As used in these rules, the terms and acronyms shall have the following meanings ascribed to them:

1. (1) The Act – The statute governing the practice of occupational and physical therapy in Tennessee as codified at Title 63, Chapter 13 of the Tennessee Code Annotated.
2. (2) Advertising – Includes, but is not limited to, business solicitations, with or without limiting qualifications, in a card, sign, or device issued to a person; in a sign or marking in or on any building; or in any newspaper, magazine, directory, or other printed matter. Advertising also includes business solicitations communicated by individual, radio, video, internet, or television broadcasting or any other means designed to secure public attention.
3. (3) American Physical Therapy Association – When the acronym “APTA” appears in these rules, it is intended to mean the American Physical Therapy Association.
4. (4) American Physical Therapy Association of Tennessee – When the acronym “APTATN” appears in these rules, it is intended to mean the American Physical Therapy Association of Tennessee, formerly known as the Tennessee Physical Therapy Association.
5. (5) Applicant – Any individual seeking licensure by the Board and who has submitted an official application and paid the application fee.
6. (6) Board – The Board of Physical Therapy.
7. (7) Board Administrative Office – The office of the Unit Director assigned to the Board located at 665 Mainstream Drive, Nashville, TN 37243.
8. (8) Board Designee – Any person who has received a written delegation of authority from the Board to perform board functions subject to review and ratification by the full Board where provided by these rules.
9. (9) Clinical Student – A student enrolled in a CAPTE approved developing program or a CAPTE accredited physical therapy program or regionally accredited post professional physical therapist program.
10. (10) Closed File – An administrative action which renders an incomplete or denied file inactive.
11. (11) Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) – An agency approved by the Board of Physical Therapy to accredit schools of physical therapy pursuant to T.C.A. § 63-13-307(a).
12. (12) Consultation – A meeting that is conducted either face-to-face or by some other medium such as, but not limited to, telephone, facsimile, mail, or electronic means, wherein two or more health professionals discuss the examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of a particular case.
13. (13) Continuing Competence – The ongoing application of professional knowledge, skills and abilities which relate to occupational performance objectives in the range of possible encounters that is defined by that individual’s scope of practice and practice setting.
14. (14) Department – Tennessee Department of Health.
15. (15) Division – The Division of Health Related Boards, Department of Health, from which the Board receives administrative support.
16. (16) Examination Service – The testing service whose examination has been adopted by the Board.
17. (17) Fee – Money, gifts, services, or anything of value offered or received as compensation in return for rendering services; also, the required fee(s) pursuant to these rules.
18. (18) Foreign Credentialing Commission for Physical Therapy – When the acronym “FCCPT” appears in the text of these rules, the word represents the Foreign Credentialing Commission for Physical Therapy.
19. (19) Foreign Educated Physical Therapist – When the acronym “FEPT” appears in the text of these rules, the word represents a graduate of a non-CAPTE accredited physical therapist education program located outside of the United States.
20. (20) Foreign Educated Physical Therapist Assistant – When the acronym “FEPTA” appears in the text of these rules, the word represents a graduate of a non-CAPTE accredited physical therapist assistant education program located outside of the United States.
21. (21) Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy – When the acronym “FSBPT” appears in the text of these rules, the word represents the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy.
22. (22) Good Moral Character – The quality of being well regarded in personal behavior and professional ethics.
23. (23) Guide to Physical Therapist Practice – The APTA document, adopted by the Board pursuant to Rule 1150-01-.02, that describes physical therapist practice.
24. (24) He/she Him/her – When “he” appears in the text of these rules, the word represents both the feminine and masculine genders.
25. (25) HRB – When the acronym “HRB” appears in the text of these rules, it represents Health Related Boards.
26. (26) Internationally Educated/Foreign Trained – An individual who has graduated from a PT or PTA program outside the United States and its jurisdictions that may or may not be accredited by CAPTE.
27. (27) License – Document issued to an applicant who has successfully completed the licensure process. The license takes the form of an “artistically designed” license as well as other versions bearing an expiration date.
28. (28) Licensee – Any person duly licensed by the Board to engage in the practice of physical therapy.
29. (29) Licensed Physical Therapist (PT) – Any person who has met the qualifications for licensed physical therapist and holds a current, unsuspended and unrevoked license which has been lawfully issued by the Board.
30. (30) Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) – Any person who has met the qualifications for licensed physical therapist assistant and holds a current, unsuspended and unrevoked license that has been lawfully issued by the Board. PTAs perform physical therapy procedures and related interventions that have been selected and delegated only by the supervising physical therapist.
31. (31) Manual Therapy Techniques – Comprises a continuum of skilled movements to joints and/or related soft tissues at varying speeds and amplitudes which physical therapists and/or physical therapist assistants may administer.
32. (32) National Physical Therapy Examinations – When the acronym “NPTE” appears in the text of these rules, the word represents the National Physical Therapy Examinations.
33. (33) Person – Any individual, firm, corporation, partnership, organization, or political entity.

34. (34) Physical Therapy Assistive Personnel –

    1. (a) Physical therapy aide – Aides, technicians, and transporters trained by and under the direction of physical therapists who perform designated and supervised routine physical therapy tasks.
    2. (b) Other assistive personnel – Other trained or educated health care personnel not defined in paragraph (30) or subparagraph (34)(a) of this rule who perform specific designated tasks related to physical therapy under the supervision of a physical therapist and/or physical therapists assistants. At the discretion of the supervising physical therapist and/or physical therapists assistants, and if properly credentialed and not prohibited by any other law, “other assistive personnel” or “other support personnel” may be identified by the title specific to their training or education.
35. (35) Physical Therapy Treatment Diagnosis – Both the process and the end result of evaluating information obtained from the examination and/or consultation, which the physical therapist then organizes into defined clusters, syndromes, or categories to help determine the most appropriate intervention strategies.
36. (36) Recognized Credentialing Agency – An agency approved by the Board which evaluates the educational credentials of international graduates who have not attended CAPTE-accredited or board approved schools of physical therapy pursuant to T.C.A. § 63-13-307(a).
37. (37) Recognized Educational Institution – Any educational institution that is accredited by CAPTE and which is approved by the Board.
38. (38) Relative – A parent, foster parent, parent-in-law, child, spouse, brother, foster brother, sister, foster sister, grandparent, grandchild, son-in-law, brother-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister-in- law, or other family member who resides in the same household.
39. (39) Restriction – Any action deemed appropriate by the Board to be required of a disciplined licensee during any period of probation, suspension, or revocation with leave to apply or as a prerequisite to the lifting of probation or suspension, or any action deemed appropriate by the Board to be required of an applicant for licensure.
40. (40) Telemedicine – The use of real time audio, video, or other electronic media and telecommunication technology that enables interaction between a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant and a patient for the purpose of diagnosis, consultation, or treatment of a patient at a distant site where there may be no in-person exchange between a healthcare provider and a patient; or store-and-forward telemedicine services.
41. (41) Use of a Title or Description – To hold oneself out to the public as having a particular status, including but not limited to, by the use of signs, mailboxes, address plates, stationery, announcements, advertising, the internet, business cards, or other means of professional identification.
42. (42) Volunteer Personnel – Uncompensated individuals who are limited to observation of physical therapy functions and are prohibited from the delivery of physical therapy services.
43. (43) Written Evidence – Includes, but is not limited to, written verification from supervisors or other professional colleagues familiar with the applicant’s work.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 63-13-103 and 63-13-304. Administrative History: Original rule filed June 6, 1978; effective July 6, 1978. Amendment filed September 29, 1981; effective December 29, 1981. Repeal and new rule filed September 30, 1987; effective November 14, 1987. Amendment filed March 26, 1991; effective May 10, 1991. Repeal and new rule filed February 21, 1996; effective May 6, 1996. Amendment filed September 24, 1998; effective December 8, 1998. Repeal and new rule filed March 16, 2000; effective May 30, 2000. Amendment filed April 10, 2002; effective June 24, 2002. Amendment filed July 29, 2002; effective October 12, 2002. Amendment filed April 8, 2003; effective June 22, 2003. Amendment filed February 2, 2007; effective April 18, 2007. References to Board of Occupational and Physical Therapy Examiners have been changed by the Secretary of State to the applicable entity; Board of Occupational Therapy and/or Board of Physical Therapy pursuant to Public Chapter 115 of the 2007 session of the Tennessee General Assembly. Amendment filed August 19, 2010; effective November 17, 2010. Amendments filed September 30, 2025; effective December 29, 2025.