What Is the Value?

Kimberly Benson, PT, DPT
Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Neurologic Physical Therapy
VPTA's Communications Committee-Content Development Manager

Based on the definition “a person's principles or standards of behavior; one's judgment of what is important in life," value can mean something different to everyone.  With that in mind, I recently reflected on why my APTA and VPTA memberships are valuable to me. I realized I had underestimated its value and therefore wanted to share some highlights of its benefits. I encourage you to think about how you might maximize the benefit of your memberships. 

1.  Advocacy: If we don’t support our professional organization/profession, who will?

• The APTA and VPTA have consistent contact with legislative branches to both protect and promote Physical Therapy. Efforts include but are not limited to:

1.     Continued dialogue with the public (Medicare and Medicaid) and private insurers to address burdensome and time-consuming coding and billing requirements.

Success: Elimination of functional limitation reporting requirements as of January 1, 2019.

2.     Review of documentation standards. Increasingly, documentation is being completed to comply with insurer requirements, rather than for medical purposes.

Success: Reduced the number of required assessments in skilled nursing facilities, effective October 1, 2019.

Eliminated functional independence measurement tool in inpatient rehabilitation facilities, effective October 1, 2019.

Eliminated the hard therapy cap and replaced it with a permanent exceptions process.

Obtained clarification from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and from the Joint Commission that the use of pulse oximetry in home health does not require a physician order.

3.     Direct access: As of January 1, 2015, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands allow patients to seek some level of treatment from a licensed physical therapist without a prescription or referral from a physician.

2.  Discounts:  Member discounts go a long way.

• ABPTS Discount: Members save 45% on combined application and exam fees for ABPTS board certification in any of nine clinical specialty areas.
• Car Rental Discount: Members receive up to 25% off car and truck rentals from preferred vendors like Avis, Budget, Hertz, and Payless.
• CEU Course Discount: Members receive 40% discounts on national conferences and individual CEU courses in the APTA Learning Center, which also includes free courses for members.
• Email Marketing Discount: Members receive 10% off the standard prepay discounts with Constant Contact, an email marketing and online survey company with more than half a million customers worldwide. Save 20% off a 6-month subscription or 25% off a full year. New customers are eligible for a 60-day free trial.
• Hotel Discount: Members receive up to 20% off hotels in the Wyndham Family (including Days Inn, Ramada, and Travelodge), and up to 15% off at Wyndham Extra Holiday locations.
• Insurance Programs: Members are eligible for professional, business, and personal insurance options from HPSO, plus auto, homeowners, condo, renters, and boat insurance from GEICO.
• Office and School Supply Discount: Members save up to 80% on office and school supplies when shopping at Office Depot and OfficeMax.
• Retail Discount: Members who use the APTA Online Mall, powered by Azigo, receive up to 20% cash back on online purchases from hundreds of popular retailers, including Target, Kohl's, Nordstrom, and Zappos.
• Shipping Discount: Members save up to 34% on shipping services via UPS.
• Student Loan Refinancing Discount: Eligible members can receive a 0.25% discount off the competitive interest rate as part of the APTA Student Loan Refinancing Program, provided by DRB.
• Tax Deductions: The majority of APTA national, section, and chapter dues are tax deductible as an ordinary and necessary business expense.

3.  Financial Support: What the Financial Solutions Center has to offer.  
APTA offers a customized online financial education platform and a student loan refinancing program.

4.  Cost Savings:  Help save businesses money by monitoring payment resources. APTA members benefit from expert analyses of changing payment legislation and regulations and guidance on processing payments successfully by using the following:

• Expert Analysis: Members get free access to staff payment experts through the Insider Intel phone-in series, payment reform community, and other members-only resources.
• Fee Calculator: Members receive free access to the Medicare physician fee schedule and Multiple Procedure Payment Reduction (MPPR) calculators.
• ICD-10 Assistance: Members receive 15% off the Cypher ICD Logic clinical documentation tool that quickly helps you determine ICD-10 codes.

5.  Education:  Keeping up to date with professional trends, education, and evidence-based practice. 

• Acess to PT magazines, research databases and CEUs are readily available for members. The APTA provides peer-reviewed journals with current practice trends and exciting research. The PTJournal is the general journal; however, each section has it own journal. Additionally, up-to-date course and conference can be found on the APTA/VPTA website. Finally, the PTNow is a rehab reference center that includes clinical summaries, Cochran reviews and much more.         

Kimberly Benson, PT, DPT, NCS

Resources:

APTA Membership Benefits and Value. Available at:  http://www.apta.org/Benefits/ Accessed March 25, 2019.