"...home care area the ratio is 3 to 1 in favour of OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY if we have a PT at all. The situation is reversed in acute care. I think this is as it should be". I agree with Joan.
I also think that it should be 1:1 in acute rehab hospitals. Patients get three hours of therapy per day and it is usually divded into half OT and half PT, unless ST is involved. Because of the specific guidlines set by CMS, there are very few single leg hip and knee replacements anymore, but there should only be complex orthopedic cases with significant medical issues. As a result there are many issues that OTs can address with each patient. The government is also frowning upon group therapy in which the patients' do not have a reasonable reason to be in it (staffing issues does not count). Along with that, doubling patients is beginning to be frowned upon. There really is no a excuse anymore why OTs are only completing UE strength training as the only modality in therapy. In my opinion this pattern begins as a student, in the level II Fieldwork. I have had many students over the years, and they are amazed at what I do with patients compared to their other experiences.
Chris -----Original Message----- From: Joan Riches <jric...@telusplanet.net> To: OTlist@OTnow.com Sent: Sat, Jul 11, 2009 1:20 pm Subject: Re: [OTlist] Over Utilization of PT in Home Health Ed Are you in Canada? I'm interested in where you got the Canadian stats. In this rural home care area the ratio is 3 to 1 in favour of OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY if we have a PT at all. The situation is reversed in acute care. I think this is as it should be. I also have a theory on why PT is better known. We more often deal with people who have multifactorial presentations and/or are marginalised for some reason - old, poor, disabled, mentally ill, who are not as able to problem solve through their own rehab as the active demographic in their productive years. Most people have had some contact with a PT either themselves or through others they know and most of these people do not need occupational therapy to continue or resume their usual everyday lives. Ron's stories of the clients who have been exposed to OTs 'going mindlessly through the motions' so some employer can collect payment in wasted health care dollars make my heart sick. Blessings, Joan -----Original Message----- From: otlist-boun...@otnow.com [mailto:otlist-boun...@otnow.com] On Behalf Of Ed Kaine Sent: July 10, 2009 3:01 PM To: OTlist@otnow.com Subject: Re: [OTlist] Over Utilization of PT in Home Health Hi All; If not in a name... then what? Is PTs service and skill set that much superior to OTs that it warrants about a 3 to 5 fold bias from OT to PT in nearly every setting? Your facility is probably fairly average in the 3 to 15 ratio... and that is home care. In the USA OTs are most plentiful treating pediatric populations... in Canada there is not this strong support for OT. In most settings there there are at least twice as many PTs as OTs. I'm not trying to be rhetorical here... I'm serious... I can't understand it if it's not due to our incomprehensible name. I think PT's title is just so obvious in what they can offer and why go to an OT if you're retired? I got this one again today. Administration puts their money where they expect volume and return on investment. In my opinion OT is more efficient at getting functional outcomes... but we are not known. Occupation means what it means... not what we say it means (unless it did, then it would). I think the concept is useful and we should try to get the word known, the definition expanded, but my Blog challenge cannot get it to happen, not within a year or even several. I'd really like your thoughts on the why PT is so successful and we are so not. Yours, Ed -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/otlist@otnow.com Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.375 / Virus Database: 270.13.9/2229 - Release Date: 07/10/09 07:05:00 Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.375 / Virus Database: 270.13.9/2229 - Release Date: 07/11/09 05:57:00 -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/otlist@otnow.com -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/otlist@otnow.com
