TO THE APTA PRACTICE LEADERS’ SUMMIT AND BEYOND

On April 19th I was fortunate to attend the “APTA Practice Leaders’ Summit” at the association’s headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. It was my rst time attending the meeting and my rst time to the new APTA building. The meeting was great, and the building is very impressive.

This day was by invitation and was attended by approximately 60 leaders from across the country. The CEOs of all the “big guns” including ATI and USPT were in attendance. The opening remarks were provided by Roger Herr, the President of the APTA.

The challenge for those attending was very direct: How will this group “partner” with the APTA to improve the profession of physical therapy?

The day featured three keynote speakers. The rst to present was Hannah Maxey, PhD, from Indiana University. Her presentation “Workforce Challenges Facing Health Care and Physical Therapy” provided an in-depth analysis of the systematic challenges facing an overstressed and understa ed American healthcare workforce. She spent time exploring the trends of the last ve years, with particular attention to the impact of the “COVID era.” It appears that a shortage of providers - from nurses, to MDs, to PTs - will continue to impact the provision of care for the next several years.

The second speaker was Stacy L. Lloyd, MPH, from the American Medical Association. She is the association’s Director of Digital Health and Operations. The premise of her presentation was to educate us on the AMA’s e orts to embrace and expand the use of technology. There is an immediate need and application in rural areas as well as for the broader population. Her goal was to engage members of the physical therapy community in a collaborative e ort to ensure that healthcare technology is successfully implemented and utilized in practices across the country.

Her presentation was a Master Class in big data. The amount of information being collected and analyzed by the AMA and large health systems is remarkable. One can only hope that the outcome is a more individualized course of care that improves outcomes and the entire patient experience.