Physical Therapy

Practice Guidelines

While current law, rules and regulations provide no specific reference to this emerging area of professional practice, all laws, rules and regulations governing professional practice apply to all methods of practice, including telepractice.

Engaging in Telepractice

"Telepractice" is providing service that is not "in person" and is facilitated through the use of technology. Such technology may include, but is not limited to, telephone, telefax, e-mail, internet, or videoconference.

• Telepractice, when used as a form of physical therapy practice, is subject to all practice and ethical considerations discussed in these guidelines and in the law, rules and regulations governing physical therapy practice in New York State.
  
  
• Consider the particular impact of telepractice on dimensions of physical therapy practice, including, but not limited to:
  
  
  1. Awareness and assessment of unobservable behavior;
  2. Confidentiality and privacy of clients and their transmissions;
  3. Access issues such as distribution of computers and familiarity with technology;
  4. Temporal factors such as simultaneous communication, time between responses, and formalized "sessions"; and
  5. Development of technological proficiencies and on-line culture/language.