Guest Blog: Showcasing PT’s Value Through a Lawmaker Visit

Rutgerus F. Jongbloets PT, COMT, CSCS

As part of APTQI’s 2025 Facility Tour Program, I was proud to welcome staff from Senator Bill Cassidy’s (R-LA) office to Physiofit Physical Therapy—partner to Upstream Rehabilitation—to demonstrate firsthand how physical therapy is improving outcomes and lowering costs for patients and the healthcare system. These visits are an important way to connect policymakers with the frontlines of patient care and build relationships with lawmakers and their staff to ensure they understand why stable payment policies and access to preventative care are critical to patients and communities.

During the tour, we discussed the wide variety of conditions physical therapists are trained to recognize and treat – from musculoskeletal injuries and post-surgical rehab to neurological and balance disorders. We also had the ability to emphasize how preventative care provides tremendous cost savings by helping patients avoid invasive treatments and surgeries, prevent re-injury, and reduce reliance on opioids for pain management.

We reviewed physical therapists’ ability to effectively triage patients as a first contact and direct them to the appropriate specialist if indicated, avoiding unnecessary imaging and multiple disciplines involved, resulting in significant cost savings to the overall healthcare spending. Cost savings of quality conservative care—identified through sound documentation and diverse billing codes versus costly surgeries when 1-year outcomes are grossly identical in many conditions—were also topics of discussion.

We also spoke about critical policy issues and legislation introduced this Congress including the bipartisan Stopping Addiction and Falls for the Elderly (SAFE) Act (S. 2612 & H.R. 1171) and the need for stabilized Medicare reimbursement. If passed, the SAFE Act would ensure Medicare beneficiaries have access to falls-risk assessments provided by physical and occupational therapists at no additional cost to the patient. This simple, preventative step can help our senior population stay independent and avoid the devastating consequences of falls. And with Medicare cuts threatening patient access to care and the stability of our profession, it’s essential that lawmakers take swift action to address rate cuts and ensure fair payment rates for providers.

I am grateful to Senator Bill Cassidy and his staff for taking the time to engage with us and to APTQI for making this visit possible. By opening our doors and sharing our stories, physical therapists nationwide can advocate for policies that protect our patients and ensure therapy remains a cornerstone of high-value, patient-centered care.

Rutgerus F. Jongbloets PT, COMT, CSCS is the founder of Physiofit Physical Therapy (2002) and Regional Vice President of Upstream Rehabilitation in Louisiana. He graduated from The Hague College for Physical Therapy in the Netherlands in 1992.