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2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule Includes Two Major Wins for Therapy Providers

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2 years ago

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APTA advocacy leads to impactful policy wins that will reduce administrative burden, improve access, and provide more flexibility to the therapy workforce.

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Reducing administrative burdens, ensuring patient access in rural and underserved areas, and providing flexibilities for a challenged therapy workforce have long been policy priorities for the American Physical Therapy Association. Now, with the recent release of the Centers for Medicare & Centers for Medicaid Services 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, some of these priorities are being adopted to better support physical therapists and physical therapist assistants and their role in improving the health of Medicare beneficiaries.

The 2025 fee schedule contains two significant policy wins for the physical therapy profession advocated for by APTA, in the areas of PTA supervision and plan of care certification.

Supervision of Physical Therapist Assistants: The supervision requirement for physical therapist assistants under Medicare Part B will change from the current outdated direct supervision requirement to general supervision. This change will finally align outpatient settings with the general supervision policies in place in all other Medicare settings. What’s more, 49 states already permit general supervision of PTAs under state licensure laws, meaning Medicare’s direct supervision requirement in the outpatient setting was more burdensome than most state licensure requirements. This change will provide more flexibility for the therapy workforce and ensure access to therapy services for millions of Medicare beneficiaries, especially in rural or underserved areas, where beneficiaries are 50% more likely to receive therapy from a PTA. The language in the final rule mirrors the APTA-backed legislation introduced in the 118th Congress, titled the EMPOWER Act, that would require CMS to make this long-advocated for change.

Therapy Plan of Care Certification Requirement Reform: An exemption is being provided to the current burdensome plan of care signature requirement for outpatient therapy services provided under referral from a physician. Under current CMS policy, physical therapists are required to send their plans of care to the referring physician, who has 30 days to sign off on the services that the referring physician ordered in the first place. If the 30-day deadline is approaching and the physician still hasn’t returned the signed plan of care, it has been up to the physical therapist to obtain that signature. Without it, the PT is faced with not being paid by Medicare or stopping patient treatment, which can result in interruptions in care. Under the new exemption, the plan of care certification signature requirement will be deemed satisfied if the physical therapist simply submits the plan of care to the patient’s referring physician within 30 days of the initial evaluation; PTs no longer need to obtain the physician’s signature. This change comes after APTA advocacy during the CMS comment period and mirrors the APTA-backed legislation introduced in Congress, titled the REDUCE Act.

“After years of advocacy, APTA is pleased that CMS has finally responded to our recommendations to improve patient access to essential therapist services and ease administrative burden at a time when physical therapy practices are struggling, given the year-over-year cuts to the fee schedule,” said APTA President Roger Herr, PT, MPA. “The change in supervision requirements enables PTAs to practice at the top of their license, acknowledging their crucial role in patient care and support to therapy clinics. Reducing unnecessary administrative plan of care requirements allows PTs to focus on patient care instead of paperwork. These two policy changes in the 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule are critical to supporting physical therapists and physical therapist assistants.”

The 2025 rule also finalized a reduction to the fee schedule’s conversion factor. As in previous years, the budget-neutral policy has led to another cut to the conversion factor that impacts all providers paid under the physician fee schedule, including physical therapists. Unless Congress intervenes — which it has done several times in past years — the 2025 conversion factor will be $32.3562, a 2.83% decrease from 2024.

It is now up to Congress to stop the impending 2.83% cut from being implemented in January 2025. In a bipartisan effort to address this, APTA-supported legislation, the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act, was introduced in the U.S. House on Oct. 29. If enacted, it would provide a 4.73% payment boost to the 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule’s conversion factor.

“The continued reduction to payment for therapy services under the fee schedule underscores the need to overhaul Medicare’s Physician Fee Schedule, and APTA will keep up the fight to advocate for full-scale reform,” Herr added. 

The American Physical Therapy Association represents more than 100,000 physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and physical therapy students nationwide. Visit apta.org to learn more.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/2025-medicare-physician-fee-schedule-final-rule-includes-two-major-wins-for-therapy-providers-302294523.html

SOURCE American Physical Therapy Association

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Genedata Expands AI Discovery Workflows with NVIDIA BioNeMo Open Models, Including the New RFD4-Proteina Release

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16 minutes ago

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October 22, 2026

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Bringing next-generation binder design models into production discovery

BASEL, Switzerland, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Genedata, a Danaher company, and the leading provider of enterprise software solutions for biopharmaceutical R&D, today announced the addition of the new RFD4-Proteina binder design model into Genedata’s AI-enabled discovery workflows, following the model’s introduction at NVIDIA GTC Berlin. As an early ecosystem partner, Genedata is among the first companies to make RFD4-Proteina available within its production discovery workflows. By connecting AI-generated molecular designs, scientific data, and laboratory results, Genedata helps researchers transform AI predictions into continuous learning cycles that accelerate biologics discovery.

The workflow begins with scientists defining target characteristics and required properties using Genedata’s AI co-scientist. NVIDIA’s open protein design models then generate and evaluate candidate binders within Genedata. As candidates move into laboratory testing, results are captured and linked back to the original designs, helping scientists refine and rank the next round.

“Advances in AI are creating unprecedented opportunities for protein and antibody discovery, but unlocking their full value requires more than access to powerful models alone,” said Othmar Pfannes, Ph.D., President of Genedata. “Researchers need a way to connect molecular design, experimental execution, and scientific data into a continuous learning process. Genedata serves as the digital backbone that brings these elements together, helping scientists evaluate more candidates before testing, preserve the scientific context behind each outcome, and build knowledge from one discovery cycle to the next.”

While advances in generative AI are rapidly expanding what scientists can design, many organizations still struggle to operationalize these models within production scientific research workflows. Genedata provides the orchestration, governance, and scientific data foundation needed to deploy NVIDIA BioNeMo open models, including RFD4-Proteina, directly within the discovery workflows scientists use every day. Researchers can apply AI-generated designs within established processes while maintaining lineage, traceability, and scientific context across the discovery lifecycle.

Within Danaher’s autonomous laboratory initiative, these capabilities connect AI, automation, and scientific data in a closed-loop discovery framework where each experimental outcome informs the next design cycle, creating a continuous learn-and-improve process that advances science while keeping scientists in control.

About Genedata
Genedata, a Danaher company and the leading provider of enterprise software solutions for biopharma R&D, transforms biopharma data into intelligence. Our innovative solutions combine deep science, technology, and AI domain knowledge. Leading biopharma organizations and cutting-edge biotechs partner with Genedata to digitalize and automate complex data workflows. Our advanced analytics and embedded AI enable data-driven decisions. From early discovery through development to the clinic, Genedata solutions drive innovation and maximize ROI being trusted by customers worldwide for more than 25 years.

www.genedata.com
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About Danaher
Danaher is a leading global life sciences and diagnostics innovator, committed to accelerating the power of science and technology to improve human health. Through our connected ecosystem of industry-leading businesses, we work side by side with customers to solve their most complex scientific and clinical challenges—helping move innovations from discovery to delivery faster for patients who depend on them. Powered by the Danaher Business System, our advanced science and technology and proven ability to innovate help enable faster, more accurate diagnoses and reduce the time, cost, and risk required to discover, develop, and deliver life-changing therapies. Through continuous improvement and operational excellence, our approximately 60,000 associates worldwide are focused on delivering lasting impact and improving quality of life around the world, while building a healthier, more sustainable tomorrow. Explore more at www.danaher.com.

Disclaimer

The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with uncertainties related to contract cancellations, developing risks, competitive factors, uncertainties pertaining to customer orders, demand for products and services, development of markets for the Company’s products and services. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

All product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

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SOURCE Genedata

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Bybit AI Empowers Users with Their Personal Financial Edge, Adding Personalization and Memory

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16 minutes ago

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October 22, 2026

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DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Bybit, the New Financial Platform trusted by more than 80 million users worldwide, has announced new personalization and memory features for Bybit AI, its in-app intelligent conversational layer. Bybit AI now builds a profile from each user’s assets, positions, behavior and risk profile, connecting wealth, markets and trading across the Bybit ecosystem.

Launched in September, Bybit AI organically unifies Bybit’s core services within a single chat interface. The newly added features extend its capacity from responding to individual requests to maintaining a continuous understanding of the user, giving each user their personal financial edge.

Putting the user at the center, Bybit AI is evolving on three pillars:

Personalized: With permissions granted and limits set, Bybit AI analyzes actual account information, including financial behavior and risk profile alongside assets and positions, to generate outputs tailored to the individual.Connected: Bybit AI links Markets, Trading, Earn, Card and other Bybit products, drawing on the full picture of a user’s holdings and activity rather than a single product.Remembered: Users can proactively share their preferences with Bybit AI, which retains this context through long-term memory so that each conversation builds on the previous one.

The release also introduces Featured, a set of customized entry points for specific use cases. Each entry point offers predefined prompts, such as generating a wealth management plan based on a user’s assets and risk tolerance, and returns structured analysis with key data, clear insights and suggested next steps.

Bybit AI supports main account operations while giving users the option to deploy it within a dedicated Bybit AI sub-account. The AI-powered assistant is built on a security-first architecture. Outputs are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Instructions are executed in chats only after customer authorizations.

Bybit expects to introduce further updates to Bybit AI as it continues to build toward AI-native financial services, with conversational intelligence positioned as core infrastructure.

To explore Bybit AI and learn more about how it works, users may visit: Bybit AI  – Learn how to use Bybit through conversation.

#Bybit  / #NewFinancialPlatform 

About Bybit

Bybit is The New Financial Platform.

We believe every person should have access to every financial opportunity on earth. That’s why we’re building the first intelligent platform that connects anyone, anywhere to the world’s finance.

Trusted by more than 80 million users worldwide, Bybit brings together investing, trading, payments, and wealth-building in a single secure and intelligent ecosystem. Through the combination of AI-powered technology, deep global liquidity, robust security, and transparent operations, Bybit makes global finance more accessible, efficient, and empowering for everyone.

Built for everyone. Powered by intelligence. Open to the world.

Learn more at Bybit.com.

For more details about Bybit, please visit Bybit Press

For media inquiries, please contact: media@bybit.com

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Poq is now a Shopify Certified Technology Partner

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17 minutes ago

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October 22, 2026

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LONDON, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ —  poq, the native mobile app platform for retail brands, today announced it has been recognised as a Shopify Certified Technology Partner. Shopify’s certification is reserved for app partners that meet Shopify’s standards for quality, security, performance and support. poq is now listed in the Shopify Technology Partner Directory and the Certified Technology Partner App Store Collection, making it easier for enterprise Shopify merchants to find and adopt a proven native app platform.

poq already powers native iOS and Android apps for joint customers including Ardene, Steve Madden UK, e.l.f. Beauty (globally), Horze (pan-European), Mamas & Papas (UK) and ECO. Modern Essentials (ANZ and UK). Across the poq platform, shoppers convert at 1.8 times the rate of mobile web, based on the median across 21 brands from January 2025 to January 2026.

“Certification from Shopify is independent validation that poq meets the high standard Shopify sets for its technology partners,” said Jay Johnston, CEO of poq. “Our customers use their apps to build loyalty and drive repeat purchases from their most valuable shoppers. This recognition means more Shopify merchants can launch a high-performing native app with confidence, on a platform already proven at scale across four continents.”

Results for Shopify Brands

European equestrian retailer Horze moved to Shopify and chose to stay with poq for its native app. “After choosing to continue working together, I can confidently say that this was absolutely the right decision. The level of motivation, ownership, and commitment the poq team demonstrated throughout the project was truly impressive,” said Dominik Schlag, CFO of Horze.

In the UK, Mamas & Papas uses its poq app to make shopping easier for busy parents. “Our poq app makes shopping with us quick and easy wherever they are, and drives loyalty and repeat purchases,” said Jo Molineux, Digital Director at Mamas & Papas.

About poq

poq is a leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that empowers retailers and brands to create and maintain engaging, high-performance native mobile apps. With a focus on driving customer engagement and revenue, poq’s platform enables seamless integration, powerful personalisation, and an enhanced shopping experience for businesses worldwide. Learn more at poqcommerce.com.

Media contact
Emma Williams, Marketing Lead
emma.williams@poqcommerce.com  

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/poq-is-now-a-shopify-certified-technology-partner-302915873.html

SOURCE Poq

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