Description
Karen Pancoast Martin, PT, DMT, MSPT, FAAOMPT, CIDN - Doctor of Manual Physical Therapy. Fellow American Academy Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists. Certified in Dry Needling. Vestibular/Dizziness/Fall Prevention analysis and treatment. Expert Witness services and record review for prosecution, defense, and medical/legal/insurance consultation. Clinical expertise in Orthopaedic and Neurologic Rehabilitations, Fraud/Waste/Abuse, and Strategic Clinic Optimization. Competencies upon request. Standard of Care in the healing and highly regulated industry of physical therapy has nothing to do with good intention and everything to do with both knowing and following the rules designed to protect the patient/public/payer. Standard of Care deviation results from not being able to justify WHY an action was taken and encompasses errors created from both commission AND omission. Standard of Care deviation occurs when inappropriate physical therapy plan of care and treatment intervention result from inadequate physical therapy examination, inadequate physical therapy diagnosis, inadequate client care management, unsound professional judgment, and exercise of actions which exceed reasonable clinical competency. Standard of Care deviation is increasingly prevalent with Dry Needling, Fall Prevention, Manual Manipulation, and Manual Mobilization misuse and malpractice in inexperienced hands; overutilization of unnecessary, ineffective, inappropriate, and harmful physical therapy services; fraudulent clinical coding; and fraudulent insurance billing. Standard of Care deviation is particularly pervasive with physical therapist assistant misuse and malpractice throughout all physical therapy practice settings. Standard of Care deviations occur when services delivered by a physical therapist assistant are outside their scope of practice or competency and fail to be legitimately directed and supervised by a physical therapist. Standard of Care deviation occurs with public misrepresentation of “physical therapist” services rendered by non-physical therapists. The Standard of Care deviations of misuse of physical therapist assistants, overutilization of unnecessary, ineffective, and harmful physical therapy services, and misrepresentation of non-physical therapist services as physical therapy are rampant within physician/chiropractic/hospital owned clinics and especially more so when primarily focused upon treatment of motor vehicle accident claims involving spinal and head injuries and of injured workers throughout workers’ compensation systems.
