State Acts and Regulations on Imaging Referral in Physical Therapist Practice
In June 2016, the APTA House of Delegates passed RC 12-16 by a 93% favorable vote, which resolved that APTA pursue practice authority for imaging referral in physical therapist practice. Pursuant to this action, APTA employed a consulting firm to examine and report upon the legal landscape for physical therapist referral for imaging in each of the 50 states. In the summer of 2019, APTA began releasing the results of that study to the leadership of the components nationally and are contained herein. Please note these documents are not intended to serve as the final word on imaging referral in the states, but rather as starting points in the process of attaining imaging referral privileges. Further interpretation of the content of these documents may be required, including with point of care ultrasound imaging. This information provides a basis for each component to determine its course of action and also allows APTA a foundation from which to plan nationally. Considerable variability exists across the jurisdictions in these documents; thus, local circumstances are to be considered when acting on this information.