Physical Therapists and Physical Therapy Assistants’ Readiness Levels to Deliver Telehealth Services: A Survey Analysis

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate physical therapists (PT) and physical therapy assistants’ (PTA) readiness to deliver telehealth (TH) services during COVID-19 pandemic. Method: IRB approved this survey analysis study. The Modified Maryland TH Readiness Assessment Tool (mMTRAT) was distributed by email to all licensed PTs and PTAs in California in October 2020. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare between-groups differences for continuous demographic data. Pearson chi-square analysis was used to assess between-group distributions of categorical data. The statistical significance of between-groups median mMTRAT scores was assessed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Statistical significance was set at α 0.05. Results: Respondents, n=337 completed the survey. Of the respondents, 42.9% reported having decision-making authority. Sixty percent of items in the core readiness domain and 80% in the financial consideration domain, 75% in the operations domain, 86% items in the staff engagement domain and 80% of the items in patient engagement domain demonstrated a median score of Agree/Strongly Agree. Self-identified decision makers demonstrated a significantly stronger assessment of readiness than non-decision-makers. Conclusions: Potentially important gaps remain across all areas of readiness. Observed limitations in agreement between decision-makers and non-decision-makers may present organizational challenges to TH adoption.