APTA urges HCFA to fund electrical stimulation
Chronic wound patients targeted
Medicare beneficiaries who suffer from chronic wounds could lose a treatment option unless the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) changes its mind about eliminating payment for electrical stimulation treatment of wounds.
The Alexandria, VA-based American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) has persuaded HCFA to delay its new nonpayment policy until the APTA can present research showing the clinical effectiveness of electrical stimulation by physical therapists.
HCFA based its nonpayment decision on a report it commissioned, which was reviewed by a panel of physicians. The policy was to take effect May 14, but APTA has succeeded in getting a 60-day delay.
Did HCFA miss the point?
Jerry Connolly, PT, senior vice president of the Division of Health Policy for APTA believes HCFA misinterpreted the study because the panel did not ask physical therapists to help with the interpretation. His organization is compiling research to present to HCFA showing the clinical effectiveness of electrical stimulation by physical therapists.
"For more than 17 years, Medicare carriers and intermediaries have been reimbursing providers for electrical stimulation for the treatment of wounds. Physical therapists are considered to be an integral part of the wound care management team and have found that electrical stimulation does work in treating wounds," says Nancy Garland, APTA’s director of government affairs.
Physical therapists see patients with wounds that nobody else can heal, adds Pam Unger, PT, of the Center for Advanced Wound Care in Wyomissing, PA. Her patients include people who have had wounds for as long as 44 years and who, after receiving electrical stimulation, avoided the problem of losing a limb or getting a systemic infection, she says.
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