Pennsylvania Senate Bill SB197

Pennsylvania 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/29/25
• Refer: 1/29/25

Caption

Further providing for definitions, for powers and duties of board, for continuing education and for practice of physical therapy.

Summary

SB 197 amends Pennsylvania’s Physical Therapy Practice Act to modernize how physical therapists may provide care without a referral and to remove the separate “certificate of authorization” framework. The bill revises the definition section and the State Board of Physical Therapy’s powers and duties to eliminate references to issuing, renewing, suspending, or revoking certificates of authorization, while preserving the board’s authority over licensure, discipline, and regulation of the profession. The bill also changes the rules for direct access to physical therapy. Under the amended law, a licensed physical therapist may treat a patient without a referral for up to 60 days from the first treatment, rather than 30 days, before a referral is required from a physician, physician assistant, certified registered nurse practitioner, dentist, or podiatrist, depending on the condition being treated. The bill keeps limits on treating nonneurologic, nonmuscular, or nonskeletal conditions and acute cardiac or pulmonary conditions without consultation or referral. It also retains and updates professional liability insurance requirements, including a minimum coverage level of $1,000,000 per occurrence or claims made, and requires proof of coverage for applicants and licensees. In addition, SB 197 streamlines continuing education requirements by removing the prior continuing-education provisions tied specifically to the certificate of authorization. License renewal still requires 30 hours of board-approved continuing physical therapy education every two years, but the bill deletes the prior rule that certain direct-access education could count toward renewal and removes the prohibition on credit for office management or practice-building courses from that specific certificate framework. The bill takes effect 60 days after enactment. The overall sentiment reflected in the bill’s sponsorship is favorable toward expanding and simplifying physical therapists’ ability to practice, especially by extending the direct-access treatment window and eliminating an older administrative credential. Because there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes provided, there is no documented public debate in the supplied materials, but the bill’s structure suggests an effort to reduce regulatory duplication while maintaining patient-safety guardrails through referral limits and insurance requirements. No specific points of contention are documented in the available record. Based on the text alone, the most likely areas of concern would be the longer 60-day referral-free treatment period, the removal of the separate certificate of authorization, and the continued scope limits on what conditions may be treated without referral. The bill appears to balance professional flexibility with oversight by the licensing board and referral requirements for certain conditions.

Impact

SB 197 would amend the Physical Therapy Practice Act by deleting obsolete references to a certificate of authorization and revising the State Board of Physical Therapy’s licensing and disciplinary provisions accordingly. It would also change direct-access practice rules by allowing physical therapists to treat patients without referral for up to 60 days instead of 30, while preserving referral and consultation requirements for certain conditions and maintaining professional liability insurance standards. The bill affects licensed physical therapists, the State Board of Physical Therapy, and patients receiving direct-access physical therapy services.

Sentiment

The available materials suggest a generally supportive, reform-oriented posture toward the bill. The sponsors appear to favor expanding access to physical therapy and simplifying regulation by removing a separate credentialing process. No committee discussion or vote record is provided, so there is no documented opposition or bipartisan debate in the supplied context.

Contention

No explicit contention is recorded in the provided transcripts or voting history. Potential areas of disagreement, based on the bill text, include whether extending treatment without referral from 30 to 60 days could reduce physician oversight, whether eliminating the certificate of authorization weakens a safeguard or simply removes redundancy, and whether the insurance and scope-of-practice provisions are sufficient to protect patients while expanding direct access.