Physical therapists: direct access to services: professional corporations.

(1) Existing law, the Physical Therapy Practice Act, creates the Physical Therapy Board of California and makes it responsible for the licensure and regulation of physical therapists. The act defines the term "physical therapy" for its purposes and makes it a crime to violate any of its provisions. This bill would specify that patients may access physical therapy treatment directly, and would, in those circumstances, require a physical therapist to refer his or her patient to another specified healing arts practitioner if the physical therapist has reason to believe the patient has a condition requiring treatment or services beyond that scope of practice, and, with the patient's written authorization, to notify the patient's primary physician and surgeon, if any, that the physical therapist is treating the patient. The bill would prohibit a physical therapist from treating a patient beyond 30 business days or 12 visits, whichever occurs first, unless the physical therapist receives a specified authorization or medical diagnosis from a person with a physician and surgeon's certificate or from a person with a podiatric medicine certificate and acting within his or her scope of practice. The bill would require a physical therapist, prior to the initiation of treatment services, to provide a patient with a specified notice concerning the limitations on the direct treatment services. (2) Existing law regulating professional corporations provides that certain healing arts practitioners may be shareholders, officers, directors, or professional employees of a medical corporation, a podiatric medical corporation, or a chiropractic corporation, subject to certain limitations. This bill would add licensed physical therapists and licensed occupational therapists to the list of healing arts practitioners who may be shareholders, officers, directors, or professional employees of those corporations. The bill would also provide that specified healing arts licensees may be shareholders, officers, directors, or professional employees of a physical therapy corporation. The bill would require, except as specified, that a medical corporation, podiatry corporation, chiropractic corporation, and physical therapy corporation provide patients with a specified disclosure notifying them that they may seek physical therapy treatment services from any physical therapy provider. The bill would also make conforming changes to related provisions. Because the bill would specify additional requirements under the Physical Therapy Practice Act, the violation of which would be a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.