2023 Tennessee Code › Title 63 - PROFESSIONS OF THE HEALING ARTS (§§ 63-1-NEW — 63-32-119) › Chapter 13 - OCCUPATIONAL AND PHYSICAL THERAPY PRACTICE ACT (§§ 63-13-101 — 63-13-502) › Part 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS (§§ 63-13-101 — 63-13-104) › Section 63-13-103 - Chapter definitions

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1)
"ACOTE" means the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education, a nationally recognized accrediting agency for professional programs in the field of occupational therapy;
(2)
"AOTA" means the American Occupational Therapy Association;
(3)
"Board" means:
(A)
As used in part 2 of this chapter, the board of occupational therapy; and
(B)
As used in part 3 of this chapter, the board of physical therapy;
(4)
"Competence" is the application of knowledge, skills, and behaviors required to function effectively, safely, ethically, and legally within the context of the patient's role and environment;
(5)
"Division" means the division of health related boards of the department of health;
(6)
"Dry needling" means a skilled intervention that uses a thin filiform needle to penetrate the skin and stimulate underlying neural, muscular, and connective tissues for the management of neuromusculoskeletal conditions, pain, and movement impairments;
(7)
"NBCOT" means the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy;
(8)
"Occupational therapist" means a person licensed to engage in occupational therapy practice under this chapter;
(9)
"Occupational therapy assistant" means a person licensed to assist in occupational therapy practice under the supervision of an occupational therapist;
(10)
(A)
"Occupational therapy practice" means the therapeutic use of everyday life activities (occupations) for the purpose of enabling individuals or groups to participate in roles and situations in home, school, workplace, community and other settings. Occupational therapy addresses the physical, cognitive, psychosocial and sensory aspects of performance in a variety of contexts to support engagement in occupations that affect health, well-being and quality of life. "Occupational therapy practice" includes, but is not limited to:
(i)
Screening, evaluation, assessment, planning, implementation, or discharge planning in order to determine an occupational therapy treatment diagnosis, prognosis, plan of therapeutic intervention, or discharge plan, or to assess the ongoing effect of intervention;
(ii)
Selection and administration of standardized and nonstandardized tests and measurements to evaluate factors affecting activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, education, work, play, leisure and social participation, including:
(a)
Body functions and body structures;
(b)
Habits, routines, roles and behavior patterns;
(c)
Cultural, physical, environmental, social and spiritual context and activity demands that affect performance; and
(d)
Performance skills, including motor, process and communication/interaction skills;
(iii)
Methods or strategies selected to direct the process of interventions, such as:
(a)
Modification or adaptation of an activity or the environment to enhance performance;
(b)
Establishment, remediation or restoration of a skill or ability that has not yet developed or is impaired;
(c)
Maintenance and enhancement of capabilities without which performance in occupations would decline;
(d)
Health promotion and wellness to enable or enhance performance and safety of occupations; and
(e)
Prevention of barriers to performance, including disability prevention;
(iv)
Interventions and procedures to promote or enhance safety and performance in activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, education, work, play, leisure and social participation, including:
(a)
Therapeutic use of occupations, exercises and activities;
(b)
Training in self-care, self-management, home management and community/work reintegration;
(c)
Development, remediation or compensation of physical, cognitive, neuromuscular and sensory functions and behavioral skills;
(d)
Therapeutic use of self, including an individual's personality, insights, perceptions and judgments as part of the therapeutic process;
(e)
Education and training of individuals, family members, caregivers and others;
(f)
Care coordination, case management, discharge planning and transition services;
(g)
Consulting services to groups, programs, organizations or communities;
(h)
Assessment, recommendations and training in techniques and equipment to enhance functional mobility, including wheelchair management;
(i)
Driver rehabilitation and community mobility; and
(j)
Management of feeding and eating skills to enable feeding and eating performance;
(v)
Management of occupational therapy services, including the planning, organizing, staffing, coordinating, directing or controlling of individuals and organizations;
(vi)
Providing instruction in occupational therapy to students in an accredited occupational therapy or occupational therapy assistant educational program by persons who are trained as occupational therapists or occupational therapy assistants; and
(vii)
Administration, interpretation and application of research to occupational therapy services;
(B)
Occupational therapy services are provided for the purpose of promoting health and wellness to those clients who have, or are at risk of developing, illness, injury, disease, disorder, impairment, disability, activity limitation or participation restriction and may include:
(i)
Training in the use of prosthetic devices;
(ii)
Assessment, design, development, fabrication, adaptation, application, fitting and training in the use of assistive technology and adaptive and selective orthotic devices;
(iii)
Application of physical agent modalities with proper training and certification;
(iv)
Assessment and application of ergonomic principles;
(v)
Adaptation or modification of environments, at home, work, school or community, and use of a range of therapeutic procedures, such as wound care management, techniques to enhance sensory, perceptual and cognitive processing and manual therapy techniques, to enhance performance skills, occupational performance or the promotion of health and wellness; and
(vi)
Practice of dry needling of the upper limb, with proper training and certification;
(C)
Occupational therapy practice may occur in a variety of settings, including, but not limited to:
(i)
Institutional inpatient settings, such as acute rehabilitation facilities, psychiatric hospitals, community and specialty hospitals, nursing facilities and prisons;
(ii)
Outpatient settings, such as clinics, medical offices and therapist offices;
(iii)
Home and community settings, such as homes, group homes, assisted living facilities, schools, early intervention centers, daycare centers, industrial and business facilities, hospices, sheltered workshops, wellness and fitness centers and community mental health facilities;
(iv)
Research facilities;
(v)
Educational institutions; and
(vi)
Telehealth, telemedicine, or provider-based telemedicine, as authorized by §
63-1-155
; and
(D)
"Occupational therapy practice" includes specialized services provided by occupational therapists or occupational therapy assistants who are certified or trained in areas of specialization that include, but are not limited to, hand therapy, neurodevelopmental treatment, dry needling of the upper limb, sensory integration, pediatrics, geriatrics and neurorehabilitation, through programs approved by AOTA or other nationally recognized organizations;
(11)
"Occupations" means everyday life activities, named, organized and given value and meaning by individuals and their culture. "Occupations" includes everything that people do to occupy their time, including caring for their needs, enjoying life and contributing to the social and economic fabric of their communities;
(12)
"Onsite supervision" means the supervising physical therapist or physical therapist assistant must:
(A)
Be continuously onsite and present in the department or facility where assistive personnel are performing services;
(B)
Be immediately available to assist the person being supervised in the services being performed; and
(C)
Maintain continued involvement in appropriate aspects of each treatment session in which a component of treatment is delegated to assistive personnel;
(13)
"Physical therapist" or "physiotherapist" means a person who is licensed pursuant to this chapter to practice physical therapy;
(14)
"Physical therapist assistant" means a person who meets the requirements of this chapter for licensure as a physical therapist assistant and who performs physical therapy procedures and related tasks that have been selected and delegated only by the supervising physical therapist;
(15)
"Physical therapy" means the care and services provided by or under the direction and supervision of a physical therapist who is licensed pursuant to this chapter;
(16)
"Physical therapy assistive personnel":
(A)
"Other assistive personnel" means other trained or educated health care personnel not defined in subdivisions (14) and (16)(B), who perform specific designated tasks related to physical therapy under the supervision of a physical therapist. At the discretion of the supervising physical therapist, and if properly credentialed and not prohibited by any other law, "other assistive personnel" or "other support personnel" may be identified by the title specific to their training or education; and
(B)
"Physical therapy aide," inclusive of the terms "aide," "technician" and "transporter," means a person trained by and under the direction of a physical therapist who performs designated and supervised routine physical therapy tasks;
(17)
"Practice of physical therapy" means, whether by in-person encounter or via telehealth, telemedicine, or provider-based telemedicine, as authorized by §
63-1-155
, the following:
(A)
Examining, evaluating and testing individuals with mechanical, physiological and developmental impairments, functional limitations and disability or other health and movement-related conditions in order to determine a physical therapy treatment diagnosis, prognosis, a plan of therapeutic intervention and to assess the ongoing effect of intervention;
(B)
Alleviating impairments and functional limitations by designing, implementing, and modifying therapeutic interventions that include, but are not limited to, therapeutic exercise, functional training, manual therapy, therapeutic massage, assistive and adaptive orthotic, prosthetic, protective and supportive equipment, airway clearance techniques, debridement and wound care, physical agents or modalities, dry needling, mechanical and electrotherapeutic modalities and patient-related instruction;
(C)
Reducing the risk of injury, impairments, functional limitation and disability, including the promotion and maintenance of fitness, health and quality of life in all age populations; and
(D)
Engaging in administration, consultation, education and research;
(18)
"Restricted physical therapist assistant license" means a license on which the committee has placed any restrictions due to action imposed by the committee;
(19)
"Restricted physical therapy license" means a license on which the committee places restrictions or conditions, or both, as to scope of practice, place of practice, supervision of practice, duration of licensed status or type of condition of patient to whom the licensee may provide services;
(20)
"Supervision" of the physical therapist assistant means the supervising physical therapist will be readily available to the physical therapist assistant being supervised. When the physical therapist assistant is practicing in an offsite setting, the supervising physical therapist will be immediately accessible by telecommunications. Patient conferences will be regularly scheduled and documented and supervisory visits will be made as further outlined in the rules and regulations;
(21)
"Unlicensed person working in occupational therapy" means a person who performs specific supportive tasks related to occupational therapy practice under the direct supervision of an occupational therapist or an occupational therapy assistant and whose activities do not require professional or advanced training in the basic anatomical, biological, psychological and social sciences involved in the provision of occupational therapy services. Such persons are often referred to as aides, technicians, transporters or support staff; and
(22)
"Upper limb" means the hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder girdle.
Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 143, Secs.s 1, s 2, s 3, s 4, s 5, s 6 eff. 4/13/2021.
Amended by 2020 Tenn. Acts, ch. 790, Secs.s 1, s 2 eff. 7/15/2020.
Amended by 2015 Tenn. Acts, ch. 124, Secs.s 1, s 2 eff. 4/9/2015.
Acts 1984, ch. 921, § 2; T.C.A., §
63-13-202
; Acts 1988, ch. 824, §§ 1-4; 1988, ch. 1023, §§ 1, 2; 1991, ch. 245, §§ 1, 2; 1993, ch. 225, § 1; T.C.A., §
63-13-102
; Acts 1999, ch. 415, § 1; 1999, ch. 528, § 4; 2006, ch. 765, § 1; 2007 , ch. 115, § 1.