Episode 65 - Updated Standards of Practice – Not Knowing Could Hurt You
The CPTA's College Conversations
Release Date: 10/15/2024
The CPTA's College Conversations
Speakers: Sean FitzGerald and Leanne Loranger In this episode, Leanne and Sean revisit the rules for use of title and why those rules are important for physiotherapists, patients, and the public. The conversation explains who may use protected titles such as Physiotherapist, Physical Therapist, Physiotherapist Intern, and PT, and highlights why a physiotherapist’s registration status matters—whether a registrant is entering practice, on leave, or retiring. They also discuss how physiotherapists should list academic credentials and additional training in a way that is accurate,...
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Speakers: Sean FitzGerald and Leanne Loranger In this episode, Leanne and Sean discuss key changes connected to physiotherapists being designated as custodians under Alberta’s Health Information Act, which took effect on June 22, 2026. The conversation focuses on three important concepts physiotherapists need to understand as they transition to HIA compliance: verbal consent for disclosure of health information, the requirement to develop privacy management programs, and the need to designate successor custodians of health information. The episode explains when client consent is...
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Speakers: Jody Prohar and Leanne Loranger Privacy can feel complicated, but this episode makes it practical. Leanne and Jody break privacy basics into clear, manageable actions that can help physiotherapists strengthen client privacy in any practice setting. If you have ever wondered where to start, this conversation will help you focus on key privacy domains and four priority action areas: · Review or build privacy policies and procedures so you and your colleagues know how personal information is to be collected, handled, protected, and...
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Speakers: Jody Prohar and Leanne Loranger In this episode we revisit the topic of restricted activities in physiotherapy, bringing together key messages and practical clarifications to address some of the most common questions from registrants. The episode begins with an overview of the legislative framework that governs restricted activities, including how the Health Professions Act, the Health Professions Restricted Activity Regulation, and the Performance of Restricted Activities Standard of Practice together establish regulatory requirements for the performance of these high-risk...
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Speakers: Leanne Loranger and Sean FitzGerald In this episode of College Conversations, Leanne and Sean continue their discussion of the most common questions received by the College’s Practice Advisor in 2025, focusing on three key themes: Funding, Fees, and Billing; Continuing Competence; and Duty of Care. The conversation begins with Funding, Fees, and Billing, including questions about contracts, billing practices, fee schedules, and recent changes to the Standards that enable bundled and pre‑paid services, when specific conditions are met. Next, the episode explores practice advice...
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Speakers: Leanne Loranger and Sean FitzGerald In this episode of College Conversations, Leanne and Sean kick off a two-part series exploring the most common questions received by the College’s Practice Advisor. Drawing on an aggregate review of 2025 inquiries, they explain how tracking and coding questions to the Standards of Practice helps identify trends, inform the development of College resources, and guide future updates to the Standards of Practice. Part 1 focuses on two of the top five recurring themes addressed by the Practice Advisor: privacy and supervision. The discussion on...
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Speakers: Jody Prohar and Leanne Loranger From time to time, conflicts and challenging situations may arise between physiotherapists and their clients, which may lead the physiotherapist to consider declining to continue to provide services to the client. These situations exist on a continuum from the slightly challenging to the potentially dangerous. The 2025 Duty of Care Standard codifies professional expectations that have been in place for a long time. In this bonus episode we revisit an episode we first shared back in 2021, highlighting the physiotherapist’s duties if they are opting to...
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Speakers: Jody Prohar and Leanne Loranger In this episode, Leanne and Jody explore the governance role of Council and how it supports the College’s legislated mandate to protect the public interest. Jody explains the College’s responsibilities under the Health Professions Act, including setting entrance standards, ensuring continuing competence, establishing standards of practice, and addressing unprofessional conduct. Council oversees this work by setting the College’s strategic direction, providing financial and risk oversight, and monitoring regulatory processes to ensure alignment...
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In this, the 80th episode of the CPTA’s College conversations, Leanne and Jody reflect on the College’s major activities in 2025 and share a preview of what we are anticipating in 2026. 2025 Highlights: Implementation of updated Standards of Practice in January 2025 and the related jurisprudence module which registrants completed at registration or renewal. Updated Sexual Abuse and Sexual Misconduct (SASM) module required for all registrants. Ongoing focus on professional conduct, with higher-than-hoped complaint numbers and related budget impact. 2026 Preview: Launch of the...
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Speakers: Leanne Loranger and Sean FitzGerald In this episode, Sean and Leanne dive into how artificial intelligence is popping up in physiotherapy—from chatbots for booking and billing tasks and scribe tools for clinical documentation to robotics - and the regulatory considerations to keep in mind. With the explosion of AI tools, physiotherapists may look at options that help them in their work. Before implementing an AI tool there are a few things to know about doing so in a way that’s consistent with the Standards of Practice and regulatory requirements. We unpack the...
info_outlineSpeakers: Jody Prohar and Leanne Loranger
At their September meeting, Council voted to approve the updated Standards of Practice for Alberta Physiotherapists. These updated standards will be in effect as of January 1, 2025. On this episode of College Conversations, Jody and Leanne provide listeners with an update about the Standards of Practice including:
· The process the College used to develop standards that were right-touch and risk-based (and what those terms mean to regulators), and
· Highlights of the major changes, including standards that are being retired and new standards added.
It is up to each physiotherapist to meet the performance expectations established in the standards. Being unaware of the standards of practice is not an acceptable explanation if a professional conduct matter arises related to your practice.
The revised Standards will be available on the College’s website in November 2024 and will take effect on January 1, 2025.
As that date approaches, Alberta physiotherapists are encouraged to review the standards to make sure they understand what is required of them. If you do not understand the performance expectations, check the College’s website, or contact the College’s Practice Advisor for more information.
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