Welcome to the “New” Bayou Bulletin! We hope you enjoy the new format and layout. We are excited to transition to the new digital version that will allow us to present more current and relevant information as well as incorporating more photos, videos, digital links and the like to create a more interactive and stimulating experience for our members.

APTA Louisiana continues to bounce back from the effects of the Covid pandemic and the impacts it has had on our association. In early August, your APTA LA delegate team was in Washington, DC for the House of Delegates. We had a great time and participated in the work of our national legislative body. Our team is now lead by your new Chief Delegate, Rich Baudry. He’s done a great job getting everybody together and aligned with the issues facing the association.

At the end of August, we got together for our Fall Meeting in Baton Rouge. We were so excited that we were able to have a meeting without the weight of Covid hanging over us and without a hurricane coming our way. It almost felt like the “old days” and IF we can get our participation numbers up a bit more, it will be just like old times again. Greg Johnson and Susan Welsh both had great presentations that were very well received and allowed people to get out of their seats and have some true clinical experiences. I don’t know about you, but I REALLY miss that!

We also had a record number of poster presentations, a great panel discussion, research presentations, as well as networking and fellowship time together. The feel of the meeting was great! At our business meeting, (attended by A LOT of students!) we presented awards, including our Hall of Fame awards to 2 of our greatest, Sharon Dunn and Paul Hildreth. Their time with APTA LA (LPTA) and APTA are some of the best examples of true “Service” to our profession. I was so thrilled to be able to participate in their awards. We also presented the Dave Warner Service award to Phil Page, the PTA award to Sarah Saenger-Ormand, the Legislator of the Year to Senator Kirk Talbot and the Friend of PT award to Charlotte Martin. Charlotte’s service to our profession as Executive Director of our PT Board, I believe, has been transformative for our profession in the State of Louisiana. Her energy, drive and willingness to immerse herself in our profession is unmatched.

Personally, the highlight of the meeting for me, was the return of Blair Duthu. Blair is your District Chair in Houma. She has had to miss some time because she has been “kicking some cancer butt!” Her return to our meeting was inspirational and shows her commitment to our association and our profession. You Go Blair!

What happens in our districts is so important to the association and our District Chairs have done a great job putting on district meetings and introducing what our association can do for PT’s and PTA’s in Louisiana. When you get a notice about an upcoming District Meeting, please make every effort to attend, these people really work hard to try and make it special. With that in mind, we still need district chairs in Alexandria and Lake Charles. If you know anyone that might be interested in getting involved with our association, this is a great way to start! If you or they are worried that you don’t know what to do….DON’T…….We’ll help you every step of the way.

I would be remiss if I didn’t congratulate Rebecca Troulliet, Heather Bays, Cristina Faucheux, McKenzie Leblanc, Caroline Denison and Michael Hildebrand. Rebecca was elected as your new Vice-President, Heather was re-elected as Treasurer, Cristina was re-elected as Governmental Affairs Chair, McKenzie was elected as Nominations Chair-Elect and Caroline and Michael were elected as Delegates. That is a great lineup of people and I’m so excited to work with them in the coming year.

Your leadership team is busy working on an update of our Strategic Plan, led by newly elected Vice-President Rebecca Troulliet. Her team is working on this important project and we will be working on it further at our Board Retreat in January. The final product should be ready for the Fall Meeting in 2023.

Education Chair Monique Serpas is also putting the finishing touches on the lineup for the Spring Sports Symposium to be held in March in Lafayette. The list of presenters is looking great and we hope to get some information out soon, so we can have our best Sports Symposium ever! We are also working on some great networking / social opportunities for the Lafayette meeting…..Stay Tuned!!! We need your participation!

We also need your feedback on the “New” Bayou Bulletin. Please let us know what you think! Have a great FALL!

-Bart Jones, PT, DPT

APTA Louisiana President

I am excited and honored to have been elected to the Office of Vice President for APTA-Louisiana! As we move into 2023 our association will continue to review and revitalize our strategic plan to better serve the needs and issues of the physical therapy profession in our communities, in alignment with the strategic plan of our parent organization, APTA. We recently emailed out a survey to all licensed physical therapists and physical therapy assistants in the state of Louisiana. If you did not receive this email and would like to provide feedback on important strategic initiatives please email: [email protected] for the link.

If you are looking for ways to get more involved with the association, would like to present at annual conferences, or mentor current students or early career professionals please contact Nominations Committee Chair: Jane Eason or Education Chair: Monique Serpas. 

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected] with any questions, suggestions or ideas you might have regarding association vision, direction, strategic intistibevs or volunteer/involvement opportunities. As always our profession is 'Better Together' and together includes you!

-Rebecca Troulliet, PT, DPT, SCS, CSCS

APTA Louisiana Vice President

Fellow APTA LA members,

Thank you for your past support of PTPAC. Your strong financial commitment helps make a difference in our efforts to move legislation on Capitol Hill through building relationships with members of Congress and their staff. Your help is crucial as in-person and virtual events in most cases is the only way that we could communicate face to face with members of Congress since Congressional offices curtailed office visits because of the pandemic. It makes a significant difference on many issues such as:

• Preventing payment cuts to PTs/PTAs (2% Medicare sequestration cut, 4% PAYGO cut, an additional 3.5% Medicare cut in 2023). 

• Permanency of reimbursement and coverage of telehealth for our patients. 

• Reducing administrative burden across all payers, such as prior authorization, plan of care certification, documentation, etc. 

• Breaking down barriers for the public to access our services (direct access, copayments, etc.). 

• Increasing the physical therapy workforce in rural and medically underserved areas. 

Members are concerned about growing payment challenges, administrative burden, student loan debt, barriers to patient access, and more. Imagine the impact we’d have on these issues if more members participated in PTPAC. Change cannot occur without all of us working together, building a community, brick by brick.

Annually, PTPAC asks for your financial support because your APTA dues cannot be used for PTPAC donations for candidates running for Congress. This year is even more important as our friends in Congress are contacting us more often for financial support for this year’s election. Your donation will make sure that we help elect the right people to Congress who will further our priorities. Can we count on your support with a generous contribution? Or how about a ten dollar monthly pledge?

You can call Michael Matlack, Director of Congressional Affairs, at 703/706-3163 to make your donation. Or you can go on line to ptpac.apta.org 

Thank you again for your strong support. Contributions to PTPAC are not tax deductible as charitable contributions. Contributions are voluntary. Your contribution will be used to support candidates for federal office who support physical therapy issues.

Please contact us if you have questions or concerns.

-Paul Hildreth and Amelia Leonardi, APTA LA PTPAC Ambassadors

-David Qualls, PTPAC Trustee

Looking to get involved with APTA-Louisiana?? This is your chance! The Northshore District is looking for a new chairman. 

Did you know that the chairman of each district are actually voting Board Members for the Association? It is the perfect way for new or seasoned professionals alike to become involved with the association. Within each District there are also volunteer committee representative positions available such as: Education, Governmental Affairs, Ethics, Finance, etc. These positions serve as the representatives living in each district for the association full committee at a state level. This is one of the ways APTA-LA provides opportunities for equity and inclusion across the entire state in all aspects of its professional business.

If you would like to know more about each of these committees, available volunteer opportunities or find out where your skill set best fits within APTA-Louisiana please reach out to Rebecca Troulliet ([email protected]) as outgoing Northshore District Chairman or Jane Eason ([email protected]) Nominating Committee Chair.

Private Practice Section Meeting – November 2-5, 2022 in Aurora, CO

CSM 2023 – February 22-25, 2023 in San Diego, CA

Graham Sessions — January 26-28, 2023 in New Orleans, LA

APTA Louisiana Spring Meeting – March 17-19, 2023 in Lafayette, LA

House of Delegates / Leadership Congress — July 22-24, 2023 in Washington, DC

Federal Affairs Forum — July 25, 2023 in Washington, DC

APTA Louisiana Fall Meeting - August 25-27, 2023 in Baton Rouge, LA

CSM 2024 – February 13-15, 2024 in Boston, MA

APTA Louisiana Spring Meeting – March 22-24, 2024 in Lafayette, LA

APTA Louisiana Fall Meeting – August 23-25, 2024 in Baton Rouge, LA

Elections were completed this summer with a total of 164 people who voted.

Congratulations to our newly elected leaders! 

• Vice-President – Rebecca Troulliet

• Treasurer – Heather Bays

• Delegate – Caroline Denison

• Governmental Affairs Chair - Cristina Faucheux

• Nominations Committee Chair-Elect – McKenzie LeBlanc

Thank you for your willingness to serve! We all look forward to your leadership!

The following positions will be on the ballot in 2023

• President

• Secretary

If anyone has any questions about the positions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Please contact the Association Office or myself with any nominations. Self-nominations are also appropriate.

-Jane Eason, PT, PhD

Nominating Committee Chair

Brief Summary of Finances

The 2023 budget was presented to the APTA Louisiana Board of Directors at the Fall Meeting on Friday, August 26, 2022. The recommendation of the Executive Committee to approve the budget presented by the Finance Committee was received by unanimous vote of the Board of Directors. Edits from the previous year’s budget include

Decreased Revenue/Increased Expenses

• General & Admin: 3% increase; no increase since 2018
• Fall Meeting Setup & Security: Minimum increase due to 2022 actuals
• Spring Meeting Audio Visual & Room Rental: Increase due to 2022 actuals & contract obligations for 2023
• Membership: Increase in budget to host more events at schools

Increased Revenue/Decreased Expenses (Good News!)

• Decreased travel for Delegates to line up with actuals
• G&A CC Fees, Printing, & Supplies: Decrease due to 2022 actuals and anticipated reductions in print & supplies
• Membership: Decrease due to limited spending
• Member Communications: Decrease due to digital conversion of Bayou Bulletin

I am happy to answer any questions you might have regarding our 2023 budget: [email protected].

Respectfully submitted,

-Heather Bays, PT, DPT

Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Physical Therapy

Treasurer, APTA Louisiana

September 2022

Dobson Report on the SMART Act: On September 7, 2022, the firm Dobson & Davanzo release its study that looked at the potential financial impact of the Stabilizing Medicare Access to Rehabilitation and Therapy Act, or SMART Act (H.R. 5536), introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., and Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo. The bill aims to exempt rural or underserved areas from a 15% Medicare payment cut when services are provided by a PTA or OTA. That cut was implemented on Jan. 1, and applies to PTA and OTA services under Medicare Part B. While the study finds that the SMART Act's exemption could cost Medicare between $741 million and $1.58 billion over 10 years, researchers say that cost could be partially offset by another feature of the legislation: shifting PTA and OTA supervision requirements in outpatient settings from "direct" to "general" supervision. According to the report, moving to general supervision in outpatient settings could result in estimated savings between $168 million and $242 million over 10 years, as outpatient clinics increase access to PTAs and OTAs. The change would also bring the outpatient practice supervision of PTAs and OTAs in line with all other Medicare settings that provide therapy services. In a news release, the study's sponsors describe the findings as a "win-win" for the ways the SMART Act would create Medicare savings while reducing administrative burden — and increasing access to PTAs and OTAs across the country.

Prior Authorization: On Wednesday, September 14, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act, APTA-supported bipartisan legislation aimed at addressing the use of prior authorization under Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.

The bill will require MA plans to establish an electronic prior authorization program that meets specified transparency standards, including real-time decisions in response to requests for items and services that are routinely approved. Plans will also be required to publish data annually on prior authorization, including the percentage of approved and denied requests and the average response time. CMS is then tasked to set additional standards related to the quality and timeliness of prior authorization determinations. Process improvements that are required by the bill language are those which MA plans have publicly stated they could put into place.

The bill now goes to the Senate for passage. 

Federal Agencies CMS: APTA submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in response to its request for information from the public on various aspects of the Medicare Advantage program. The RFI is seeking stakeholder feedback on how to strengthen MA plans in ways that align with the Vision for Medicare and CMS Strategic Pillars. APTA primarily spoke to how CMS can reduce significant barriers to care faced by both patients and providers. First, we advocated for more plan transparency, asking that CMS provide oversight of MA advertising to ensure that the benefits MA plans market are provided unimpeded to enrollees. We also described how onerous prior authorization procedures are delaying patient care and creating more administrative burden. Consequently, APTA recommended extensive prior authorization oversight and standardized utilization management processes to ease provider workloads and improve patient experiences. Our letter also requested that CMS consider APTA a valuable partner when figuring out how to create effective VBMs that utilize specialty providers. Finally, APTA voiced provider frustrations with MAOs and detailed several reforms that will be necessary to allow MA plans to properly serve a growing number of enrollees over the next decade.

CMS: On September 6, 2022, APTA submitted comments on the 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule. APTA commented on numerous proposals including the reduction in the American Physical Therapy Association / 3 conversion factor, telehealth and remote therapeutic monitoring, supervision of PTAs, underutilized physical therapy services and the quality payment program.

APTA nominated Dr. Matt Janes, a member of APTA’s Post-Acute Care Workgroup, to serve on CMS’ Health Equity Technical Expert Panel (TEP). To evaluate whether or not a health equity-focused structural composite measure should be included within the Home Health and Hospice Quality Reporting Programs (QRPs), CMS is seeking individuals with differing perspectives and areas of expertise to serve as health equity experts on a TEP. The objective of the TEP is to consider a health equity structural composite measure that includes organizational activities to address access to and quality of hospice and home health care for underserved populations. APTA believes that Dr. Janes will make an outstanding addition to the ten-member panel and awaits the panel’s input on the health equity quality measure.

Should you have any questions, feel free to contact me at [email protected].

                        -Cristina Faucheux, PT

Governmental Affairs Committee Chair

Thanks to everyone that came out to the Fall Conference. We had an overwhelming response to our interactive, hands-on and thought provoking sessions. Seeing the support of our students from around the state at our business luncheon was awesome! We have also added a virtual Ethics offering by Nancy R. Kirsch, PT, DPT, PhD, FAPTA, author of the APTA Magazine column "Professional Decision Making on the Line" and book Ethics in Physical Therapy: A Case Based Approach. 

We are planning a webinar on professionalism on the topic of burnout for early next year, so look out for that information coming soon.

Mark your calendars for the Spring Sports Symposium in March. We have a diverse set of speakers on topics including return to sport testing, surgical procedures, postpartum athletes, professional development in sport PT, and treatment of the dancer to name a few. PT pub night will be coming to our conference and we are looking forward to networking and knowledge sharing!

-Monique Serpas, PT, DPT, OCS

Continuing Education Chair

The Research Committee was pleased to give award the following during the APTA LA Fall Meeting: 

Best Poster: Dr. Jaime Caillet, FranU: “Measurement of Empathy in a DPT Program”

Best Platform: Dr. Jeff Thompson, FranU: “Reliability of Cervical Disc Height Measurements Using Musculoskeletal Ultrasound”

Best Early Career Research: Dr. Colton Tucker, Ochsner Residency: “Conservative management of a semimembranosus avulsion fracture at the posteriomedial tibial plateau in a 13 year old cross country athlete: a case report”

Best Student Research: Saya Menzies, FranU: “Description of the physical therapy workforce in Louisiana”

We will continue to have student researchers present their work at the Spring Meeting. 

-Daniel W. Flowers, PT, DPT, PhD

APTA Louisiana Research Chair

The Houma district had a well attended meeting on September 22, 2022! Stay tuned for an upcoming PT Pub Night!

You can email me at [email protected] with an ideas for upcoming community involvement! 

-Blair Duthu, PT

Board-certified Women’s Health Clinical Specialist

Houma District Chair

In September Baton Rouge PTs attended a 3 day LEAP Comprehensive Management of the Neuropathic Foot Course offered by the National Hansen’s Disease program located right here in Baton Rouge. This location is the main treatment program in the United States that treats individuals with Hansen’s Disease, formerly known as Leprosy. This course offers 17 free CEUs and occurs twice a year. The next course being offered is April 19-21, 2023. For more information on Hansen’s Disease Treatment or continuing education opportunities, please contact Scott McGrew at: [email protected]. 

APTA Louisiana’s Student Special Interest Group (SSIG) Executive Board is continuing to plan and organize upcoming events and opportunities for student involvement and professional growth at the regional and state levels. The SSIG executive board aims to hear the voices of all DPT/PTA students from around the state to better address the needs of individuals as they continue to build their educational and clinical skills while transitioning into their physical therapy careers. Please reach out to [email protected] with any questions, comments, or concerns regarding APTA Louisiana’s SSIG.

2022-2023 SSIG Executive Board

·        Chairman: Brittany LaGrange, SPT3

·        Vice Chairman: Zachary Dubois, SPT2

·        Treasurer: Jania Burns, SPT3

·        Secretary: Danielle Rankin, SPT3

·        Student Delegate: Grant Matherne, SPT3

·        Communications Director: Brooke Petkovich, SPT3

·        LA Core Ambassador: Micah Fontenot, SPT3

Upcoming Student Events

PT Day of Service – October

• Regional committees (Shreveport, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans) are currently finalizing plans for this event. Details of each will be posted onto the SSIG and Core Ambassador social media pages once confirmed. For questions or more information, please reach out to [email protected].

Virtual Guest Speakers – November and December

• Currently being planned by SSIG Executive Board
• TBA via SSIG and Core Ambassador social media
• If you are interested in being a guest speaker for one of the SSIG virtual events, please reach out to lptassig@gmail.com.

SSIG Donations

• The SSIG is currently seeking sponsors to help fund our effort in making and selling SSIG branded merchandise. Extra funds raised will be used for future SSIG activities and events throughout the year. All sponsors will be acknowledged and/or advertised for helping to make the SSIG’s ideas and plans a reality. Any contribution (big or small) is greatly appreciated. If interested in becoming a sponsor, please donate to the SSIG via the APTA-LA website as well as send a picture of the logo and/or name that you would like to use for acknowledgment/advertisement to the SSIG treasurer, Jania Burns ([email protected]).

Stay Connected

• APTA LA SSIG
• Instagram: @aptala_ssig
• Facebook: APTA Louisiana Student Special Interest Group
• Louisiana Core Ambassador
• Instagram: @apta.coreambassador.la
• Facebook: APTA Core Ambassador – Louisiana

Students In Action

*If you or someone you know deserves to be recognized for professional or educational efforts, please reach out to [email protected] with the student’s name, year/program, and their accomplishments. 

APTA LA Fall Meeting

September Virtual Guest Speaker Event

• Topic: “Orthopedic and Sports PT Residencies”
• Speaker: Dr. Mark Gutierrez, PT, DPT, OCS, SCS, FAAOMPT

-Brittany LaGrange, SPT

APTA Louisiana SSIG Chairman

Contact: [email protected]