Screening for Medical Problems and Complications: Where Do We Go From Here?

Participants: William VanWye, PT, DPT, ACSM-RCEP, CSCS, William Boissonnault, PT, DHSc, FAAOMPT, and Catherine Goodman, PT, MBA, CBT. Moderator: Daniel Riddle, PT, PhD, FAPTA.

Files in this Data Supplement:

• Discussion Podcast - Physical therapists routinely screen for undiagnosed and serious disorders and complications from medical treatment; however, as moderator Daniel Riddle points out, “evidence for these screening procedures and the quality of these screening approaches is generally lacking in the physical therapy literature.” Two case reports published in the March 2009 issue of PTJ describe patients who were successfully screened for medical problems and complications. In this discussion, Dr William VanWye, author of “Patient Screening by a Physical Therapist for Nonmusculoskeletal Hip Pain,” is joined by 2 noted experts on the topic of differential diagnosis and screening: Dr William Boissonnault and Catherine Goodman. They discuss the role of the physical therapist in screening, the resources that physical therapists require for this aspect of patient management, and the gaps in the physical therapy literature.

  “We learned that communication with the physician is of utmost importance.”

  “This case is a very good example of the challenges of either convincing the patient to follow through with your recommendation for referral or convincing the physician to take your concerns seriously.”

  “It’s easy to look back and see how many red flags have added up along the way. Those aren’t always clear as you are going through the evaluation process.”

  “Does the physical therapist have an ethical responsibility to bypass a physician who is unwilling to further explore a potentially serious situation?”

  “Just because diagnostics have been done doesn’t mean that this patient might not have something else going on.”

  “It is our responsibility to advocate for our patients and to communicate clearly when something doesn’t fit in our scope of practice.”

  Running Time: 23:48 (11,168)