I am a practicing physical therapist for over 25 years I have a wide breath of knowledge and experience in a variety of settings, from out-patient orthopedics, hospital based rehab, therapeutic riding center, and finally a large non-profit pediatric PT, OT and behavioral health clinic. Over the last 14 years of incorporating equine movement as a treatment tool I have grown from starting a “hippotherapy program” as an employee of a PATH Premiere Center to working for a large multidisciplinary pediatric clinic who provides equine movement as one of the multitude of treatment tools offered. In 2016 and 2017 I lead a team effort to have hippotherapy removed as an exclusion from the Oregon Health Plan. Since then I have expanded my efforts to the national level as an active member of the AHA Reimbursement Committee, working towards helping to educate third party payers and others to remove reimbursement barriers associated with hippotherapy. Over the past year it has also been my pleasure to be a member of the Baseline Terminology Summit group, initiated by a grant through PATH, to promote uniform terminology through the various discipline that incorporate horses to benefit people. |