| The American Physical Therapy Association | | | | be followed. APTA has issued guidelines specific to |
| (APTA) has made several modifications to | | | | the physical therapy trends related to telehealth. |
| existing trends under its Vision 2020 strategy. For | | | | Telehealth refers to the 'use of electronic |
| instance, one of the tenets of Vision 2020 is | | | | communication to provide and deliver a host of |
| autonomous practice. Private practice physical | | | | health-related information and health care services, |
| therapists are encouraged, as opposed to | | | | including, but not limited to, physical |
| corporate culture. The APTA Board has said that | | | | therapy-related information and services over |
| autonomous practice is applicable to all physical | | | | large and small distances'. |
| therapists cutting across practice setting or | | | | In this definition, electronic communication includes |
| business arrangement. | | | | text messaging, e-mailing, faxing, using such |
| Autonomous practice means that a physical | | | | devices as cell phones, fax machines, and the |
| therapist has the right to independent and | | | | Internet. Services provided via telehealth must |
| professional judgment within the scope of her | | | | fulfil minimum standards of professional health |
| practice and in the patient's best interest. This has | | | | care as prescribed by APTA. The patient should |
| advantages and disadvantages. The therapist has | | | | be as safe as she would have been if the physical |
| to take responsibility and accept the risks for all | | | | therapist had been there to advise her in person. |
| aspects of physical therapy patient management. | | | | APTA plans to post resources on their website |
| He / she has to work alongside other health care | | | | for members to understand the various aspects |
| providers to provide value-added services offered | | | | of telehealth for physical therapy. Women's heath |
| to their clients. | | | | has been voted as a focus area by the APTA |
| As a profession, the therapist is committed to | | | | Board. These trends have major implications on |
| using the best available scientific evidence for | | | | setting up specialty physical therapy clinics for |
| client management. All applicable legal and | | | | women. |
| regulatory requirements in this context need to | | | | |