We often get asked what resources are available to help justify the effectiveness of aquatic therapy to payers or referral sources.
Aquaticnet.com can help Team Aquatic Therapy members find resource materials (including some we've created) to justify the effectiveness of aquatic therapy. Examine the information below to determine what you will need.
Step 1: Determine why you need to justify aquatic therapy.
1. Do you wish to determine the merit of a specific aquatic treatment choice? Read the following article
Harris S. How should treatments be critiqued for scientific merit? Physical Therapy. 1996;76(2):175-181 |
In this article, Susan Harris offers a method to critique specific treatment alternatives for their scientific merit. This method has provided a scaffold upon which therapists may construct justification for the selection of aquatic-based interventions.
2. Do you wish to assess, compare, and contrast the effectiveness of alternative aquatic treatment choices? Simply purchase the Aquatic Therapy Research Bibliography. Or, do the work yourself and find pertinent articles by searching on Internet-based services such as the following. (Don't surf away without bookmarking our site first!)
3. Do you wish to establish a documentation method which validates the need for aquatic therapy? Purchase our comprehensive documentation manual Prove It! Justifying Aquatic Therapy.
4. Do you wish to use the information to market aquatic therapy to referral sources and the public? Simply purchase the Prove It! handbook. The handbook outlines how to effectively market aquatic therapy by meeting the informational needs of your audience (payer, referral source or patient). Or, do the work yourself and read the following resources:
| American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Aquatic Section. Strategies for Developing an Aquatic Physical Therapy Program. Fairhope, AL: APTA; 1998. |
| Cirullo JA. Marketing the aquatic physical therapy program. In: Cirullo, JA, ed. Orthop Phys Ther Clin North Am. 1994; 3(2): 137-146. |
| Clayton RD, Thomas DG. Professional Aquatic Management. 2nd ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Books; 1989. |
| Sova R. Marketing the aquatics program. In: Aquatics: the complete reference guide for aquatic fitness professionals. Washington, D.C.: Jones and Bartlett Publishers; 1992. |
5. Do you wish to retroactively reverse denials for aquatic therapy from third party payers? Ensure that you are not guilty of any of the following reasons* why aquatic therapy is denied:
| The intervention provided in the water does not match the ICD-9 (diagnosis) code |
| The certification period (number of authorized visits) expired; The services provided did not require skilled intervention |
| The patient was billed for two evaluations for the same ICD-9 code during the same 30-day period |
| The therapist failed to document why a land-based program alone isn't adequate |
| The therapist failed to demonstrate carry-over from improvement in water to improvement on land |
| The medical referral or orders expired |
| The duration of therapy exceeded reasonable time frame |
* Excerpted from Charness A. "Reversing denials" lecture. Boston, MA: Combined Sections Meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association; 1998.
If you need to provide the payer with outlines of scientific evidence on the effectiveness of aquatic therapy, purchase the AquaBullets Literature Summaries Combo Packets.
Step 2: Attend a course on justification of aquatic therapy.
The Aquatic Resources Network sponsors a seminar series entitled Prove It! Justifying Aquatic Therapy throughout the world. To find a course near you, or to bring this course to your city, contact the Aquatic Resources Network by phone (715) 248-7258 or fax (715) 248-3065.
