check with the Board before hiring a physical therapist or a physical therapist assistant. The Board’s website lists all active licensees as well as any disciplinary actions. Or, a telephone call to the office will give you the information that a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant has an active license.
Practice of Limited Physical Therapy: Taking and Documenting Measurements
The Maryland Practice Act (13-101) defines "taking and documenting measurements" with the "practice of limited physical therapy" allowed by the physical therapist assistant. The Board of Physical Therapy Examiners voted on April 21, 2009 to clarify that manual muscle testing and assigning a numerical or letter grade is included in "taking and documenting measurements".
This Board action validates that a manual muscle test "grade" is defined in objective and measurable terms. Therefore, when the PT A performs a manual muscle test (MMT) as an objective measure of patient status they may document the MMT grade and record their findings in the objective section of the physical therapy medical record. The Board emphasizes the following key points:
- Only the physical therapist can interpret the results of a manual muscle test.
- Physical therapist assistants may not perform manual muscle tests as part of a physical therapy evaluation.
- The physical therapist assistant should only perform and document the results of a manual muscle test to measure the patient's response to treatment.
- The supervising physical therapist and physical therapist assistant should use consistent MMT grading systems and objective measures when assigning the grade.
Workforce Diversity and Cultural Competency: Publications and Resources
Recent Publications:
American Hospital Association : Eliminating Disparities: Why It's Essential and How to get It Done.
News brief highlights key issues in addressing disparities and case examples from the field. Work by organizations from around the country is highlighted, including Adventist healthcare's Center on Health Disparities.
Resources
Helpful information and guidance about fasting diabetes management in Arabic and several South Asian languages.
Health Care Language Services: Implementation Guide
The Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is pleased to announce the release of the "Health Care Language Services Implementation Guide," an interactive Web-based learning tool designed to help health care professionals plan, implement, and evaluate language access services (LAS) within their organizations. The Guide is available at no cost to health care providers at thinkculturalhealth.org, or directly at https://hclsig.thinkculturalhealth.org/user/home.rails
Developed with input from a panel of experts in the field of LAS and through rigorous field research, the Guide is patient-centered and family focused, and provides practical step-by-step advice on how to implement LAS to include translation and interpretation services. The Guide features an interactive content presentation, multimedia-based case studies that underscore the importance of LAS, and interactive worksheets to help with planning, implementation, and evaluation of LAS in your organization. The Guide is supported by a rich collection of resources, implementation tips, and examples of forms and documents.
We are confident that you and your colleagues will benefit from the Guide's recommendations and resources, and we are excited to offer another tool to assist you in you efforts to provide quality health care to limited English proficient populations. To receive more information, please send an email to: HCLS-IG@thinkculturalhealth.org.
The National Provider Identifier (NPI)
For helpful NPI information, visit the Maryland Health Care Commission website
Topics covered include: NPI Subpart Enumeration, NPI Timelines, Sample Individual and Organizational Online NPI Applications and a guide to NPI data fields on the revised CMS-1500 and Electronic Claim File (837P).
