Physical Therapists Are Routinely Performing the Requisite Skills to Directly Refer for Musculoskeletal Imaging: An Observational Study.

OBJECTIVES

To explore if physical therapists are practicing skills necessary to refer patients for musculoskeletal imaging.

METHODS

An expert panel established a list of nine requisite skills to refer for musculoskeletal imaging. A blinded expert panel validated the list using a 5-point Likert scale. The skills list was examined via an electronic survey distributed to United States physical therapists.

RESULTS

4,796 respondents were included. Each of the nine skills were routinely performed by a majority of the respondents (range: 54.52-94.72%). Respondents routinely performed 6.95 (± 0.06) skills, with 67.41% routinely performing seven or more skills. Doctors of physical therapy routinely performed more imaging skills (7.15 ± 0.06) compared to their masters- (6.44 ± 0.19) and bachelors-trained (5.95 ± 0.21) counterparts (p < 0.001). Residency/fellowship-trained physical therapists were more likely to routinely perform more imaging skills (7.60 ± 0.11 vs. 6.79 ± 0.07, p < 0.001). Imaging skill performance was greater among board-certified physical therapists (7.39 ± 0.09 vs. 6.71 ± 0.08, p < 0.001) and APTA members (7.06 ± 0.07 vs. 6.65 ± 0.12, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Physical therapists are routinely practicing the requisite imaging skills to directly refer to a radiologist for musculoskeletal imaging.