Perception of physical therapists on direct access and referral system and its relevance to professional physical therapy practice in the Philippines

This quantitative study primarily explores the concepts of physical therapy (PT) practice and its two distinct model of healthcare service delivery, Direct Access (DA) and Referral system (RS). As evidenced by the scarcity of literatures in the Philippines, the study aims to contribute to the body of knowledge in academic research by providing a descriptive picture on how PT practitioners in the Philippines perceive these two systems and its relevance to PT as a profession thereby presenting and expounding the prevailing insights of the professional communities of Filipino clinicians involved in PT service delivery. Participants of this study were gathered through convenience and snowballing sampling through social media and was also endorsed by the PPTA. A total of 35 licensed and currently practicing Physical therapists in the year 2022 were the participants of this study and had answered a researcher-made questionnaire designed in a 5-point Likert scale. The results of the study were interpreted using descriptive and inferential statistics. Ranking of the mean was utilized to emphasize the statements which the highest mean scores and vice versa. The general findings revealed that Physical therapists perceive to be in strong agreement with the concepts of DA and considers DA as highly relevant in PT practice compared to RS which received a lower mean score and is interpreted as in agreement with its concepts and only relevant in PT practice. This means that the participants have a positive perception with both DA and RS however physical therapists may lean in towards favoring concepts related to DA model of PT practice compared to RS. The findings of the study can provide an avenue for which concepts are deemed to be favorable in light of the perception of the physical therapists thereby possibly contributing to the betterment of the PT profession in the Philippines