Direct access compared with referred physical therapy episodes of care: a systematic review

Evidence suggests that physical therapy through direct access may help decrease costs and improve patient outcomes compared with physical therapy by physician referral.

The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the literature on patients with musculoskeletal injuries and compare health care costs and patient outcomes in episodes of physical therapy by direct access compared with referred physical therapy.

Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL (EBSCO), Web of Science, and PEDro were searched using terms related to physical therapy and direct access. Included articles were hand searched for additional references.

Included studies compared data from physical therapy by direct access with physical therapy by physician referral, studying cost, outcomes, or harm. The studies were appraised using the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) levels of evidence criteria and assigned a methodological score.

Of the 1,501 articles that were screened, 8 articles at levels 3 to 4 on the CEBM scale were included. There were statistically significant and clinically meaningful findings across studies that satisfaction and outcomes were superior, and numbers of physical therapy visits, imaging ordered, medications prescribed, and additional non-physical therapy appointments were less in cohorts receiving physical therapy by direct access compared with referred episodes of care. There was no evidence for harm.

There is evidence across level 3 and 4 studies (grade B to C CEBM level of recommendation) that physical therapy by direct access compared with referred episodes of care is associated with improved patient outcomes and decreased costs.

Primary limitations were lack of group randomization, potential for selection bias, and limited generalizability.

Physical therapy by way of direct access may contain health care costs and promote high-quality health care. Third-party payers should consider paying for physical therapy by direct access to decrease health care costs and incentivize optimal patient outcomes.