A Message from the President

To advance the profession of physical therapy with excellence, integrity, and collaboration to serve and advocate for the health and wellness of the people of Mississippi.

This is APTA Mississippi’s mission. The mission will guide our chapter in all strategic planning and decision making.

This is my first opportunity to address the membership of APTA Mississippi as your new chapter president! Serving as president is an honor of a lifetime and I am completely humbled. Thank you for your confidence in me. I intend to serve you the members and mission of APTA Mississippi to the best of my ability. I am forever thankful to our past chapter presidents and board members for their advocacy and promotion of APTA Mississippi’s mission and the profession of physical therapy.

Speaking of our great profession, U.S. News & World Report ranked physical therapy as the third-best health care job in the U.S. This is a testament to the vital role the physical therapy plays in helping people maximize their daily lives. Of course, we know it to be the best profession!

Thank you to our physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and student members. Without your intentional and continued support APTA-MS would not exist.

Congratulations to our newly elected officers and appointed committee chairs. Please refer to apta-ms.org/news for full 2023 board election results. Thank you to all candidates for deciding to run for an office. Your participation has been happily noted and I look forward to connecting with you to find out where in our chapter you are most interested in serving.

On January 21, the APTA-MS Board of Directors met at UMMC, School of Physical Therapy, for its annual retreat. The Board is outstanding and remained engaged throughout the four hours with new board member orientation and strategic planning for 2023.

On Tuesday, January 24, APTA-MS signed on in support of Senate Bill 2622, the Mississippi Prior Authorization Reform Act. The prior authorization process is overly burdensome for physical therapists. We strongly support efforts to streamline the prior authorization process and make it more efficient and transparent. Additionally, patient self-referral (known as direct access) bills were introduced into the Mississippi Senate and House of Representatives earlier in January. Mississippi is one of three states with limited direct access. We continue the journey toward full direct access to physical therapy for Mississippians!

Much of APTA Mississippi’s planning will revolve around our strategic plan:

  • Increase membership by 10%. We will accomplish this by promoting the value of membership to our members and prospective members.
  • Expand public knowledge and awareness of the benefits of direct access to PT services.
  • Increase diversity in the profession. Through early engagement at the high school and middle school levels, career fairs, and one-on-one mentoring we will have a positive impact toward this goal.

A special note of gratitude to immediate past president, Meg King. Under her two terms as president the chapter successfully navigated through a pandemic and is positioned for success.

Thank you again for your support of APTA Mississippi. All my best to you, looking forward to a successful 2023!

David Friloux, PT, DPT, MSHA

President

APTA Mississippi

APTA-Mississippi 2023 Board Election Results

APTA-Mississippi held its recent election for officers for the 2023 calendar year. All competitive election categories resulted in a large number of votes. Successful candidates are as follows:

Vice President
Michalle Massey

Secretary
Alyssa Bradford, PT, DPT

Chief Delegate
Joe Jacobson, PT, DPT, OCS

Delegate
Jacob Daniels, DPT

Delegate
Meg King, PT

Northern District Chair
Luke Rodgers, PT, DPT, OCS

Central District Chair
Cody Pannell, DPT

Southern District Chair
Jordan Bennett, DPT, CWT

PTA Caucus Representative
Jeremy Foster, PTA, CI

Nominating Committee
Brandi Henley

The full list roster 2023 board members is as follows:

President
David Friloux, PT, DPT, MSHA

Past President
Meg King, PT

Vice President
Michelle Massey

Secretary
Alyssa Bradford, PT, DPT

Treasurer
Tracie Lee Thornton, PT, DPT

Chief Delegate
Joe Jacobson, PT, DPT, OCS

Delegate
Jacob Daniels, DPT

Delegate
Meg King, PT

PTA Caucus Representative
Jeremy Foster, TPA, CI

Northern District Chair
Luke Rodgers, PT, DPT, OCS

Central District Chair
Cody Panel, DPT

Southern District Chair
Jordan Bennett, DPT, CWT

Nominating Committee
Jordan Bennett, DPT, CWT
Shuying Lin
Brandi Henley

A Message From the President

I’m sitting at my desk reflecting on the last several years of APTA-MS and my time as president. It is a lot to think about. During my tenure, we navigated changing multiple executive directors in a short amount of time, changing landscape in APTA governance and finances, making bylaws changes, surviving  a pandemic, and thriving in our centennial year. We have continued to build a solid foundation and structure for the leadership of APTA-MS, collaborated with MSBPT to protect the autonomy of our licensure board, actively participated in advocacy for Patient Self-Referral to PT within our state capital, and advocated Federally in DC to fight the cut for PTA reimbursements and to include PTs in rural tuition grants. We were one of the first components in the nation (#4) to adopt the new marketing platform and integrate it into our advertising. We have had amazing representation at House of Delegates to ensure that the voice of MS PT/PTAs is represented. PTAs were given a full vote on our board in our APTA-MS bylaws, and we successfully resisted MSBPT’s attempt to restrict a PTAs ability to be an administrator within the clinical setting. We have 3 PTA’s running for the delegate position and a PTA running for an executive office. We began the PTA of the year award in the state of MS.We are actively working to become a more inclusive organization for PTAs and all minority individuals. We have had officers who identify as part of the LGBTQ community and 3 officers simultaneously on the Board of Directors who are part of the African American community. We began a minority mentoring program. We have nominated more African Americans to the governor for MSBPT positions than have been nominated in the past. We have more PTAs than ever working alongside us to improve APTA-MS. We have a balanced number of males and females in leadership roles of APTA-MS, and we have worked tirelessly to include ALL geographic areas of the state in leadership and activities. Let’s not forget the hundreds of hours of continuing education that we offered to practitioners in our state. We did this through in-person, virtual, and hybrid formats. They were Tri-State conferences, district conferences, and statewide conferences. They were exceptional! We were a host state for the joint Centennial Tri-State conference with Tennessee and Arkansas. One of the first groups to navigate a virtual annual conference. We could not have done this without Ryan and his team from Horizon Professional Services and our amazing team of leadership in APTA-MS. I would be remiss if I did not mention Eric, Cheryl, and Judy. You guys did so much work that goes unseen and under-appreciated. Eric, you set the tone and the standard. You showed us what was possible. Cheryl, you stepped in during the pandemic and were able to do the impossible and get a virtual line up that was amazing. Judy, you were thrown into a Tri-State conference and the first in-person/hybrid solo conference since the pandemic. You all 3 handled the fall conferences with such skill and grace. Thank you! Ryan and the Horizon team, you deserve your own paragraph! I cannot list all actions you skillfully perform to keep APTA-MS running smoothly. I can say that we were puttering along hoping the turtle would catch the hare on day. Your team has made all the difference. The conferences run smoothly. The finances are clear. The social media, newsletter, and website are flawless. You handle our logistical tasks for everything from board meetings to emails to financial reports. We have leapt forward and continue to grow with your efforts and skill set. Your contributions have been priceless to APTA-MS. I cannot finish this article without extending my gratitude to people who have been the backbone of my tenure as president. First and foremost, my husband Jason.  He has been a rock and great listener. He has been my voice of reason and comfort. He has never wavered on helping promote our profession and supporting APTA-MS and never asked for credit for his contributions. My son Will went from my 8 year old smiling little boy to my know-it-all teenager during my tenure. He tolerated the many phone meetings during our daily commute and the countless zooms that required him to watch TV on mute. The members of the Board of Directors have put in countless volunteer hours that go unseen and they are really the ones that make it all work! They do the heavy lifting and do a phenomenal job. I would like to personally thank Eric, Cheryl, Josh F, Tracy, Tommy, and David for all your help. These people really stepped up when I needed them and are the reason for many of the successes that I listed above. I cannot thank them enough.In my personal closing I want to thank you, the membership, for entrusting me with the honor of serving as president of APTA-MS for the last several years. I could not be more proud to help represent our profession and our state. I truly love MS and the profession of PT. In closing my tenure as president, I am looking forward to working with APTA-MS and with colleagues on the national level. I will continue to advocate for our profession. But APTA-MS has chosen a wonderful man to lead us into the future. I truly believe our future is bright so I am going to keep wearing my shades!

Signing off,
Meg Y. King, DPT, MS
APTA-MS President

Mississippi PT Students Raise Funds for Physical Therapy Research

This year physical therapy students from Mississippi were among the 79 schools that participated in the 2021-2022 VCU-Marquette Challenge to raise $170,221.98 in support of the Foundation of Physical Therapy Research (FPTR).  FPTR wishes to thank the students of William Carey University for their strong support of the Challenge. William Carey University raised $3,000.00 and reached the Honorable Mention Award. Since its inception in 1989, over 300 different schools have participated in the Challenge, raising over $4.6 million for research.

The Marquette Challenge is student-led fundraising effort to advance the mission of FPTR. Although this year there were still barriers due to the ongoing pandemic, hundreds of physical therapy and physical therapy assistant students found inventive ways to hold events across the U.S to fund physical therapy research and advance their future profession. Over the years, this support has helped FPTR fund more than 650 researchers nationwide. FPTR remains appreciative of the commitment of PT students from Mississippi in supporting physical therapy research.

The top fundraising schools for 2021-2022 include:

  • 1st place: Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)
  • 2nd place: The University of Delaware
  • 3rd place: The University of Miami

For the 3rd year in a row, the first-place winner of the Challenge was Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) by raising $23,054. FPTR welcomes VCU to co-host the 2022-2023 Marquette Challenge. Although there is a friendly competition between schools, participation at any level is what matters. We would like to thank all the participating schools for their hard work this year. A recording of the 2022 FPTR Awards Ceremony can be viewed here: https://marquettechallenge.com/

The Challenge supports grants, scholarships, and a rigorous peer review process. This research funding is an investment in the physical therapy profession. In addition to improving care, research shows the value of physical therapy to patients and payers alike. Every aspect of physical therapy – from education to practice – is bolstered by quality research. Our research propels innovation that helps people get better faster.

Brad Corr of Boys Town National Research Hospital is the recipient of the $40,000 2021 VCU-Marquette Challenge Grant. His trial “Powering Through Transition: Therapeutic Power Training for Adolescents and Adults with Cerebral Palsy” will examine Therapeutic Power Training as a way to optimize mobility for adolescents and young adults with cerebral palsy. The Challenge also funds a PODS scholarship, which this year will be awarded to Chris Lane at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for his project “Preventing Disability after Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injury: Examining Opportunities in those at Greatest Risk”.

Please join me and other students in supporting the 2022-2023 VCU-Marquette Challenge

Faculty and students in the state of Mississippi are encouraged to visit the Marquette Challenge website at marquettechallenge.com to learn how they can support FPTR and physical therapy research through the 2022-2023 VCU-Marquette Challenge.

About the Foundation for Physical Therapy Research

The Foundation for Physical Therapy Research was established in 1979 as the only national, independent nonprofit organization solely dedicated to funding physical therapy research. Since its inception, FPTR has awarded more than $20 million in research grants, fellowships, and scholarships to more than 665 promising researchers. Many of today’s leading physical therapy researchers, clinicians, and academicians began their careers with this support. Foundation-funded researchers have gone on to secure more than $894 million in follow-on funding. www.foundation4pt.org/donate

APTA-Backed Bipartisan House Bill Takes Aim at PTA Differential

The SMART Act would delay implementation, spare rural and underserved areas, and relieve PTA supervision burdens.

There could be a temporary reprieve in the works for the startup of the PTA payment differential — and a possible exemption for rural and underserved areas — thanks to a bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. APTA has been strongly advocating for congressional action to mitigate the proposed 15% reduction in Medicare payment for services delivered by PTAs and occupational therapy assistants.

The bill, called the Stabilizing Medicare Access to Rehabilitation and Therapy Act, or SMART Act (H.R. 5536), was introduced by Reps. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., and Jason Smith, R-Mo. (Read the press release issued from Rep. Bobby Rush’s office.) If signed into law the legislation would delay implementation of the payment differential until Jan. 1, 2023, and provide an exemption to the differential for rural and underserved areas. APTA and other advocates have criticized the differential for having a disproportionately harmful effect on patient access to needed therapy services in these areas.

The proposed legislation would also institute a change long-advocated by APTA: allowing for general supervision of PTAs in outpatient settings under Medicare Part B. Medicare currently allows for general supervision of PTAs by physical therapists in all settings — except for outpatient practice under Part B, which requires direct supervision. Currently 44 states allow for general supervision of physical therapist assistants, making this Medicare regulation more burdensome than most state requirements.

APTA offers a quick, easy way for individuals to contact their legislators to urge support of the bill by way of the APTA Patient Action Center.

“APTA has been urging CMS to implement these policy changes to mitigate the PTA payment differential,” said Justin Elliott, APTA vice president of government affairs. “But now we need Congress to intervene. We’re grateful to representatives Rush and Smith for their leadership on this legislation to ensure continued patient access to therapy services provided by PTAs.”

Along with APTA, the legislation has been endorsed by a number of other provider and patient groups, which expressed their gratitude in a recent letter of support to the bill’s sponsors.

In the letter, the groups note that the rehab therapy sector has yet to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, writing that the differential “hits hardest where therapy assistants are needed most — in underserved areas in both rural and urban communities.” The letter also points out that rehab therapy is an effective approach to the management of acute and chronic pain and a way of reducing or eliminating the use of opioids. “These treatment options will not be available if we do not have the therapy providers to furnish these services,” the groups write.

“The legislation introduced is a beginning pathway to prevent the disruption in therapy services under Medicare to those that need it the most — a need that will only increase as our population ages,” said David Harris, PTA, MBA, chief delegate of the APTA PTA Caucus “PTS and PTAs are critical to providing these skilled and much-needed therapy services, especially in rural and underserved areas, and continuous Medicare cuts only create roadblocks to quality patient care. I applaud this effort to protect patient access to these services.”

Read more on the APTA website.

COVID-19 isolation and quarantine period shortened 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced it has shortened the recommended isolation and quarantine period for people with COVID-19 to five days, if asymptomatic and if persons can wear a mask when around others. 
These updates are recommended as the Omicron variant continues to spread throughout the U.S. and reflect the current science on when and for how long a person is most infectious. Emerging information with the Omicron variant demonstrates that the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmissions occur early in the course of illness, generally in the one to two days prior to the onset of COVID-19 symptoms and the two to three days afterward. The new CDC recommendations for the general population mean that asymptomatic people who test positive may leave isolation five days after testing if they can continue to consistently and correctly mask for five more days to minimize the risk of infecting others. Infected persons who cannot follow mask guidance after five days, for example, young children, need to remain in isolation for 10 days after testing positive. 
In addition, CDC is updating the recommended quarantine period for those exposed to COVID-19. For people who are unvaccinated or if they are more than six months past their second dose of mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) or more than two months after their Johnson and Johnson vaccine and not yet boosted, CDC now recommends quarantine for five days followed by strict mask use for an additional five days. 
If a five-day quarantine for vaccinated, not yet boosted, persons is not feasible, it is imperative that an exposed person wear a well-fitting mask at all times when around others for 10 days after exposure. Individuals who have received their booster shot do not need to quarantine following an exposure, but they should wear a mask for 10 days after the exposure. 
For all those exposed, CDC states that best practice would also include a test for SARS-CoV-2 at the fifth day after exposure. If symptoms occur, individuals should immediately quarantine until a negative test confirms their symptoms are not attributable to COVID-19. 
Everyone is urged to continue to follow recommendations to be vaccinated and those 16 years of age and above to be boosted to reduce severe disease, hospitalization and death. According to CDC, data from South Africa and the United Kingdom demonstrate that vaccine effectiveness against infection for two doses of an mRNA vaccine is approximately 35 percent. A COVID-19 vaccine booster dose restores vaccine effectiveness against infection to 75 percent.
Vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself and others and to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on our communities in light of recent studies showing that the previously widely available monoclonal antibody treatments are not effective against the Omicron variant. 
Definitions of isolation and quarantine are as follows. Isolation relates to behavior after a confirmed infection. Isolation for five days followed by wearing a well-fitting mask will minimize the risk of spreading the virus to others. Quarantine refers to the time following exposure to the virus or close contact with someone known to have COVID-19. 
Visit https://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/14,0,420.html for more information on COVID-19.
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s1227-isolation-quarantine-guidance.html

Medicare Legislative Package Signed Into Law

This afternoon President Biden signed S. 610, the Protecting Medicare & American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act, into law.  As previously noted the legislation will do the following:

  • CMS will receive a 3% appropriation for 2022 to partially offset its planned 3.75% cut to the conversion factor used to set payment for codes used by providers.
  • Implementation of a looming 4% across the board “pay as you go” cut mandated through budget rules will be postponed until 2023.
  • A temporary moratorium on the 2% Medicare sequestration cut required by law since 2011 as part a deficit spending mechanism will be continued through part of 2022. The moratorium will last until April, when a 1% sequestration will return, with the full 2% sequestration reduction beginning in July.

The Stabilizing Medicare Access to Rehabilitation and Therapy Act, or SMART Act (H.R. 5536) aimed at addressing the PTA differential wasn’t included in the last-minute legislative package approved by Congress; however lawmakers will return in early 2022 to address a long list of critical issues they did not finish before the end of this year. We are already working with our congressional allies to push for passage of the SMART Act in 2022.

Thank you for your advocacy!

New Physical Therapy Bill Introduced

On Monday Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) and Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced the APTA-supported legislation Physical Therapist Workforce and Patient Access Act (S. 2676).This legislation would allow physical therapists to participate in the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program. The program involves 2 year contract to work in a health professional shortage area in exchange for a $50,000 loan repayment

The addition of physical therapists to the NHSC Loan Repayment Program will ensure that individuals in rural and underserved areas have access to nonpharmacological options for the prevention, treatment, and management of pain, and access to physical therapy for rehabilitation from postacute sequelae of COVID-19, often called long COVID.

The legislation aligns with APTA’s strategic priority and Public Policy Priorities, 2021-2022 of addressing student loan burdens in physical therapy.

This bill was introduced as a Senate companion bill to the existing house bill (HR 3759) that was introduced in July. Stay tuned for advocacy opportunities to support this legislation.

Medicare Sequestration Moratorium Extended

This afternoon the U.S. Senate passed a compromise bill led by Senator Shaheen (D-NH) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) to extend the moratorium on the Medicare Sequestration. The Senate compromise bill will provide a 9-month extension of the moratorium on the -2% Medicare sequester through the end of 2021. 

While we await official word from House Leadership, we do expect the House to pass this Senate proposal upon its return in mid-April and will be signed by President Biden.

The current moratorium on the -2% Medicare sequestration expires on March 31. The extension of the moratorium will likely not be enacted until mid-April at the earliest. This will result in a temporary, 2-3 week period beginning April 1 when the -2% Medicare sequestration will be in effect.  We hope that CMS will hold claims submitted on and after April 1 until the extension is enacted; however, it is unclear whether CMS will do so. We are currently seeking guidance from CMS. While we await clarification from CMS, we recommend that for dates of service on and after April 1, providers consider holding their claims until after enactment of the moratorium extension.

APTA has been actively engaged on this issue including joining a recent joint letter to congressional leaders from national health care groups urging Congress to extend the moratorium. APTA members, patients, and supporters have engaged with their members of Congress on this issue via the APTA Action Center.

Thank you for your advocacy.  Please stayed tuned for additional updates.