NYPTA Brooklyn/Staten Island District Fall Meeting

October 26, 2017

Minutes

When: Thursday, October 26, 2017

Time: 7:00 PM

Where: College of Staten Island

2800 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, NY 10314

Physical Therapy Department, Building 5N, room 205

Continuing Education Course Offering: Advancements in Lower Extremity Prosthetic Design, presented by Hanger Clinic.

Attendance:

-Michael Masaracchio

-Elizabeth Tangney

-Amanda Rotondo

-Samuel Akl

-Marie Elena Milone

-Kevin Johnson

-Michael Mattia

-Attendees to conference (see attached list)

How to be active in the district without being a Board Member

-Being a member of APTA & NYPTA

-Get emails about meetings & events

-3x/year – gather together as NYTPA in Albany

-conference in Albany

-Lobby Day

-Delegate Assembly

-Meetings every quarter

-Social events (SI Yankee Game)

  • Networking

-Holiday social – time and date TBD in December (PTs, PTAs, SPTs, & SPTAs)

-Winter meeting – January in LIU – speaker (Mike Masaracchio) – 1 hour CEU course followed by meeting

-Spring Symposium – date and time TBD – ortho, peds, mixed

-Lobby Day – late spring – Tues afternoon in Albany

-Delegate Assembly – Albany – Late spring – talk about NYS representation (bylaws, etc) to talk to APTA on national level

Town Hall Meeting

Michael Mattia, NYPTA President

-Lobby Day – Tues 4/17/2018

-Just finished board meeting (3xyear board meeting – 14 member board – members from each district), executive committee

-Local chapter of APTA

-6800 members of NYPTA (highest we’ve had)

-Mike Mattia ending term as President next year – wants to see 7000 membership

-$750,000 budget each year

  • chapter office
  • staff of 4 people
  • budget for each district
  • 18 committees that we fund

-Passed Title Protection – use of DPT for only licensed PTs in NYS

  • Governor signed last week
  • Bills that pass go to Governor – has 30 days to sign bill
  • Signed bill

-Passed PTA bill

  • Under NYS worker’s comp law, PTAs not recognized and can’t sign off on notes or treat
  • Bill passed last year, governor vetoed it
  • Got bill passed again this year – educated governor’s staff, will be going to Governor’s desk – will be delivered & then has 30 days to sign

-Functioning practice act task force

  • Looking at modernizing practice act of NYS (how we practice in our state)
  • When we open practice act it becomes public record so we need right rationale for why we do things & why we’re making changes

-Direct Access Bill

  • Direct access to PT services 10 visits or 30 days and need 3 years practice experience before you can see
  • New bill eliminates this – we are held accountable for referrals and what we do – need to create relationship with PCP

-Look at opportunities & look to see how we can expand our reach and show what we do and what value we add to communities

-NYPTA is an organization – we are ones that have responsibility to move mission forward to serve communities

-Need to develop relationships at local level

  • Had large numbers (100 people) at lobby day but didn’t get much done
  • Need practitioners to talk about reality of what’s happening in clinics and treatment centers

-If not a member, become a member!

  • Students get discounted rate so sign up now to get discount as new grad
  • Get discount for 5 years
  • Huge amount of member portfolio benefits (car insurance, life insurance, professional insurance, local partners (credit card companies with discounted rate for offices to accept credit cards)

-Everyone in the room is a leader! All have leadership skills – will use it in different areas

-Questions

  • Constitutional convention – NYPTA stance?
  • We have lobbyists – we asked them to take a look at the constitutional convention – if we have one, they’re looking into what opportunities there are for us to do good things
  • Vote is on back of ballot – non-vote means yes, so vote!
  • Unions want “no”
  • Medicare cap – will get repealed in January?
  • $1970/$1980 per year shared with SLP
  • OT has its own cap
  • There is a national bill In Washington to repeal cap once and for all
  • Mike Mattia wrote letter to Dan Donovan and asked him to sign on as a co-sponsor – more people to sponsor bill, in the room those people will speak on the floor to sway people to vote yes on it
  • We need to police ourselves – don’t give every Medicare pt 75 visits – need to be evidence based and realistic or will have problem & put the cap back on
  • Rehab is 1% of billing in a year
  • Can email or call chapter with questions
  • Try to do local lobby days to visit legislators in home offices before Albany – we want them to know about us before we get to Albany