'Tireless Champion of the Profession'

Stephen M. Levine, PT, DPT, MSHA, FAPTA, a former APTA Board of Directors member and one of the physical therapy profession's most loved and respected voices, died on March 3 as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident. He was 52.

Levine was at the center of some of the most important developments in physical therapy practice and payment during the past 30 years. He was considered a leader in efforts to elevate the standards of physical therapist (PT) and physical therapist assistant (PTA) practice, including the elimination of unwarranted variation in clinical practice. A frequent advisor to the Medicare program, he was one of the nation's leading experts on the Resource Based Value Scale (RBRVS), at one point providing congressional testimony on the RBRVS.