Medicare payment changes are likely to affect how rehabilitation providers serve patients.
Those changes are forcing providers to become more efficient, said Stephen Hunter, president of the National Association of Rehabilitation Providers and Agencies, and a physical therapy administrator at Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City. The industry's payment model is going through reform, and the way physical therapists bill for services is changing, he said.
Physical therapists currently are paid based on the time spent working with a patient, regardless of the complexity of care. That payment model does not incentivize optimal care, Hunter said.