Reflections and Future Directions on Extending Physical Therapist Scope of Practice to Improve Quality of Care and Preserve Health Care Resources.

Health care legislation and policies in several countries have extended physical therapists' scope of practice to include the right to order and interpret imaging [radiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound scans], electro-neurophysiological tests, blood and urine tests, as well as to perform joint and soft tissue injections and prescribe medications. In this report, we describe the reasons physical therapists' scope of practice has been extended in several countries. These additional competencies apply to both professional and postprofessional musculoskeletal (MSK) physical therapist education. To date, there have been evaluations of the practitioners in these new roles with respect to diagnostic accuracy, opioid usage, patient satisfaction, and the quality and cost of these new models of care. We question why legislation and implementation of these high-value models of care have been so slow within developed health care systems. The physical therapy profession should take definitive actions to address this in order to improve the MSK health of the patients we serve.