A call to action: direct access to physical therapy is highly successful in the US military. When will professional bodies, legislatures, and payors provide the same advantages to all US civilian physical therapists?

Objectives: In 2000, the American PT Association (APTA) published its Vision statement advocating for DA (DA) to PT. This narrative review of the literature aims to identify the current state of DA in the United States (US) and compare that status to the US Military.

Methods: Initial PubMed search in the English language with keywords physical therapy (PT), physiotherapy, DA, self-referral, and primary contact from the year 2000 onwards with subsequent focused searches using keywords DA/self-referral/primary contact of physical therapists/physiotherapists on outcomes/autonomous practice/economic impact/patient satisfaction yielded 103 applicable studies on the topic. This paper excluded 40 international articles to focus on US military and civilian research.

Results: Current literature supports Physical Therapists (PTs) in an initial contact role based on patient safety, satisfaction, access to care, efficiency, healthcare utilization, and potential cost savings.

Conclusions: Despite its success in the US Military, DA to PT in the US civilians remains limited and incomplete. PTs still await unrestricted DA and privileges associated with autonomous practice including the ability to order imaging and prescribe some medications.