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A Model Collaboration-Foundation For #Physicaltherapy and CoHSTAR

July 12, 2015 • Advocacy • Larry Benz

In a recent post about APS, I put forward a case of where collaboration is necessary but missing-and I remain steadfast in that assertion.  However, there was no attempt to suggest that APTA, our national organization, doesn’t have the ability to work with various stakeholders. In fact, one only has to look at the Foundation for Physical Therapy to see an exemplary model and how APTA championed the teamwork and how physical therapists from diverse settings have put their differences aside for common causes.

The Foundation exists to fund and publicize research that optimizes movement and to create the next generation of researchers-and it has.

Since 1979, the Foundation has awarded more than $14 million to launch research careers of over 500 physical therapists who in turn have gone on an secured over $725 million from other funding sources.  This multiplier effect could not have happened without some visionary leadership at APTA when the Foundation was initiated.  Some time ago, after stumbling on some hard times, the APTA essentially took control of the Foundation and saved it.  About 6 years ago, led by the board at that time, they sought to split from APTA for a variety of reasons including the notion that the national organization shouldn’t be overseeing research-the proverbial fox guarding the hen house.  Rather than depart APTA, the combined leaders crafted a collaborative relationship that allowed the Foundation to part ways but have APTA continue the close relationship from a funding and budgetary standpoint (not many people fully realize that a part of every membership dollar to APTA goes to the Foundation).  In addition, shared space and services continues allowing the Foundation to have scalability, efficiency, and enhanced communication with APTA.  The separation allows the Foundation to reach outside traditional APTA membership for funding and board leadership as well as uphold the rigor of research completely independent without association bias.  The Foundation has a large reach in the profession including volunteers who provide expertise on their scientific review and advisory committees. Barbara Malm has been part of the Foundation for several years and is a terrific executive director.

If that was the end of the collaboration, it would be a great example but it that was just the beginning and that is where it gets interesting.  The Foundation decided to take a shift in traditional research funding by looking at health policy research.  In a controversial decision, the Foundation awarded a $300,000 high impact research grant to Dr. Jean Mitchell to investigate referral for profit including detail on quality, cost effectiveness, and utilization.  Keep in mind, this is the same Dr. Mitchell who had years before done similar research in physical therapy but those studies were deemed “old” by the folks attempting to get legislative changes. She has also done similar work in a variety of settings including lab and imaging.  How did this high-impact study get done? Collaboration by multiple independent stakeholder groups.  This included funding from APTA and many of the sections including Private Practice Section (who also kicked in some initial seed money to get the first draft of an RFP for the study), Orthopedic Section, and Florida Chapter.  It also received significant dollars from the Institute of Private Practice Physical Therapy, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Therapists, Evidence in Motion, and the Physical Therapy Business Alliance.  In fact, the money raised for it was the fastest in the history of the Foundation.  It was announced a few weeks ago that the first of many papers generated out of Dr. Mitchell’s study will be published soon.

But the collaboration didn’t end with that great success either. It became evident that the interest in health services and policy research for physical therapy was large but the number of trained and capable PT researchers in this area was small. More collaboration which resulted in a $2.5 million award to establish the groundbreaking Center on Health Services Training and Research (CoHSTAR).  CoHSTAR will offer postdoctoral fellowships, host visiting scientists, and provide special summer training.  They will also fund promising pilot studies each year related to health services research.  The Foundation raised the money through special donations by APTA and many sections and components, physical therapy companies including suppliers, and a host of individuals.  Ironically enough, CoHSTAR is also a great example of collaboration itself as it is a multi institutional program with involvement by Brown Unversity, Boston University, and the University of Pittsburgh.  Dr. Linda Resnik at Brown will serve as CoHSTAR’s principle investigator and director. She is closely collaborating with Drs. Alan Jette and Mary Slavin at BU and Drs. Tony Delitto and Kelley Fitzgerald at Pitt.

The success of these initiatives and the willingness of APTA to be an excellent partner and collaborator in them give me great hope that APS and future projects can be done in a likewise manner.  When physical therapists gather around a great cause and project, the stakeholders are varied  and we cannot be stopped.

@physicaltherapy

The opinions expressed are mine alone. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Trustee and ardent supporter for the Foundation. I am also a co-founder of Evidence in Motion and the Physical Therapy Business Alliance.

Larry Benz

Dr. Larry Benz, DPT, OCS, MBA, MAPP, is the Executive Chairman of Confluent Health. He is nationally recognized for his expertise in private practice physical therapy and occupational medicine. Dr. Benz’s current areas of interest include conducting research and integrating empathy, compassion, and positive psychology interventions within physical therapy. He released a book on September...

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