Travel Physical Therapy Takes Flight!

Are you an adventuresome and flexible physical therapist that’s eager for new experiences? Your personal recruiter at National Staffing Solutions does everything in their power to assure that the process is quick and easy. Unfortunately there are state laws that create boundaries for physical therapy to be practiced out of the primary home state. With 53 states come 53 different physical therapy licensing laws that require extensive application forms, transcripts, background checks, passing the National Physical Therapy Exam and fees. This approval process may take from a week to month depending on the new state. The waiting game that therapists are patiently playing is one of the major causes for limited access to qualified PTs and PTAs needed across the nation.

Since 2010, the Federation State Board of Physical Therapy has worked alongside American Physical Therapy Association and the Council of State Governments to create an interstate licensure compact system. This change will increase mobility for PTs and PTAs to travel at moment’s notice! Additional benefits include the reduced cost of obtaining & maintaining multiple licenses. Physical Therapists are thrilled about this news, especially those with military spouses that frequently relocate:
 

The Physical Therapy Licensure Compact (PTLC) is similar to the drivers license system and the Nursing Licensure Compact (NLC) that has been in effect for a few years now. As of 2015, the NLC has 25 approved compact states! A minimum of 10 states must adopt the compact through state legislation in order for the compact to be active. The Legislation process currently is in the Education Phase until the max participation is complete. The final phase is projected to be complete by the middle of 2017.

The movement towards PTLC recently showed progress when the first state joined the Compact. Bills were introduced in Arizona, Missouri, and Tennessee in January 2016. Oregon was the very first state to sign the PTLC into law on March 8, 2016.


Sources:
Elliot, Troy. “Practicing in Multiple States May Get a Lot Easier”. PT in Motion. American Physical      Therapy Association, March 2016. Web. March 11, 2016.        
     http://www.apta.org/PTinMotion/2016/3/Feature/MultipleStates/.

“Interstate Licensure Compact for Physical Therapy”. Current Issues. American Physical Therapy
     Association, March 11, 2016. Web. March 11, 2016.
     http://www.apta.org/StateIssues/InterstateLicensureCompact/.

“Physical Therapy Licensure Compact”. Status of Compact Adoption March 2016. Federation of
     State Boards of Physical Therapy, 2016. Web. March 11, 2016.
     https://www.fsbpt.org/FreeResources/PhysicalTherapyLicensureCompact.aspx.

 

“Current Status As of 3/1/2016”. Physical Therapy Licensure Compact. Federation of State
     Boards of Physical Therapy, March 2016. Web PDF. March 11, 2016.
     https://www.fsbpt.org/Portals/0/documents/free-
     resources/PTLC_Status_Updated20160308.pdf.