The Situation

For the first time in the College’s history, the Discipline Committee considered cases related to the use of personal trainers working as support personnel in fitness facilities. The College received two separate reports alleging unprofessional misconduct by Ms. Ratna Adepu and Mr. Iftikhar Qureshi. Both worked for a company called Physiosquad, providing services at fitness facilities and health clubs. Essentially, club members were assessed and re-assessed by the physiotherapists, but subsequent sessions were with personal trainers working as support personnel. Invoices were then submitted to third party payors using the PT’s registration numbers. 

What Happened

When Ms. Adepu and Mr. Qureshi appeared before the Discipline Committee, each admitted to failing to meet the standards of care. They reported that clients received physiotherapy at the gym and they were assessed before the program, but the employer’s rules made it difficult to keep adequate records or re-assess clients regularly. They also said that the personal trainers were providing physiotherapy care to patients and were acting as support personnel.

The College’s prosecutor suggested that Physiosquad offered significant incentives to the physiotherapists to bill personal training as physiotherapy and that this was troublesome. 

Both the College and the physiotherapists agreed that the billing practices and patient records were inadequate and that records lacked enough detail to show appropriate supervision of the trainers who were working as support personnel. The physiotherapist’s lawyers stated that they were following their employer’s rules, but the Discipline Committee felt that this did not change the fact they were responsible for their own actions. The Committee accepted their admissions and heard that they had cooperated with the College. Both physiotherapists expressed regret and a sincere desire to change.

The Consequences

The Committee found that Ms. Adepu and Mr. Qureshi had committed acts of professional misconduct and displayed disgraceful, dishonourable and unprofessional behaviour. They will be suspended for six months and cannot practice during this time. At their own expense, they must complete a number of educational programs related to support personnel, ethics, business practices and record keeping, and to review College Standards. As well, they must participate in a practice monitoring programs and were ordered to repay between $4,000 and $5,000 to the College, to cover a portion of the investigation and hearing costs.