Practice Issues

Quick Hits

Decisions Pending & Opportunities for Public Participation
Model Guidelines for Issuing Citations and Imposing Discipline
California Physical Therapy Association (CPTA)

A scope of practice question must be presented to the Physical Therapy Board of California (Board) in the written format defined below. The Physical Therapy Board of California will address only practice issues that appear undefined in the Physical Therapy Practice Act. If your inquiry meets this criteria your inquiry will be considered by the Board at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Board. You must submit your inquiry 30 days prior to a scheduled meeting to allow adequate time to research applicable data. Please view the Board Calendar for upcoming meeting dates. An inquirer can expect to receive a response within 30 working days following the Board meeting, unless extended research is necessary to prepare an educated reply. Prior to submitting an inquiry to the Board, please be thorough in your research of the information you are seeking. The Board has made every effort to ensure that the most current information is available on the Physical Therapy Board of California (PTBC) web site. Due to the large volume of inquires received by the Board, only those determined to warrant consideration will be presented to the Board. The Board regrets that its limited resources prohibit responding to inquiries where the answer can be found on the PTBC web site.

Practice Issues Inquiry Format

The following format and information must be provided when submitting a practice issues inquiry to the PTBC.

Inquirer's Name, Address and Telephone Number and Email Address
License Number (if applicable)
Present inquiry in question format. Example: Can a physical therapist assistant perform a functional capacity evaluation?
Present scenarios.
Multiple inquiries can be presented in the same request; however, each inquiry must be presented independently and follow the same format.

There are several common inquiries that have been previously responded to by the Physical Therapy Board of California. These inquiries can be printed from this web site.

The subjects of the most common inquiries are as follows

Direct Access/Diagnosis
Staple & Suture Removal
Wound Debridement
Physical Therapist Assistants Serving in Leadership Roles
Physical Therapist Assistants Performing Functional Capacity Evaluations
Physical Therapists and Physical Therapist Assistants Receiving and Documenting Verbal Orders from a Physician
Acceptable Roles and Corresponding Limitations of the Physical Therapy Aide in Adult Day Health Care Setting
Clarification of Supervisory Responsibilities of the Physical Therapist when Supervising a Physical Therapy Aide and Section 1399 Requirements for Use of Aides
What are the Supervision Requirements for Physical Therapist Assistants?
Physical Therapists Providing Wellness within their Scope of Practice – Progress Notes Article
Use of Prefix, Affix, and Suffix - Board's Position on the Use of "Dr."
Legal vs. Competence - Are you Legal? What is Competence? Can You Demonstrate Your Competence?
Providing Online Physical Therapy Advice
Athletic Trainers in the Realm of Physical Therapy
Health Care Practitioner's Disclosure of Name and License Status

PTBC AND CBOT JOINT STATEMENTS

Clarification of a PT's Responsibility while Providing Supervised Training of an OT Obtaining Advanced Practice Certification in Hand Therapy or Physical Agent Modalities within the State of Calif.
Clarification of a PT's and OT's Scope of Practice within the State of Calif.

ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINIONS

Below are some of the Attorney General (AG) Opinions that affect physical therapy. Additional AG Opinions that are not available on our web site are available on the Office of Attorney General's web site at http://www.ag.ca.gov/.

AG Opinion No. CV 75/282 - Manipulation
AG Opinion No. 65-21 - Diagnosis
AG Opinion No. 04-103 - Limited Liability Company