In recovery after surgery, neurological rehabilitation or age-related loss of mobility, physiotherapy is the most important bridge that helps patients get back to life. Yet many families today choose individual practitioners they find on social media rather than working with a center. So how safe is it, legally and medically, for a physiotherapist to come to the home and treat a patient?

1. Medical Diagnosis and Referral

Under Law No. 1219, physiotherapists are not authorised to diagnose or set a treatment protocol on their own. Treatment must begin with the diagnosis and referral of a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation specialist or another relevant specialist physician.

• Risk of individual practice: If a therapist starts treatment without physician oversight, this is legally an overstepping of authority.
• Institutional assurance: A physiotherapist working within a licensed home care center works in coordination with the center’s physician. The treatment plan is approved by a physician and the process is reported.

2. Interventions at Home and Managing Complications

Physiotherapy sessions can require considerable physical effort, especially for heart patients and older adults.

• Emergency management: If blood pressure rises suddenly, an arrhythmia occurs or the patient falls during a session, an individual therapist is medically on their own.
• Team support: A licensed center manages sessions within a system and has the infrastructure to provide immediate nursing support or physician intervention when needed.

3. The Fallacy: “If a Physiotherapist Comes, We Will Recover”

Families often think: “The therapist comes to the house and does the exercises, so we are safe.” But in individual care these questions remain unanswered:

“Who is monitoring the patient’s general health during this treatment? If something goes wrong, who takes medical responsibility?”

• Individual service: If the patient is injured or the treatment fails, your only counterpart is that person. No hospital or insurer takes responsibility for an unregistered session.
• Center service: The service is provided under the center’s license, sessions are recorded and a specialist physician periodically reviews the process. The patient has institutional protection against the risk of malpractice.

4. Why Choose a Licensed Center?

For a physiotherapist to provide services at home legally, they must be affiliated with a licensed home care center. In this model:

• A legal counterpart: Invoicing and medical responsibility are institutional.
• Recorded treatment: All processes are entered into the Ministry of Health system.
• Holistic care: The physiotherapist coordinates everything from nutrition to medication follow-up together with the center’s nurse and physician.

Conclusion: Health Is Not a “Visit”

Physiotherapy is not just the repetition of a set of movements; it is a medical rehabilitation process. Unsupervised treatment can do more harm than good. Entrust your loved ones not to individual initiatives but to licensed home care centers with specialist physicians.