Canadian C-Spine Rule Physician Letter Templates

Developed by the BC Physical Therapy Cervical Spine Rule Advisory Group

Marj Belot, John Howick, Peter Francis, Sarah Hrabi, Carol Kennedy, Melina Kurtakis, Dr. Linda Li, Bill Lyons, Guido Wisotzki, Antonio Zenone, Alison Hoens

How to use the template of the C-Spine Rule Physician’s Letter

The following suggestions are offered as ideas for how you and/or your clinic may wish to use the template of the letter to physicians regarding the C-Spine Rule. Given that each clinic is unique and that there are many different ways that PTs choose to interact with referring physicians in their community, feel free to select the strategies from the following list that are most appropriate for your setting:

• Divide and Conquer: Make a list of the primary referring physicians to your clinic or those you would like to improve relationships with and assign clinic team members to send personalized letters to specific MDs. Make sure to identify those that don’t like updates or letters and condense the letter if appropriate.

• A Collective Front: As above, make a list of the physicians you are interested in informing and send a letter from all the treating therapists that work at your clinic.

• Use Connection and Power in Numbers: Connect with other physiotherapists or clinics in the community and send out a letter to all the local medical clinics. A great way to strengthen PT relations!

• Educate Each Other: Host an in-service in your clinic to educate others on the C-Spine Rule for those who are not currently comfortable with it. Together, write or modify the letter we have provided and sign letters together to be sent out. Consider incentivizing attendance with pizza!

How to use the C-Spine Rule Physician’s Follow-Up Note

The following suggestions are offered as ideas for how you and/or your clinic may wish to use the template of the follow up letter to physicians regarding the C-Spine Rule.

• Follow-Up: Follow up the above information to the physician by using the individual physician’s letter in cases where you have used the C-Spine rule and are referring for x-ray following a C-Spine assessment.

Project Information

This is a Physical Therapy Knowledge Broker project supported by the UBC Department of Physical Therapy, Physiotherapy Association of BC, Vancouver Coastal Research Institute, Providence Healthcare Research Institute, and the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada. March 2014.

Resources

• C-Spine Rule Physician Letter Template

• C-Spine Rule Physician Follow-Up Letter Template