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Committee adopts amendment allowing physical therapists to order imaging under patient relationship limits
Summary
After an amendment narrowed the scope, the committee gave House Bill 2583 a due-pass recommendation to permit physical therapists to order imaging when there is a patient‑therapist relationship and a clinical need.
The committee voted to approve House Bill 2583 as amended, which allows physical therapists to order imaging only for patients with whom they have an established therapist–patient relationship and when clinically necessary.
The original bill would have permitted physical therapists to order broader imaging and laboratory tests, but the Montgomery amendment dated Feb. 11 removed laboratory authority and limited imaging to patients with an established relationship and clinical need. Representative Liguori offered a friendly amendment to ensure the order comes from a PT with an existing patient relationship; the committee adopted that amendment and the bill as amended.
Tom Dorn of the Arizona Physical Therapy Association told the committee the change was a technical clarification and described it as a corrective fix to statutory language from prior sessions. The bill drew limited public testimony and the Arizona Medical and Osteopathic associations had previously expressed concerns about the lab‑ordering language that the amendment removed.
On roll-call the committee approved the bill as amended: 10 ayes, 2 nays. The motion to adopt the Liguori amendment passed on a voice vote before the final roll call.
