The Model Practice Act for Physical Therapy: A Tool for Public Protection and Legislative Change

FSBPT's Model Practice Act is model statute language, with commentary, that state legislatures and physical therapy boards can use to write or update their practice acts. FSBPT first published it in 1997 because most state acts dated from the 1950s and 1960s and had grown inconsistent.

This seventh edition, revised in 2022, keeps the same structure as earlier editions, with an appendix comparing it to the sixth. It covers definitions (including telehealth and continuing competence), the board, licensure, grounds for discipline and related provisions, and adds a certificate for animal physical therapy. Its commentary explains that boards can decide by rule whether specific procedures, such as dry needling, fall within scope rather than listing them in statute.

FSBPT's Delegate Assembly encourages every jurisdiction to review its practice act against the latest edition, and notes that even where state law differs, the model language and commentary can help answer regulatory questions.