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The Best States in Which to Practice

Feature
Date: Thursday, October 1, 2015
Author: Donald E. Tepper

Every state has much to offer physical therapists and physical therapist assistants. It may be quality of life. Employment opportunities. Regulatory and business friendliness. Or any of dozens of other features. But to make it to the top of PT in Motion's third annual analysis of the best states in which to practice, states needed high rankings in multiple factors that health care professionals say are important.

Best States in Which to Practice

What's the best state in which to practice physical therapy?

The answer of course depends in part on what you value. How important is salary? Quality of life? Future job prospects? Fewer regulatory restraints? The demographic characteristics (such as age and health) of the state's residents? And so on.

Many rankings of "best states" use some combination of these factors. PT in Motion's analysis uses these 8 criteria:

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  17. A Summary of Direct Access Language in State Physical Therapy Practice Acts. January 2015. http://www.apta.org/uploadedFiles/APTAorg/Advocacy/State/Issues/Direct_Access/DirectAccessbyState.pdf. Updated with News and Briefs at http://www.apta.org/StateIssues/DirectAccess/. Accessed August 17, 2015.
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    20. Percent of Physicians, NPs, and PAs that have Demonstrated Meaningful Use of Certified Health IT. CMS EHR Incentive Program data. April 2015. http://dashboard.healthit.gov/index.php. Accessed August 17, 2015.

  20. Percent of All Eligible and Critical Access Hospitals that have Demonstrated Meaningful Use of Certified Health IT. CMS EHR Incentive Program data. April 2015. http://dashboard.healthit.gov/index.php. Accessed August 17, 2015.
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  24. http://www.apta.org/REACH100/.
  25. Platinum (100%), gold (90%), or silver (80%) levels in Reach 100. http://www.apta.org/REACH100/. Accessed August 17, 2015.
  26. Occupational Employment Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2013. 29-1123 Physical Therapists. Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291123.htm. Accessed August 11, 2014.
  27. Cost of Living Data Series First Quarter 2014. Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. http://www.missourieconomy.org/indicators/cost_of_living/index.stm. Accessed August 11, 2014.
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  29. Health Disparities Profiles: 2014 Edition. Washington, DC:DHHS Office on Women's Health. 2014. http://www.womenshealth.gov/quickhealthdata. Accessed August 17, 2015.
  30. Women's Health and Mortality Chartbook: 2014 Edition. Washington, DC: DHHS Office on Women's Health. 2014. http://www.womenshealth.gov/quickhealthdata. Accessed August 17, 2015.
  31. 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. American FactFinder, US Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/searchresults.xhtml. Accessed August 17, 2015.
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Resource Details

Date: October 1, 2015
Contact:  aptamag@apta.org
Content Type:  Feature

Author(s)

Donald E. Tepper

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