New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 10 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Chapter V - Medical Facilities › Subchapter A - Medical Facilities-minimum Standards › Article 8 - New York State Annual Hospital Report › Part 447 - Standard Unit Of Measure References › Section 447.4 - Physical therapy services

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) ACCOUNT
					 NUMBER COST CENTER TITLE
7510 Physical Therapy
(1) The standard unit of measure will be the
					 relative value units developed by the American Physical Therapy Association.
					 Relative value units shall be counted during a patient visit for all cost
					 center activities for which a charge is made. A patient visit is the occasion
					 for service during which the resources of the physical therapy cost center are
					 used. A visit is one appearance of a patient regardless of the number of
					 evaluation, therapeutic, patient education activities performed during that
					 appearance.
(2) The two major
					 components of the relative value unit are: personnel time associated with the
					 activity, and other direct and appropriate indirect department resources used
					 in providing the activity. Fifteen minutes has been established as the least
					 increment of time for which a unit of service (e.g., evaluation, therapeutic,
					 or patient educational activity) can occur. The unit of service which requires
					 the least amount of the physical therapy department's total resources is a
					 modality. This activity is used to establish the basic relative value unit of
					 1.0. Since the basic relative value unit of 1.0 does not require the continuous
					 attendance of physical therapy personnel, the initial unit value for those
					 services that do require the continuous attendance of physical therapy
					 personnel is adjusted upward. An additional.4 of a unit will be added to the
					 initial increment for those activities requiring continuous attendance by
					 physical therapy personnel. When subsequent 15-minute increments of service are
					 provided, some of the initial direct and indirect costs do not recur or are
					 reduced. Therefore, relative value units for subsequent increments of time are
					 approximately 10 percent less than the initial unit value.
(3) The recording of 15-minute increments of
					 service begins with the initiation of the evaluation, therapeutic, or patient
					 educational activity. Although time may have been spent transporting the
					 patient to the department or making entries in the medical record, RVU's are
					 not counted for these activities. Patient transportation, treatment preparation
					 and cleanup, and recordkeeping costs are incorporated in the weighting of the
					 initial 15-minute increment of service and additional RVU's cannot be added for
					 these activities. However, the time required to complete a separate formal
					 report for patient evaluations or aftercare planning can be counted.
(4) Therapeutic or evaluation activities
					 performed in the home shall have a unit value equivalent to that for the
					 appropriate therapeutic or evaluation activity rendered plus an allowance for
					 travel time to and from the home. Travel time for home visits is valued the
					 same as those activities requiring continuous attendance by physical therapy
					 personnel with the patient.