Introduction to
Continuing Competence & aPTitude
What is the Federation of State Boards of
Physical Therapy (FSBPT)?
•
Non-profit membership organization
o Members
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are the 53 U.S. jurisdiction PT licensure boards
Owns, develops, administers and validates the
National Physical Therapy Exam (NPTE)
Promotes public protection through effective,
consistent and evidence based regulation
Serves as a regulatory issues resource:
o Entry
level and continuing competence
o Discipline, remediation, impaired professional
o Professional standards, standards of practice
What is “Continuing Competence”?
FSBPT defines it as: The lifelong process of
maintaining and documenting competence through
ongoing self-assessment, development and
implementation of a personal learning plan, and
subsequent reassessment.
Why All the Attention to Competence?
• FSBPT Mission: To protect the public by
providing service and leadership that promote
safe and competent physical therapy practice
• PT regulatory boards/agencies enforce laws
for the purpose of assuring the public of the
ongoing competence of PTs and PTAs
Why Is This Important to Me?
• The law in the state(s) in which you will be
licensed will likely require you complete either
continuing education (“CE”) or continuing
competence (“CC”) activities each licensure
period
• These laws also require you to maintain records of
what you complete and demonstrate proof of
compliance
How Are the States Addressing Competence?
• As of June 2013 all but 4 states have CE or CC
requirements for PTs and PTAs, but this number is
shrinking
• There is great variation among the states on the
requirements
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Different units
Different completion deadlines
Different eligible activities
• Many states are expanding the list of eligible
activities (e.g. residencies, Clinical Instructor
service, committee service . . .)
CC/CE Compliance & Discipline
Failure to complete continuing education/
competence requirements was the third
most frequently reported violation for PT
and second for PTAs.
Study conducted by Debbie Ingram, PT, EdD, University of
Tennessee at Chattanooga; Tom Mohr, PT, PhD, University of
North Dakota; Renee Mabey, PT, PhD, University of North
Dakota; and J. Randy Walker, PT, PhD, DPT, COMT, CMP,
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga of disciplinary reports
submitted to the FSBPT Disciplinary Database from 2000-2009.
FSBPT has developed a system to
help you track process with
meeting all your CC and CE
requirements
www.fsbpt.org/aPTitude
aPTitude - What is it?
• An online system for 3 user types to share
CE/CC information
o Licensees
o Vendors (providers of CE and CC activities)
o The states (licensing board or agency)
• Other online CE/CC recording programs exist
o aPTitude’s purpose is to assist licensees to select,
track and report their activities to meet their
requirements
aPTitude – Licensee Features
• Find and verify current state requirements
and related information
• Maintain information on completed CC/CE
activities for the duration of your career
• Securely store documentation for those
activities
• Receive reminders when license renewal and
CC/CE reporting deadlines are near
aPTitude – Licensee Features
• Assess multiple activity offerings to facilitate
informed selection
• Provides single place to monitor licensure
records when licenses are held in multiple
states
• Rate and comment on activities
aPTitude – Activity Providers (Vendors)
• View CC/CE requirements for all jurisdictions
• Share information about activities including
type, title, fees, learning objectives, location,
presenter(s) and schedule
• Receive and review feedback on activities
from licensees
• Access information about the marketplace
and design and schedule activities accordingly
aPTitude – State Features
• Communicate CC and CE requirements to
licensees in a simple and straightforward
manner
• Automatically notify registered licensees
when requirements change
• Verify licensees' completion of activities*
• Run and analyze compliance status reports*
*for licensees who elect to release that information
And best of all . . .
aPTitude is FREE to use!
FSBPT will invite you to register with
your first license upon passing the
National Physical Therapy
Examination (NPTE)
www.fsbpt.org/aPTitude