President's Note

Show Me the Data

We live in a data-driven world. Wanting the quickest way to get to work? Open the navigation app for the fastest route based on real-time traffic data. Wondering if you should wear your winter coat? Check the weather forecast based on historical temperature trends. Looking for a gift for your partner? Browse their favorite online shopping sites for personalized recommendations. Hoping to sit back and unwind while watching television? Get new show suggestions based on your viewing habits from your streaming service.

As physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and students, we also use data every day to inform our practice. From handheld dynamometry to remote therapeutic monitoring, information gathering is central to our clinical decision-making. Today we have access to data collection methods in our clinics, hospitals, and even patient homes once only available in high-level research labs. We can monitor our patients' responses to treatments through technology at the bedside and in the field and adjust our care in response to that data immediately.

Here at APTA, we are also focusing on data. The APTA Board of Directors is using more data than has ever been collected before — from member and nonmember survey respondents, as well as information from focus group participants — to inform our next strategic plan that will be released later this year. This plan will also be informed by data from APTA's reports, including workforce projections, perceptions of physical therapy by consumers and primary care physicians, and wages and demographics of the profession. You can explore APTA's reports online.

Data is driving our practice and our profession in other ways, too. In this issue, we delve into three topics that are all impacted by data in one way or another:

• Data standardization in our profession is a hot topic, and not one without challenges. Since 2009, when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services pushed for interoperability with its "Meaningful Use" category as part of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System, standardizing data with the goal of being able to share patient information across different health care practices has been the elephant in the room. The problem is that many physical therapy practices don't have the ability to share data because EHRs weren't created with physical therapists in mind. But there are solutions and there are definitely advantages for both clinicians and patients when data can be shared freely. Read more in "Better Connections: Improving Interoperability in Physical Therapy."
• Another thorny issue facing our profession is the debt burden that many of our graduates face as they enter the workforce. We know, through the data we collect, that the financial stresses that our DPT graduates face are real and sometimes overwhelming. It's through collection of this data that we, as an association, can make a case to policymakers that the future of the profession is dependent upon the financial health of the next generation of PTs and PTAs. In the meantime, APTA is providing resources to help alleviate and manage student debt. 
• Finally, the world of endurance sports is growing, especially for ultramarathons, according to "Participation Trends of Ultra Endurance Events" in Sports Medicine and Arthroscopy Review. Ever the innovators, many PTs are treating these endurance athletes, using data and research to inform their practice.

Evidence- and research-based decision-making is what we do as clinicians. And it's also how APTA is making its decisions to set the foundation of the new century. I'm honored to be a part of this initiative, and I'm excited to see how using research and data can propel our profession forward.

Sincerely,

Kyle Covington, PT, DPT, PhD