Over the last two months, one bill has consistently been one of our most viewed. Which bill you may ask? AR HB1040 – limiting the practice of athletic training in a nonclinical setting. Interesting topic, isn’t it? The medical world is full of interesting bills like this one aimed at awarding one industry over the other control over a plethora of different medical processes, licensing and other aspects, let’s look at a couple parts of this.
AR HB1040
AR HB1040, it is a bill that proposes to disallow athletic trainers not to provide rehabilitation in a nonclinical setting when the athlete is in an acute stage (recovery stage beginning immediately after a surgical operation and up to four weeks after the surgical operation) or a sub-acute stage (recovery stage beginning four weeks after a surgical operation and up to ten weeks after the surgical operation). A “Nonclinical setting” means a facility or setting that is unable to bill Medicare for services provided at the facility or setting.
Athletic Trainers (ATs) are healthcare professionals who render service or treatment, under the direction of or in collaboration with a physician, in accordance with their education and training and the states’ statutes, rules and regulations. As a part of the healthcare team, services provided by ATs include injury and illness prevention, wellness promotion and education, emergent care, examination and clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention, and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions. Athletic trainers differ from physical therapists in that they usually see patients from before the injury all the way until they have recovered and return to play instead of focusing on the recovery period of the injury. Many different industries employ ATs: Professional and Collegiate Sports, Secondary and Intermediate Schools, Sports Medicine Clinics, Hospital ER and Rehab Clinics, Occupational Settings, Fitness Centers and Physician Offices.
From speaking with Shannon of the Board of Certification for the Athletic Trainer, this bill will severely impede AT practice and decrease patient access to care. Not only are there concerns about limiting the ability to practice their education and training, but it is putting possible patients in danger of disallowing access to these trained professionals when they need them. Part of this is disallowing access of ATs to athletes in stadiums or other locations that cannot “accept Medicare” where they could be subject to an injury that needs to be addressed by an AT. They are not aware of other bills similar to this at this time, but it is very concerning in how it could limit essential access to personal who can help people work through injuries or be saved.
Cover Photo by Yogendra Singh on Unsplash
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