Student Physical Therapists Achieve Similar Patient Outcomes as Licensed Physical Therapists: A Retrospective Comparison of Outcomes of Patients With Low Back Pain

Abstract

Introduction. Third-party payer reimbursement for outpatient physical therapy services is typically fee for service. For many payers, services delivered by supervised student physical therapists (SPTs) that meet legal and regulatory guidelines are reimbursed equivalently to services delivered by licensed physical therapists (PTs). Few studies have compared patient outcomes for physical therapy services provided by SPTs with those provided by licensed PTs. Therefore, we compared outcomes of patients with low back pain (LBP) treated primarily by supervised SPTs with those of patients treated primarily by PTs. We hypothesized that each patient group would have similar outcomes. Methods. From 2012 through 2015, 128 patients treated for LBP were selected for review by convenience sampling: 67 primarily by a PT and 61 primarily by a supervised SPT. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using electronic health records at an outpatient orthopedic clinic in the Midwest. A mixed-model analysis of covariance was used to analyze differences in outcomes between patients treated by SPTs and PTs (α = .05). Results. For both groups, outcomes measured using the Patient-Specific Functional Scale improved from the initial to final session during the episode of care (P < .001). No significant difference existed in the initial and final Patient-Specific Functional Scale scores between groups (P = .74). Discussion and Conclusion. For outpatients with LBP, the plan of care designed and delivered by supervised SPTs was as effective as that of licensed PTs. This study shows that use of properly supervised SPTs does not decrease the effectiveness of outpatient physical therapy services for patients with LBP. Additional research is needed in other clinical settings.