Mormile PT In the News
Bridging Friendship across the Miles
The Doctorate in Physical Therapy (D.P.T.) Bridge program at the SHS makes it possible for practicing physical therapists to earn their doctoral degree by bridging the gap between current experience and a professional graduate program. Now the D.P.T. program is building a bridge connecting young students in Massachusetts with those in Alaska.
Anne Bishop, an instructor in the D.P.T. Bridge program, is a nurse practitioner in the Brighton High School Health Center. Through the online program, Bishop became acquainted with D.P.T. Bridge student Catherine Mormile, who lives in Knik, Alaska.
Home of the annual Iditarod Sled Race, Knik is located in a remote area 60 miles from Anchorage and 13 miles from the nearest town. Most of the 18 children living there are home-schooled and spend much of their day tending Husky dogs in their family kennels. Because the long winter months can be especially dreary for the children, Bishop and Mormile decided to design the Brighton/Knik Friendship Group.
Sophomore Brighton High School students and the children of Knik will exchange photos and short autobiographies. The Brighton students will collect donated art supplies and books on art and artists for the Knik children. They also will develop fundraising ventures to raise money to send the supplies to Knik for the Christmas season.
The children of Knik will then use the supplies and send some of their artwork back to the Brighton High School students. The program promotes community service and goodwill between students who seem to live worlds apart.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoned on the Iditarod: Local Physical Therapist Accomplishes Goals Unthinkable
www.prweb.com/releases/2004/11/prweb178635.htm
Movers & Shakers
Catherine Mormile, co-owner of Mormile Physical Therapy, earned a Doctor of Physical Therapy with distinction from Simmons College in Boston. Mormile completed her online studies while working full-time at her clinic, publishing an American Physical Therapy Association-sponsored home study course and co-founding a cultural exchange pen pal program between school children in Knik and Boston. (Alaska Journal of Commerce, 11/21/2004)
PT Magazine
November 1, 2004
Volume 12, Issue 11
Letters: Enhancing autonomy with intraprofessional referrals...
In the context of the marketing process, the path a product takes as it travels from the manufacturer to the customer is referred to as the channel of distribution. These channels vary in length according to the number of intermediary organizations required to distribute the product. One or more channels may be involved in distribution. When channel cooperation is not achieved there is a potential for conflict1.
As a practicing physical therapist (PT) and private practice owner, I see both a potential and an actual channel conflict between the current path by which physical therapy services (product) originate (are manufactured) and are distributed to patients (customers) and the more direct channel of distribution that is proposed by the APTA Vision Statement for Physical Therapy 2020 [HOD 06-00-24-35]. The Vision Statement says that consumers will have direct access to physical therapists who are doctors of physical therapy who may be board-certified specialists and will hold all privileges of autonomous practice2.
In the traditional physical therapy distribution channel, the need for the physical therapy product originates in the physician’s office. The PT serves as the intermediary in delivering service to the customer/patient. From a marketing analysis, the customer may view the intermediary physical therapist as being incidental to and dependent upon the physician’s vision of acceptable product outcomes. I perceive that we strive for autonomy so that we may define the physical therapy product and its channel of distribution. In practice, we are more likely to route the patient back to the physician for consultation, further allowing the physician to define of the product.
There is a potential solution within our profession. That solution will provide the channel cooperation to allow us to continue to seek referral from physicians while at the same time provide us with the autonomy to define and shape the products offered to our customers/patients. I propose that we seek patient consultation from the peer-reviewed experts and board certified specialists in physical therapy for patient care issues that are within the scope of physical therapy practice. Referral back and communication with the physician would be reserved: 1) for medical issues beyond the scope of physical therapy, and 2) to communicate evaluative and interventional procedures and findings. In pure direct access situations, all interventions and consultations could be defined and conducted by the physical therapy generalist and specialist.
There is precedent for this proposal. In reviewing the physical therapy statutes of each direct access state, I note that most states direct the physical therapist to refer the patient to another qualified professional when the patient’s condition is beyond their physical therapy training. Furthermore, the APTA Guide for Professional Conduct Principle 4.1F indicates that if the needs of the patient are beyond the expertise or physical therapist’s knowledge, the physical therapist shall refer the patient to an appropriate practitioner3. As a profession, we generally have interpreted this to mean that we are obligated to refer to a designated physician. I propose that we begin to look at this to mean that we have the option to refer to an expert within our field.
The road to autonomy will require that we as physical therapists define and distribute our product directly to our customers with the least amount of intermediary interference and distribution channel conflict. Therefore, I propose that we begin local, state, and national dialogues regarding the strength that intraprofessional referrals will add to our marketing mix and public image that physical therapists practitioners are the of choice for injury management, prevention, and wellness services.
Catherine Staatsburg Mormile, PT, DPT, OCS, MA, OTR
Anchorage, Alaska
References
- Berkowitz EN. Essentials of Health Care Marketing. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publication; 1996.
- APTA Vision Statement for Physical Therapy 2020. Available at: www.apta.org/About/aptamissiongoals/visionstatement. Accessed: August 1, 2004.
- APTA Guide for Professional Conduct. Available at: www.apta.org/PT_Practice/ethics_pt/pro_conduct. Accessed: September 7, 2003.
http://www.apta.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Archives3&TEMPLATE=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=20924
HealthInAlaska.com - Your source for Alaskan Health information ...
Healthy Aging. Library search Keyword: Stress-related head and neck pain is treatable.
Catherine Mormile, DPT OCS OTR/L, Mormile Physical Therapy.
http://www.healthinalaska.com/week17.html
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