NRRTS goes global

LUBBOCK, Texas – NRRTS is rebranding to iNRRTS to better reflect its growing number of international registrants. 

As of early January, the organization had 245 registrants in Canada and 27 registrants in Australia, a group that now makes up about one-third of total registrants.  

“There are some significant differences in the pathways to funding in each country, but what we have found is there are some common issues, like how to assure people have access to up-to-date education on what interventions are most beneficial to patients and how to translate that into documentation that is appropriate ,” said Andrea Madsen, ATP, CRTS, executive director. 

NRRTS will be updating its logo, website and overall branding in early 2024, but the emails for Madsen and others involved with the organization will remain the same. 

The growth of NRRTS into Canada and Australia has been organic, Madsen says, with rehab suppliers in those countries reaching out to the organization looking for a way to elevate what they do with the RRTS certification. 

“They want to be able to show clinicians and therapists that this is truly a profession of their choosing and a practice that involves continuing education and a commitment to outcomes,” she said. “Further, it’s a way for them to differentiate themselves.” 

Lois Brown, MPT, ATP/SMS, CRTS, the national clinical education manager for Independent Living Specialists, an HME provider based in Sydney, is helping a team at her company become NRRTS registrants at the behest of its CEO. 

“By the end of June, everyone should have the certification,” said Brown, who relocated to Australia several years ago from the U.S. “It does set us apart and it raises the bar for the industry.” 

The uptake in Australia isn’t as far along as it is in Canada – which will see its own Jason Kelln, an ATP and CRTS who is the sales manager at PrairieHeart Mobility in Saskatchewan, become president in 2025 and which has its own Advisory Board within the organization – but Brown hopes to help it get there. 

“I do hope to be a conduit here for formalizing a minimum level of competency through the NRRTS certification,” she said. “I hope it will spread to others.”