The APTA Academy of Leadership & Innovation is excited to highlight the results of a major 2024 research grant project, recently presented at the 2025 Academy Health Annual Research Meeting. Led by Dr. Mike Markee of Saint Louis University in partnership with the University of Utah, the study examined how Medicare’s episode-based alternative payment model impacts physical therapy (PT) use after joint replacement surgeries.
Study Highlights:
Data from nearly 75,000 patients showed fewer home health PT visits overall.
Outpatient PT visits were similar for hip replacements in both groups but was slightly higher for knee replacements in the payment model group.
Overall
Older, sicker, and lower-income individuals used more home health and fewer outpatient visits.
Patients from hospitals with more Medicaid patients or for-profit status saw higher PT utilization across both settings.
Community-level factors like transportation and housing access were also shown to influence outpatient PT use.
Dr. Markee is preparing a manuscript for publication and pursuing additional funding to explore clinical outcomes. He credits the ALI grant with helping him build collaborative networks and deepen his policy research.
ALI congratulates Dr. Markee and his team on this impactful work and thanks members for supporting PT innovation. Stay tuned for future updates!
Email to a Friend