Michigan Compiled Laws

Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.17820 (2026)

Practice of physical therapy or physical therapist assistant; license or authorization required; engaging in treatment with or without prescription of certain license holders; use of words, titles, or letters.

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MI-LEGlegislature.mi.gov JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

PUBLIC HEALTH CODE

Act 368 of 1978

333.17820 Practice of physical therapy or physical therapist assistant; license or authorization required; engaging in treatment with or without prescription of certain license holders; use of words, titles, or letters.

Sec. 17820.

(1) An individual shall not engage in the practice of physical therapy or practice as a physical therapist assistant unless licensed or otherwise authorized under this part. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant shall engage in the treatment of a patient if that treatment is prescribed by a health care professional who is an advanced practice registered nurse as that term is defined in section 17201, or who holds a license issued under part 166, 170, 175, or 180, or an equivalent license issued by another state. A physical therapist or a physical therapist assistant may engage in the treatment of a patient without the prescription of a health care professional who is an advanced practice registered nurse as that term is defined in section 17201, or who holds a license issued under part 166, 170, 175, or 180, or an equivalent license issued by another state, under either of the following circumstances:

(a) For 21 days or 10 treatments, whichever first occurs. However, a physical therapist shall determine that the patient's condition requires physical therapy before delegating physical therapy interventions to a physical therapist assistant.

(b) The patient is seeking physical therapy services for the purpose of preventing injury or promoting fitness.

(2) The following words, titles, or letters or a combination of words, titles, or letters, with or without qualifying words or phrases, are restricted in use only to those persons authorized under this part to use the terms and in a way prescribed in this part: "physical therapy", "physical therapist", "doctor of physiotherapy", "doctor of physical therapy", "physiotherapist", "physiotherapy", "registered physical therapist", "licensed physical therapist", "physical therapy technician", "physical therapist assistant", "physical therapy assistant", "physiotherapist assistant", "physiotherapy assistant", "p.t. assistant", "p.t.", "r.p.t.", "l.p.t.", "c.p.t.", "d.p.t.", "m.p.t.", "p.t.a.", "registered p.t.a.", "licensed p.t.a.", "certified p.t.a.", "c.p.t.a.", "l.p.t.a.", "r.p.t.a.", and "p.t.t.".

History: 1978, Act 368, Eff. Sept. 30, 1978 ;-- Am. 1982, Act 177, Imd. Eff. June 9, 1982 ;-- Am. 1987, Act 213, Imd. Eff. Dec. 22, 1987 ;-- Am. 2005, Act 281, Imd. Eff. Dec. 19, 2005 ;-- Am. 2006, Act 387, Imd. Eff. Sept. 27, 2006 ;-- Am. 2009, Act 55, Imd. Eff. June 25, 2009 ;-- Am. 2014, Act 260, Eff. Jan. 1, 2015 ;-- Am. 2016, Act 499, Eff. Apr. 9, 2017

PopularName Notes:

Act 368

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 3 cases, 2007–2019 · leading case: Miller v. Allstate Ins., 739 N.W.2d 675 (Mich. Ct. App. 2007).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Miller v. Allstate Ins., 739 N.W.2d 675 (Mich. Ct. App. 2007). “MCL 333.17820. Accordingly, physical therapy constitutes a professional service for purposes of the PSCA, and thus the business of providing physical therapy services also constitutes “a business for which a corporation may be formed under any other statute of this state.”

Miller v. Allstate Ins. Co., 739 N.W.2d 675 (Mich. Ct. App. 2007). “MCL 333.17820. Accordingly, physical therapy constitutes a professional service for purposes of the PSCA, and thus the business of providing physical therapy services also constitutes "a business for which a corporation may be formed under any other statute of this state.”

Farmers Ins. Exch. v. St Peter Med. Ctr. (Mich. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 7× “A physical therapist “shall engage in the treatment of a patient if that treatment is prescribed by a health care professional,” such as an advanced practice registered nurse, dentist, medical doctor, doctor of osteopathic medicine and surgery, or doctor of podiatric medicine…”

— Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.17820(1) — 1 case

Farmers Ins. Exch. v. St Peter Med. Ctr. (Mich. Ct. App. 2019). “A physical therapist “shall engage in the treatment of a patient if that treatment is prescribed by a health care professional,” such as an advanced practice registered nurse, dentist, medical doctor, doctor of osteopathic medicine and surgery, or doctor of podiatric medicine…”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.